What caught my eye this week.
Welcome back and Happy New Year! I hope you got just what you wanted for Christmas, and that you continue to get what you want for the rest of the year.
Well, just so long as what you want includes a sufficiently severe enough case of investing obsession to keep you coming back to Monevator throughout 2025.
Of course if you’re reading this article – and it’s not because you were sloppily Googling for old Mr Motivator videos to kickstart your fitness goals – then you’re probably already a bit of an investing nerd.
And that makes you unusual. Indeed I can’t remember a time when most people were less interested in shares.
If I allude to Monevator when meeting new people then I usually get more questions about crypto, side hustles, or buy-to-let than anything about the stock market.
In contrast, 20 years ago there were investing programmes on daytime TV and realms of coverage in the business pages.
That’s mostly all gone – and TikTok videos about YOLO-ing into MicroStrategy shares are a poor substitute.
A land of unbelievers
To the extent that this all reflects a sober move towards passive investing [1], I can hardly complain.
I might be a stock picking nutter but that’s not what I believe most people should do.
And while my co-blogger The Accumulator can bore for Blighty on the 4% rule [2] – seriously, don’t get trapped with him in the kitchen at a party – index fund investing is largely set-and-forget. There’s not much to make a TV show about.
However I don’t believe the eerie quiet really reflects a nation secretly growing rich on their global trackers.
The Financial Times [3] just published data from Abrdn (sadly that’s not a typo) showing Britons have the ‘lowest appetite’ in the G7 when it comes to stock market investing:
[4]
Okay, we are doing well for investing in pensions. So perhaps there is a bit of slow and steady compounding in retirement accounts crowding out the enthusiasm for shares I recall from the past.
Moreover, the FT explains the sky-high US allocation to directly owning equities partly reflects that it has so many more very wealthy people. In contrast those of moderate means prefer to invest in housing.
Not that the US becoming so much richer than us is a comfort. But it is another story.
Spread the word
However you interpret this data, I think it’s a shame so few directly invest in equities.
Investing in the stock market made me financially independent in 20-odd years without a rockstar income.
And while there was certainly plenty of hard saving and a bit of luck (or even – cough – skill) in the mix, I still believe snowballing your way to financial freedom via the stock market is an aspiration open to everyone, not just the rich.
If you do too then let’s spread the word to more of our countrymen and women in 2025.
I’ll do my bit with this website. But how will you get your friends and family to tune in?
Besides regularly sending them Monevator articles, I mean.
Let us know in the comments, and have a great weekend – and a great year.
p.s. A quick thanks after dozens of new Monevator members [5] signed up following my Christmas post [6]. I’m a bit flummoxed as to why this call to action did so well, to be honest. But my hunch is the stream of generous comments from existing members played a part. Social proof is a powerful force and reading so many people saying nice things probably reassured a few more into joining us [5]. So thank you!
From Monevator
Amateur activist – Monevator [7] [Mogul members [5]]
From the archive-ator: The most important goal for every retiree – Monevator [8]
News
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IFS’s Paul Johnson says higher mortgage rates here to stay – This Is Money [9]
Post-Christmas blues as bosses try to reverse hybrid working – Guardian [10]
Over-60s taking out student loans they’re ‘unlikely’ to ever repay – i Paper [11]
Premium Bonds saver scoops £1m on first-ever prize draw – This Is Money [12]
“There aren’t enough jobs for everyone”, says recent law graduate – BBC [13]
British start-up attacks LSE as it reveals plan to delist… – Telegraph via Y.F. [14]
…after UK market sees £145bn of companies go in takeover frenzy… – T.I.M. [15]
… though London is not the only shrinking stock market – FT [16]
[17]
Selling heat pumps across Germany’s political divide – Guardian [18]
Products and services
Best packaged bank accounts – Be Clever With Your Cash [19]
Six ways to take control of your pensions in 2025 – Which [20]
Get up to £1,500 cashback when you transfer your cash and/or investments to Charles Stanley [21]. Terms apply – Charles Stanley [21]
Beware of offers to open betting accounts in your name – Guardian [22]
Is it worth shopping around for gas and electricity again? – Guardian [23]
First Direct switch offer: get £175, plus cashback – Be Clever With Your Cash [24]
How to return unwanted festive gifts – This Is Money [25]
Monzo makes viral ‘1p challenge’ official with £668-a-year feature – T.I.M. [26]
Open an account with low-cost platform InvestEngine via our link [27] and get up to £100 when you invest at least £100 (T&Cs apply. Capital at risk) – InvestEngine [27]
Homes for sale in remote parts of Britain, in pictures – Guardian [28]
Comment and opinion
Global diversification is still working – Cullen Roche [29]
Three improvements for 2025 – Fortunes & Frictions [30]
IHT raid on pensions puts millions at risk of poverty in later life – T.I.M. [31]
The millionaires living the ‘underconsumption’ life – Yahoo Finance [32]
This couple retