What caught my eye this week.
Today marks a new era for the somewhat United Kingdom. Long live the King. Or at least let nobody begrudge Charles III the 13 years the ONS reckons he’s due.
Likewise, it’s also time for something new at Monevator.
Because today we’re launching a Substack-style membership tier. For a small recurring fee, you can be the proud(ish) recipient of either one or two members-only emails a month. With on-site benefits too.
And by signing up you’ll help keep Monevator going for… perhaps another couple of decades?
More below, or else jump over to our sign-up page to be an early adopter. (With our thanks!)
I’ll level with you. These member emails won’t suddenly transform your life. They’re not going to make you a millionaire in a year or rule your retirement or supercharge your salary.
But if you already know and like what we’re doing around here, then you’ll enjoy them. We’re certainly not embarking on a divergent path as Internet influencers or anything like that.
So why are we doing it? And why do I hope you’ll consider joining?
A bit of background.
Tiny violin orchestra
Monevator has never been a big money spinner, to put it mildly. Cultivating an audience keen on cutting costs and saving for financial freedom is not very compatible with minting the readies.
I began posting in 2007 and for the first five or so years the site was entirely a passion project. Which, given the hours I (and soon enough my co-blogger) put in made Monevator what dating coaches call a high maintenance relationship.
Things did pick up. Advertising and some affiliate sales grew with traffic. But I turned down lucrative requests every day to do paid-for posts or links, and we’ve never gone down the ‘Make Money Online’ path that so many do.
Still, we were edging onwards and upwards.
Indeed by summer 2021, if you squinted, we almost looked like a real business. On leaving the workforce, my co-blogger The Accumulator was able to devote himself more to the site – having written his articles during his weekends for a decade – and there was a budget for it too.
I began to daydream about a Monevator site design makeover – so my younger friends would no longer laugh at it.
But these halcyon days didn’t last.
I won’t belabour the story: basically a one-two-three punch of the end of lockdowns, a Google algorithm thwack, and the collapse in ad rates hitting everyone from Facebook to, well, us, slashed our inbound search traffic (the transient visitors who actually click on ads) and crashed our income.
Back down the snake we slid, after only just climbing that ladder.
The Accumulator was dialed back again. We’d been making good progress updating the articles that needed it, but that also went on hold.
And the mooted design revamp? Well this is why Monevator still looks like you’ve just woken up the day after Lehman Brothers failed in 2008…
Subscribe and save
You may have noticed many big media sites – let alone indie blogs – shutting down or else getting covered with clickbait in recent years… What This Woman Learned When She Gave Up Wearing Her Bra. How Nigel Farage Keeps Slim Thanks To This One Simple Trick.
The social media platforms long ago gutted most of the alternative online media. YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok have done a number on what was left.
Fair enough, I suppose. We get who we vote for and what we pay for. Perhaps most people can live without verbose wonky articles, and prefer a 20-second video of somebody raving about the FTSE while standing in a bucket of iced water wearing a Superman cape.
Who am I to judge?
However not everybody does. Email subscription platform Substack has shown people will pay to support quality content. And this model is appealing to us, because it aligns with what we believe you prefer too. Authentic and trustworthy info – not us selling products, or writing top ten lists for the eyeballs.
One option then was to move Monevator to Substack. (It’d also solve the 2008 chic issue!)
However many of you add a lot of value to our articles via your own comments, and countless more benefit when you do so. That works best on blogs. Besides, I still believe in independent websites.
Hence we decided to instead add subscription and membership features to Monevator.
The perks of being a Monevator member
The result is a little clunky, but it works. You’ll see a sign-in link on the top-right of the Monevator website. When you log-in as a member, you also see a little box in the sidebar, from where you can take ownership of your commenting ‘nickname’ and your avatar displayed alongside comments.
Baby steps.
You’ll also notice Monevator has no ads when you’re logged in as a member. This is another benefit to signing up. While I’m grateful for the revenue that advertising does still bring in, it’s obviously a more peaceful experience without it.
(Yes, we all know you can use an ad blocker. But too many people do that and we – and other content creators – may have to shut up shop. There’s a cost to making everything free.)
Our membership and subscription emails are delivered with software from Memberful (owned by Patreon). The financial stuff is handled by the ubiquitous payments juggernaut Stripe.
Indeed we don’t process your credit card details at all. So don’t worry about that.
As for those member emails, I’m not going to over-hype them. (Why do I sense buzzers and lights going off, Take Me Out style? Where’s Paddy McGuinness when I need him?!)
The Accumulator’s monthly ‘Mavens’ email will be passive and FIRE-focused. Business as usual but maybe with a slight tilt more towards de-accumulation. (Hey, we oldies can better afford it.)
An additional monthly email – which you get if you sign up for ‘Moguls’ membership – will be by me, and it will be for like-minded active investors and market maniacs.
This is the stuff I first set the website up to share but I’ve stopped posting in recent years. In part because I haven’t wanted to dilute the key Monevator message that’s evolved – that most people should use index funds – but also because I grew tired of writing endless caveats and disclaimers.
So expect heretical emails flagging up interesting stocks and funds, others on market conditions or new strategies – the content will evolve as we find our feet, but it will be unapologetic in being for those who know better but who love the game.
Oh, and it is definitely NOT going to be personal investing advice. Nor will I guarantee Five Stocks To Beat The Market or the like. (If I could promise you that, I’d charge a lot more for it.)
However I will do my best to create a monthly email that subscribers actively look forward to, as we explore together the perplexing challenges of active investing.
Your investing website needs YOU
So that, in too many words, is what our new membership service entails. (Summary here).
But let’s be honest, this is also us asking you to help support the 80% of new content that will still be free – and the more than 2,000 articles we’ve published in the past and continue to update.
We hope you’ll see the monthly tariff as more reasonable in that light.
In fact over the past 17 years I’ve had literally hundreds of people ask me how they can give us a bit of money. This hasn’t happened with anything I’ve done before (except for being a grandchild).
You’ve suggested Patreon support, tip jars – even my Bitcoin address at the end of every post.
But I wanted to do it properly. Belatedly, this is our stab.
We probably need roughly 1,000 of you to become members – not all on the cheaper Mavens tariff – for us to become relatively safe from Google’s whims or the pressure to turn more articles into affiliate pitches or whatnot. (At least until the AIs rip-off all our content and kill us anyway.)
With enough members, we will be free to create more – and sometimes deeper – articles. As well as revamping more of the good stuff in the archives and making it more accessible.
Above all we can strive to make Monevator the only place the average person needs to visit to become a successful – and self-directed – investor, in control of their own financial destiny.
In short, we all win!
Will we achieve escape velocity? I have no idea. But it’s partly down to you.
So please do check out our sign-up page and consider becoming a Monevator Maven or Mogul.
And have a great coronation weekend!
From Monevator
Historical asset class returns (UK) – Monevator
Investment costs: how low can we go? – Monevator
From the archive-ator: Can you commit to your investing strategy for the long term? – Monevator
News
Note: Some links are Google search results – in PC/desktop view click through to read the article. Try privacy/incognito mode to avoid cookies. Consider subscribing to sites you visit a lot.
FCA to simplify the UK’s stock market listing rules – FT Adviser
Britons pull £4.8bn from bank accounts on banking fears – This Is Money
JP Morgan acquires failed First Republic, CEO says this stage of crisis over – CNBC
Government plans shake-up to tackle fraud epidemic [Search result] – FT
Mortgage costs for first-time buyers up c. £200 a month on a year ago – Guardian
Forge Global launches index of pre-IPO firms. Could an ETF follow? – Semafor
Rejoin the single market, says Tory MP Tobias Ellwood [Video] – Peston via Twitter
Bitcoin just processed more transactions than ever before – Blockworks
The Covid downturn still lingers downtown – Carl Quintanilla via Twitter
Products and services
Why ‘investing’ in coronation coins is a costly mistake – Which
Britons with valid passports barred from flights over Brexit rules – Guardian
Are Isle of Man and Guernsey-based banks worth it for higher rates? – This Is Money
Open a SIPP with Interactive Investor and pay no SIPP fee for six months. Terms apply – Interactive Investor
Gap between the best and worst annuity rates widen – Which
Open an account with low-cost platform InvestEngine via our link and get £25 when you invest at least £100 (T&Cs apply. Capital at risk) – InvestEngine
Homes for summer socializing, in pictures – Guardian
Comment and opinion
The best-ever quotes from Buffett and Munger’s jamboree – Neckar Substack
Man U and the football South Sea Bubble [Podcast] – ALTIF via Apple
How long will you live? – Best Interest
Succession: does it add up? [Podcast, and beware spoilers!] – ALTIF via Apple
The granny tax: coming to a family near you [Search result] – FT
Escaping the waiting place – Joseph Wells
Find the torture you’re comfortable with – A Wealth of Common Sense
Early retirement devotees rethink after ‘dicey times’ – Yahoo Finance
It never stops raining – Humble Dollar
Five insights from Christina Wallace’s Portfolio Life – Next Big Idea
“Humility is the hallmark of people who are financially successful” [Podcast] – Morningstar
Naughty corner: Active antics
Investing’s big blindspot – Sapient Capital
On vinyl flooring firm James Halstead [Podcast] – Maynard Paton
Selling Hikma Pharma after a 40% share price gain – UK Dividend Stocks
Cancel culture: a new monetary phenomenon – Bond Vigilantes
The Fed will not pivot – Stay At Home Macro
Late-stage VC funding has completely dried up – Crunchbase
Kindle book bargains
The Moneyless Man: A Year of Freeconomic Living by Mark Boyle – £0.99 on Kindle
200 Years of Muddling Through: The British Economy by Duncan Weldon – £0.99 on Kindle
A Journey Through Labour’s Lost England by Sebastian Payne – £0.99 on Kindle
Too Big To Jail: The Greatest Banking Scandal of the Century by Chris Blackhurst – £0.99 on Kindle
Environmental factors
UK firms face delays of up to 15 years for solar installations – Guardian
The renewable transition in adolescence [PDF] – JP Morgan
An invasive coral is causing havoc in Venezuala – Reef Builders
Direct lithium extract: a potential game changer [PDF] – Goldman Sachs
Robot overlord roundup
ChatGPT ‘portfolio’ outperforms leading UK funds [Search result] – FT
Why AI pioneer Geoffrey Hinton is now scared of AI – MIT Tech Review
The looming threat of AI to Hollywood, and why it matters to you – Vox
A good news story about AI and workers – NPR
AI is a waste of time – The Atlantic via MSN
Microsoft opens Bing AI for public testing; no waitlist – Engadget
Can ChatGPT help investors process information? [Research] – SSRN
Off our beat
The coronation of King Charles explained – Vox
Charles, our mournful monarch: in his pomp but out of his time – Marina Hyde
Here comes… India! – Noahpinion
How technology reinvented chess as a global social network [Search result] – FT
The unexpected wholesomeness of ‘The Boys’ chat groups – Slate
Quantum computing could break everything [Cool graphics, search result] – FT
Brexit: we’re all worse off – The Atlantic via MSN
“I spent a decade eating scones in every National Trust tearoom” – Guardian
When private equity firms bankrupt their own companies – The Atlantic
Vicious traps – Morgan Housel
This is why you can’t wait until later – Ryan Holiday
And finally…
“Do not spoil the wonder with haste.”
– J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
Like these links? Subscribe to get them every Friday. Note this article includes affiliate links, such as from Amazon and Interactive Investor.
Good luck! I’ve taken the plunge and gone for the annual maven membership. The information provided here is worth it’s weight in gold. I did briefly think about becoming a mogul but as I enter what I hope will be my the last 5 to ten years in the workforce, the last thing I need is any encouragement to become more active.
An absolute bargain for the content available, and very pleased to support such terrific independent journalism. Long may Monevator continue!
I’m now a Mogul.
Even better value now! Best of luck.
Done. Your material is excellent and has been for years. Didn’t hesitate to subscribe. Keep up the good work and thank you
Good move: signed up. Best of luck to all. Don’t change: tone and clarity are your assets.
Given the years of support you have provided to many and the thoughtful articles and comments, very happy to support Monevator
I’ve always wanted to be a Mogul, and now the fab Monevator has given me the opportunity! Thanks.
Done!
Signed up
xxd09
@all — What a lovely start to wake up to! Thank you all so much, and for the nice words too.
Gosh, these are rather lovely messages to go with my breakfast. Thank you all! I’m not entirely sure what’s kept us going all these years but support from the Monevator Massive accounts for about 95% of it.
Very pleased to be able to pay you for years of great content (I’ve never commented but I’ve read every week for 3-4 years). Good luck, I hope you’ve got plenty more than 1000 true fans!
Very much looking forward to more FIRE-themed articles from The Accumulator, in particular!
I’m an avid reader of this site but have never made a comment before. I have social anxiety so the comments won’t be coming thick and fast from me but I’d just like to say that I find this site invaluable and well worth supporting. I love reading all the comments too.
Signed up… is absolutely the least I could do. You guys/ this site have had a massive impact on my financial well being. And thousands better off because of you.
I’m happy to sign up to support more great content. I lurk and read loads but rarely comment so at least I can contribute something useful this way. Thank you!
Good luck. I’m now a mogul. Happy to contribute in thanks for so much good advice I’ve found on this site over the years.
Easy decision and great value. My job / employer basically restricts me from active investing but the quality of content over the years I’ve been reading make mogul a no brainer
More than happy to subscribe. Monevator is one of a few websites I still ‘go to’ on the Internet. I’m glad you’ve decided to go the subscription route rather than spilling out SEO-optimized garbage for the Google machine.
What, no lifetime membership option?
The present value of 20 years of £80/yr cash-flows discounting for 4% inflation, seems to be around £1,100 😉
Easy sell, you fine people have made me a lot of money, about time I returned something.
@all — Thanks again everyone, it’s really appreciated! (I’ve asked @TA to chime in on this thread, but presume he’s flexing his Royalist credentials and can’t be torn away just yet… 😉 )
@Andrew — Um, thanks. 😉 Suspect a few more buzzers just went off… 🙁 (There’s no lifetime membership capability with Memberful, but anyway I’d be reluctant to set it. I’d feel it was a huge responsibility for us as well as too big commitment for those who signed up. Plus the proverbial buses are always potentially out there, ready to do their worst to me or @TA… Touch wood we can dodge them for at least another 20 years though 🙂 )
p.s. The Accumulator has pointed out to me that he has already added a comment above. And he only swore at me once. 😉 My apologies!
Happy to subscribe (and I am generally very averse to subscribing to anything!). Well worth it.
I will subscribe for a year and we’ll take it from there. I will pay by moving some S+S ISA from vanguard to iweb and save on platform fees. Which is information i read on this site. Thank you.
Maven for me to keep me away from those active shenanigans.
But I too am incredibly grateful for the excellent articles and response from the rest of the community.
Signed up more than happy to support this great blog,and hopefully many more years of great articles
Adding my note to the pile, similarly conscious decision to avoid Active temptation also!
I can’t even remember how I found Monevator now but it must be the single biggest contributor to my investing education via both articles and literally thousands of quality links consumed so it’s a pleasure to subscribe.
As a younger man I made textbook mistakes post ’08 that make me laugh/cringe now. But, though the process of learning and constant reminders I now feel I have the correct tools and knowledge to chart my path. Although that said I really need to review a few ETF choices after the Finumus costs article…
FWIW I do my bit by nudging family and friendly colleagues in the right direction including the odd MV link so I’m sure your audience will continue its steady growth
Like others above I have never commented before but have read the site for years and it has had such a positive impact on my life (not just my finances) that I am delighted to be able at last to support it. Thank you both so much!
Congrats! Happily signed up!
No brainer. Thanks for all the hard work.
Money can be sweet. Don’t change!
Thank you team Monevator, this is my first ever post and I want to thank you for all the excellent content over the years and for developing a community of people who’s comments are excellent, thought provoking and always inspire and educate me. Subscription was a no brainer.
Signed up. Learned a lot from this site through the years that’s why I am now the financial adviser of several friends .
@Thanks all! As ever when we do this sort of post, it’s incredibly heartening to hear how many people feel Monevator has been a positive force in their life over the years too. Looking forward to keeping that up 🙂
@Foxy Michael – Thanks for subscribing! While I’m very heartened by the positive initial response, we’re a *very* very long way from getting close to even approaching that 1,000 member level, I can’t see it happening for years to be honest. Certainly no life-changing money around here on the horizon.
(We both could have made far more money doing more of our freelance/contracting over the years with all the time we spent on the site. But it wouldn’t have been as much fun, nor felt like we were building anything. Rather have this to show for it. 🙂 )
Happy to sign up as a Maven, both as thanks for all the great content over past few years as well as looking forward to lots more! As I’m retired (apart from now being a part time director of a CIC), I’m particularly interested in the de-accumulation stage and, being fortunate to have more than enough for our needs, trying to get comfortable with spending rather than saving so we can do some good with our resources, help our adult offspring sooner rather than later and, maybe, the an occasional treat for ourselves whilst still fit and healthy (although not planning to splash out on a Tesla like Mr.MM!). Keep up the good work!
Just testing out my new membership! Am I a fully-fledged Mogul?
Starting reading this site with a negative net worth, now debt free with monthly investments in low cost (globally diversified.. of course) index funds in the ISA and SIPP, membership well worth it! 🙂
After all the times you’ve said you’d get round to doing this, I’m very glad that you’ve set this up.
I’m immensely grateful for how Monevator gave me an investing kick start. Even more so to have contributed to this website. A big thank you!
As others have said: done, without a moment’s hesitation. This site has been indispensable over the last 10 years+ (both content and accessibility of writing) and I wish you both all the very best.
I hope this means we’re entitled to signed first editions of the book! Good luck Monevator!!
I’ve read this blog for many years: it’s a great source of unbiased information and has really helped my investing over the years (passive of course). Happy to subscribe-all the best.
Rhino, @37 under your pic says ‘”Mogul”
Echo the sentiments above. No hesitations in subscribing whatsoever.
I found Monevator a few years ago when searching for what to do with an inheritance, very glad to have found it and very happy to support.
Very happy to support your excellent work; I really enjoy reading the posts/comments.
I’ve opted to be a Maven on the basis that my worst investment decisions have generally been the more ‘active’ ones, so I must be good and remain focussed on passive investing….
Lurking here for a very long time (c.2012).
Monevator, MMM, YMOYL, and a hat-tip to @ermine and @xxd09, have been nothing short of transformative for me.
We were seriously sunk back in the day – but with advice here and elsewhere we knuckled down and despatched all our debt (unsecured loans and our 25 year mortgage) by the ripe old age of 46 (yes, we’d had the mortgage since I was 21 !).
That was all done by 2016 and since then we’ve built up our buffers to allow us to work on my own terms, now whittled down to 2-3 days / week and maybe (just maybe) shuffling it all off by the end of next month.
Not too shabby by age 53, but it would not have been possible without sage advice from @TI and @TA !
You guys must have saved me a packet over the years so the subscription cost does feel like only slight recompense for what you’ve given.
I’m a big fan of keeping it simple, hence it’s Maven for me … looking forward to what you have to share in the future.
Great stuff – thanks !
Massive fan, no hesitation in signing up immediately.
Have a decent passive ISA & SIPP now, all thanks to your many many articles over the years. Here’s to many many more!
(Hopefully about 5 years away from FIRE now, so very interested in the decumulation perspective)
Very best of luck with the membership scheme. Been reading your posts and comments last 5 years or so and it has assisted massively with moving into retirement and de-accumulation three and a half years ago. I am not involved in active investing (other than asset allocation) and have signed up as a Maven. Enjoying the ad-free viewing experience.
Monevator
Signed up without hesitation. Best wishes going forward.
Please don’t redesign the site.
Happy to sign up as a Maven to support this great site – and avoid the adverts!
Another one, who has benefited greatly from the information on this site, over the years. More than happy to contribute to the upkeep of the site, as a small token of my appreciation for everything that you have provided. Thank you for all that you have done.
Very happy to support you guys with this – have been reading for many years and you’ve helped increase my understanding hugely. Onwards!
Signed up gladly. Thank you for this great resource. It has helped our household significantly!
Thank you both very much for all the time and effort over the years that you have put into Monevator, your posts and links have undoubtedly enabled me to retire earlier than expected and have a far greater understanding of personal finance than I would otherwise have. Very much looking forward to the de accumulation phase of your blog.
Yup, what they ^^ all said above! Started reading in 2017 after learning from MMM, but needed something UK-focussed. Found out we already were covered with the 4% rule (being naturally frugal, or “tight”), but carried on working a while longer. Now, only 9 more working days to go before goodbyes are said! Thanks for the help and the reassurance when nerves start to twang.
But also, almost at the end of Hometown cha-cha-cha. Thanks for the recommendation, but never mind the tenuous connection to FI. What it really shows is @TI is a romantic at heart, folks! 🙂
As many have already stated, happy to contribute. I’ve been reading your blogs for years and both enjoyed them and learned from them. In the de-accumulating phase nowadays and it is a bit of a mind game after the (hopefully enough) accumulation phase is done. Congratulations on your new venture.
I’ve been reading the blog for a long time but having sold my educational business in May 2021 it’s been a bit of a life saver.
Due to all your support, we’ve invested well and are set for the future with part-time work covering our expenses.
More than happy to contribute on a yearly basis to keep the content rolling. Inside information on FIRE life would also be super interesting.
Thanks again!
Long time (7+ years?) reader, one time commenter. It’s a delight to be able to pay you a bit for the pleasure. I’ve just hit my thirties, I’m about to try and weather a second redundancy round this year at work, and I wouldn’t have half as much security and confidence going into this situation without the patient passive investing advice and motivating weekend reads. Thank you 🙂
Immediately signed up.
Then logged out as I wanted to comment under my usual nom de plume and not the name I was logged in under with the membership.
Very pleased about you launching the membership. I wasn’t sure you’d actually do it. Long live TI/TA/MrsTA!
Supporting the site is an absolute no-brainer. I don’t want to think of the amount of money I have saved with the information here when the other option would almost certainly by paying an IFA a % fee for them to invest in index funds!
How could I not contribute to such an incredible blog.
Fingers crossed you get your 1000.
Thanks for all you do.
Have been reading for years and never commented until today. Your site is invaluable and the least I could do was to become a member. Good luck and much success!
I like the design of the site “KISS”, would be perfect if the send page to kindle plugin also added the readers comments to the article
Yes, don’t rush to change the look of the site. It’s clean and simple.
Another long-time reader, and now paid member. Keep up the incredible work!
Thanks TI and TA – I’m another of the many people who have benefited from Monevator over the years! So no hesitation in signing up.
Another first-time commenter. Been reading Monevator for the past 12 months or so and finding the advice invaluable. Signed up to be a Maven to support the great work from the Monevator team!
Instantly signed up! As someone in their early 20s, your blog has helped to cut through a lot of the noise from my generation on social media/tiktok about investing and get rich quick schemes that seem to be flooding in from everywhere. Very much looking forward to more Monevator posts and supporting you!!
Really just wonderful to read. Very glad to have made a difference. Damn, I seem to have got something in my eye. Must be a bit of dust or something. Yes, that’s it.
Thank you all!
I am really pleased to be able to contribute to the site. A long time lurker, this is my first actual post. The information you have provided and the comments section has been very helpful over the years, very much appreciated.
I’ve been reading Monevator for over six years, but I’ve never posted a comment.
Let me start by saying I’m really grateful for all the work you’ve done over the years. All that I know about investing I learnt here. And it’s been quite a journey – from moving to the UK a long time ago to recently becoming financially independent. It simply wouldn’t be possible without Monevator and all the amazing content posted here.
You guys are absolutely brilliant and I’m thrilled to become a member and contribute. Please keep up the great work!
(BTW I also like the design of your website. It’s refreshingly simple and clean)
Happy to sign up and support your good work. Time and again you have helped me keep myself on track. Would be great at some point to get a clue what the moguls are seeing – maybe a ZXspectrum column? – but avoiding temptation for now. Thanks for keeping on keeping on.
First time comment. Started reading 2009, your content has been life changing. Simple consistent index investing has allowed me to get on the property ladder, go down to 4 days a week and hopefully be FI in around 10 years. Happy to sign up and in some way pay you back for the £thousands you undoubtedly saved me from not pursuing the active route. Keep up the amazing work!
More than happy to support the provision of ongoing sound counsel!
Maven vs Mogul for me – keeping the good behaviour going for the next two years – ready to fight the “one more year” or start my decumulation journey!
Seems good sense to continue to have you all alongside foe the foreseeable!
Been a reader for many years. Don’t feel an urgent need to change anything on the site but absolutely delighted to help you guys out.
Thanks for everything!!!!
Well done for taking the plunge on this, about time you benefited from the invaluable work you do with this site. Without this site, I would have probably made a lot more financial mistakes than I did and be still at work rather than happily retired/funemployed.
The book next?
JimJim
Count me in. Though I’m definitely not a mogul!
Well worth the cost, hope it helps keep the site going for many many years to come. Loving the advert free clean site too.
Been following Monevator since 2016, you have definitely helped me and Mrs Dann on our journey to FIRE, keep up the good work!
Joined as a mogul to get all your content. I’ll give it a try at £8 and can switch later to £3 if I feel that’s best for me. I’m grateful and owe you for several years of the free content and an essential Saturday read.
From these comments it looks like over 70 subscribers and over 20 as moguls so far.
Thanks for all the content over the years, you have helped increase our family wealth by 10’s of £thousands. Glad to be a maven and pay a bit back.
Been reading since 2014 and have bookmarked numerous posts over the years, which continue to help and motivate me.
The only other subscription I have is for the Torygraph so celebrate/commiserate the company you will be keeping!
Also +1 for keeping the simple and clean design, which makes this website look different from others.
Like many I’ve been reading for years but first time posting! Happy to support the site. All the best.
This will be the best value subscription I’ve ever taken out.
Thank you so much for allowing me to freeload over the past decade or so! You guys have led me from financial uncertainty and anxiety to confidence, security and independence (with possibly a hint of smugness!).
I’ve been visiting this site every Saturday for 8 or 9 years. The financial education I’ve received has been priceless. Membership is the least I can do in return!
Once again, thanks so much to everyone who has stepped up to subscribe to any of the tiers! It really does make a difference to keeping this site viable for another couple of decades.
Also, these comments are amazing.
To be honest we’re tracking slightly behind where I’d hope we’d be in total numbers of people signed-up by this point. (Let’s hope it’s the bank holiday distractions! 😉 )
However we are tracking well ahead on feeling supported by readers here! 🙂 Especially heartening to hear from those of you who’ve never commented before, and also all the very generous insights into how this site has helped a little over the years.
Thank you. Onwards we all go! 🙂
p.s. Re: Hometown Cha Cha Cha, guilty as charged. I’m basically Richard out of the Joannie Mitchell song… 😉
Adding to the long list of “immediate subscribe “.
I’ve been here over a decade and you, ermine, mmm and mse are my go-to places.
Thanks
I’m one of the distracted ones from the long weekend who’s just subscribed. Chanced upon you 5 years or so ago and very glad for a UK spin of FIRE. The weekend reading list is excellent (pls keep the Kindle bargain section!).
Long form is back and the website is fine. Get Rich Slowly talks about de-designing his website, so perhaps you’re just ahead of the curve 😉
Delighted to become a Mogul !I have used your excellent advice and resources many times. Thank you!
Long time reader, I think about 8 years. We’re well on our way due to the simple yet valuable information from this website. I’ve signed up as I’ve always wanted to give something back to Monevator. Big thank you and best wishes with the subscription model
Unlike others, I wasn’t an “immediately subscribed”, I am very wary of ANY subscriptions. Even though I thought I should subscribe, I forced myself to wait 48 hours. The thing is, the more I thought about it, the more I thought it made sense.
So happy to pay my bit towards the content!
Thanks for the many years of advice and support. I’ve joined up too.
I think it would have been pretty mean-spirited of me not to sign up. Have been glued to the sight for well over a decade. I remember getting into personal finance type investing just after the GFC and somehow I’d gotten it into my head that trackers and low fees were good so I bought into a legal and general FTSE tracker of some sort with fees around 1% which at the time was relatively cheap. My investment promptly doubled in a few months and then, by chance, I came across this article (https://monevator.com/9-lazy-portfolios-for-uk-passive-investors-2010/) a year or so later, it blew my mind and served as a catalyst or tipping point or game-changer or whatever term you may like to use. From that point on I was hooked and have been an addict ever since. So a series of fortunate events, being the right age just post GFC to get into it (investing), but also just happening to touch that source of info (the MV article) that then paved the way to all the other bits and pieces, like Hale, Dominguez/Robin etc. – this allowed a financial framework/philosophy to be built up which I’m still hanging my hat on all these years later. To my mind, that’s worth a few quid in membership fees 😉
Like many others, first time posting after a few years of reading and happy to become a member. I really wish I had come across Monevator many years earlier as I would undoubtedly have been further ahead in my journey. Thank you ever so much for the invaluable and varied content and also for the links to interesting articles, particulary ‘off our beat’.
Having just hung up my spurs last week and as I now head into to the decumulation phase I look forward with interest in learning more about how best to navigate this thorny matter.
You might be getting bored of reading these messages by now but here’s another “long-time reader, first-time poster”. Many thanks for the brilliant articles as well as tirelessly cultivating the best comments section on the web. Like @A14M I’m wary of subscriptions but this one is a no-brainer. Keep up the great work!
Just signed up as Mogul. Thoroughly appreciative of your efforts. Your DNFS article remains bookmarked, and one for which I will always be grateful.
@Jiffy and everyone else — We will not get bored of these messages! 🙂 Quite the opposite. Nor to see the member counter ticking up by one. Thank you!
“Nor to see the member counter ticking up by one.”
Perhaps it’s just me but I’d love to see a Blue Peter style thermometer to watch you build up to 1000 fans, haha!
@Weenie — Haha. Well as I said earlier a long way to go. Not halfway yet! (Thanks for becoming a member!)
An easy decision to pay for such wonderful writing, always underpinned with the spirit and intent to help us all make more knowledgeable financial decisions. It has certainly made a positive difference to my investment approach and given a compass to navigate the financial world with confidence. As a dedicated reader for over the last decade, I very much look forward to the Monevator evolution and continued community spirit you bring.
Signed up. It’s the least I could do given the excellent content.
Very regular reader over at least a decade but an infrequent commenter mainly because of extraordinarily bad typing skills.
I very much appreciate your efforts and those of the Accumulator and other contributors. I always enjoy the links and, in particular, the breadth of subject matter therein.
I can sympathise with you regarding the impact of a change to search engine algorithms having myself experienced that in a former life!
Now happily fully retired and not regretting a day of it! Not really decumulating thanks to generous final salary pensions. Fully aware of how lucky I’ve been and often think how much tougher life would be if I was a youngster today from a similar background to my own.
I have been surprised by how many first time posters (me included) have come out of the woodwork so to speak and have contributed to this thread. Over the years I have felt it would have been helpful to obtain perhaps a different viewpoint on something I was considering and post a question, but never did! I guess it’s about putting personal information out there and then not knowing what the replies might be, that has always made me a “lurker”. Perhaps it’s time for a change.
Long time lurker, first time commentor. Have signed up to the Mogul plan – looking forward to seeing what this brings!
Without doubt my favourite UK blog.
I have learned so much about a passive approach to investing that I’ve probably saved £thousands in fees and simple investment strategies.
I’m more than happy to subscribe to something that actually provides real value.
I really look forward to reading your book when you decide it’s ready to be unleashed.
Keep up the great work you do in this space.
Hope you can still make it available to those who cannot afford it. It is important that as many people as possible especially the younger generation are connected with and influenced by your site. Keep up the excellent work.
@all — Thanks again once more for the ongoing great comments (and sign-ups). Just to add something different here, on the design point any redesign would be pushing towards simplicity not complexity. Most likely we’d lose the sidebar on the right and have a simpler cleaner page. (Especially as we get more members, which reduces the need to have multiple ad slots). In theory the sidebar helps new people jump into articles but in practice not so much.
@Silverback — Well nearly 80% of the new content and c.2000 articles in the archive will still be free (and hopefully updated more if we can make everything viable). But as I said in the article something has to give, after 17 years we can’t still be hand-to-mouth here.
I made the Maven’s level very low-priced because realistically I think that is within anyone who can read this site’s budget to be honest, especially annually.
Those who have kindly stepped up to support us are now our most important constituents, and they will get their exclusive new content accordingly! It’s the least we can do.
Eventually these articles will go into the archives, but it will not be for at least a year, and probably a little longer.
I agree we need to keep reaching as many people as possible. That’s why we’re trying yet another way to fund our ongoing efforts here. 🙂
Cheers!
Yet another lurker turned member – having found Monevator not long after I entered the workforce just over 4 years ago it’s continued to be an accessible, amusing, and most importantly well sourced and informative site, that I continue to point friends and family to. Thanks for all the hard work thus far.
Like many others, first time posting after a few years reading & benefiting from the excellent content and comments. Many thanks
Cheers guys! Just to let you know, if you’ve signed up after today’s email went out you can of course read the (locked) article on the website by logging in as a member. 🙂
Long time reader – happy to support the site having enjoyed and learned from the content over the years. The design of the blog is fine – wouldn’t say a redesign is a priority. Now in decumulation mode so would be interested in the post FIRe aspects in future articles. keep up the good work!
Signed up!
Please try to keep articles readable on both desktop and phone. I quite like the existing layout.
Decumulation very much my priority these days, along with IHT mitigation, but I appreciate @TI has a difference of opinion there!
@all — Cheers once again!
On my hoped-for redesign, yes it will definitely work on both mobile and Mac (probably better). It has to incidentally, otherwise you get hit with a penalty from Google these days.
The design issue really is not for regular readers but new readers. Imagine if you came to the site and saw Finumus’ (excellent) recent cost reduction post as your first article — compared to one of @TA’s old beginner-friendly articles? You’d immediately click away, baffled.
We need to find a way that old hands’ can navigate around as they like but the site is more open to new readers.
I’m definitely one of the tardy subscribers due to the Bank Holiday. I’d endorse all the comments above on how useful this site has been and I really enjoy the writing style.
Having finally managed to escape to Dorset (blowing up many of my slowly built tax shelters to do so) I look forward to more articles on the de accumulation phase. It does feel emotionally very different no longer adding to our pot.
Thanks again for all the hard work and to those who comment on the articles
Really pleased to be able to sign up. This site is so valuable, please keep doing what you do!
Whoop whoop – worth a celebratory Haiku courtesy of Chatbot:
A maven they say
Expert in their domain
They smile with pride
Not an expert in this domain… but getting there with Monevator’s help, and certainly ‘smiling with pride’ to post under my new membership : )
Just to add, Im also interested in the decumulation angle, but also in articles on helping the younger generation starting out to build up funds for retirement.
Seriously, a membership club for retirees? With the longest running marketing campaign on the internet? Sold.. I’m in! If it keeps the wheels on the wagon for another season. Passive/active mix for me. Passive aggressive I think its called. Cheers.
That did make me laugh. Also definitely think we should start a passive aggressive movement!
I’ve commented a few times over the years with a pseudonym. Just signed up – pretty sure you’ve given me more that £30 value in my investments over the years. I’d rather give it to you than ANY supposed newspaper!
The only other site where I’d pay to get the info is MoneySavingExpert (is that ironic?!) and as I think MSE is amazing, you can take that as a compliment 🙂
But don’t get too flashy on the redesign please – the whole flashy pictures, constant scrolling and needing to click multiple times on “modern” websites drives me crazy.
@everyone — Sign-ups are still trickling in, thank you so much – and for the comments here too. It’s pretty humbling when someone tells you your website is the first and only piece of media they’ve ever paid money for. Both myself and the @TA thank you and salute you!
On the redesign — we’re all on the same page here, fear not! I’m sure it would temporarily annoy some regulars if/when we do it (because change is always annoying) but it definitely won’t be flashy or click-heavy. It’d be more about decluttering.
It’s possible there’d be one ‘click’ to get to something like this existing blog format, which you could then bookmark as your home page if you wanted to.
But even then probably more likely we’ll run the blog as is under bit of ‘magazine’ style site furniture at the top.
It’ll be a balancing act between keeping existing readers happy and making it more penetrable for newcomers.
Perhaps we’ll do it in small stages. We’ll see!
@Calculus — Special shout out for your comment: “The longest running marketing campaign on the Internet”
Reader, I guffawed and spluttered my coffee across my keyboard 😉
Well, I’ve signed up. Thought I might try adding a photo but I think Gravatar has defeated me…
Oh! It worked! Does this mean I’m going to be an owl everywhere I have used my email address?
@Vanguardfan — Yes, your Owl upgrade will be applied retrospectively to your many years of comments. Hope this is what you wanted!
Many thanks for signing up. 🙂
No I really meant is it going to pop up on every other site – as I have different nicknames on different sites…
Curses! I cannot use Gravatar cos someone else has blagged a lowercase version of my moniker. At least no-one will have to see my mug
@Vanguardfan — Oh, I see. Yes I think that will happen as I understand it. I suppose Gravatar hails from happier times for the Internet…
@Onedrew — Hmm, that’s frustrating. Gravatar seems to be the universal solution for this (short of installing a whole new commenting platform/plug-in which I am loathe to do). But I must admit I thought it’d be logged to your email address and your name would be irrelevant. Could you modify your name here going forward?
@TI No worries, happy to cloak myself in anonymity. I wonder who onedrew is. I thought it might be me, but gravatar says none of my email addresses are logged to it. My usual avatar is me in a chauffeur’s uniform swigging fizz and having a fag – but I have been mistaken for Bob from On the Buses.
I just had to sign up. Ive been (silently) with this site for at least a decade now, despite not being UK based, and it’s been my steady companion keeping me on track towards financial flexibility. I couldn’t help but move the goalposts a couple times along the line – what is “enough” anyways – but I guess you can’t have it all
Thank you for all the great content over the years and looking forward to being a little part of this for much longer!
Whoops a bit late to the party. I’m also aggressively passive and am signing up to my first media account too. I shall never give up supporting you or pursuing FIRE.
Reflected on this for a week and decided to sign up – your newsletter is part of the reason I managed to retire early and has been a constant source of quality information.
Time for some payback.
Thanks for all your good work over the years.
Pleasure to join, you’ve earned it ( plus I can continue to make snide remarks about ‘the book’).
“Because you’re worth it.” Apologies, I know this is now an ad free site.
I have very little interest in being active with my money – it gets in the way of more important activities – but I have saved more, made more, and had greater reassurance in my (in)actions than this subscription will ever cost me. Oh! and the entertaining presentation and links to other entertainments makes post parkrun Saturday mornings such a joy.
I am a week late signing on, but I spent last weekend avoiding any possibility of being ensnared by… apparently there were some “celebrations” going on in London!!!
I am a very inactive investor thanks to you! Glad to contribute to Monevator.
Another long time lurker here…
I really look forward to your emails and I have learnt so much over the years- in bite-size chunks- from both yourselves (TA + TI) and other wise contributors and from the comments section.
The biggest impact this blog has given me is the confidence to invest and “stick with the plan”. The comforting reminders to “do nothing” in the current stagnant market are timely and like an arm around the shoulder.
So thank you for sharing your knowledge, and breaking complex concepts into chunks we can all understand- not an easy thing to do!
Signed up in an instant. This is without doubt the best money blog on the ‘net!
There are lots of US blog, most of which you link to, but not many UK ones which I really appreciate. Thank you for all of your years of hard work.
After signing up I now get emails for each article, I prefer to read via RSS. So if you could create a custom feed for subscribers then I would really appreciate that. I don’t know how hard that is but another blog I pay for that uses Memberful has that as an option…
In the mean time I will just ignore the non-member emails and continue reading in Reeder. Good luck!
@Blue Turtle “do nothing” is what I used to find hardest in my previous life as a money market trader but that’s one advantage you have as an individual, you don’t have to report regular performance numbers. You don’t have to do anything.
Actually I’d say you’re better off spending your time on something else and just checking in very occasionally.
Woohooo!! I am now a mogul. Bucket list complete.
Apologies that it is a week late, but signing up was never in doubt. You produce excellent content, written with humour and insight. If there were a Deity level I would have signed up for that. The more the better. Good luck and keep on rocking.
Yet another long time lurker and subscription avoider. I’ve been reading now for more than ten years, seem to recall I found the site after reading about it on SLIS (how I ended up there is lost in the mists).
Anyway, thanks for all the work you’ve put in over the years, it helped me quit paid employment early(ish) in my fifties around four years ago.
‘I grow old, I grow old. I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled’
Adding to the many comments to agree that this will be the best 30 quid I’ll ever spend annually, and I expect to keep doing so for many years to come. When I think of what this site has made me in cash and ‘life’ terms (potentially finishing work earlier, or at the very least stressing less about work because I know I’ve got my finances sorted), as well as saved me in fees, I can’t think of better value for money. As an added bonus, having left the UK nearly 10 years ago and lived in another (low tax – sigh – I miss those days) country before landing in the one I am in currently, I do also love the British ‘tone’ and sense of humour of Monevator – something I didn’t even know I would miss 🙂
Late to the party as usual but it’s good to be part of the gang. I came to this site a few years ago via Ermine’s blog, so a big thanks is due to you both. It inspired me to FIRE three years ago and I’ve never regretted it. Like many here, I don’t subscribe to anything easily. As an avid ad-blocker, it’s the least I could do.
@all — Thanks to the latest new signups to Monevator membership. Sometimes I wonder to what extent our tilting towards passive investing being the best choice for most people has hurt our growth as a website (because at least some passive investors set-up and then disengage).
The number of long-time readers who have popped up on this thread shows that isn’t necessarily so. Which is yet another reason why this has been such a positive experience so far.
Thanks again, all these memberships will add up over time and make a real difference to keeping this show on the road. 🙂
To the Investor
Your concern about passive investors getting the message quickly and switching off your blog is unlikely to be a massive concern, I suggest – though I concede it is stupid to generalise from one individual. I come back to you for the kind of reason some people read holy scriptures regularly: whatever the temptations that assail us every week, it pays to remind ourselves of the realities of living long lives, the compromises and ups and downs that are involved, and the patience it takes to stick with modest behaviour and reasonable expectations. Fortunately, your blog is much more fun than the scriptures I have read.
Bringing up the rear as usual!
I was a bit torn as to whether to go for the mogul membership, despite being a passive investor. Perhaps you could do the odd free ‘mogul taster article’, so we can see what we would get if we mavens were to upgrade, to help push a few more in that direction?
Good luck with the new subscription model, it is much better than being advertising based. (And thanks for your tech help with my sign in woes!)
Long live Monevator!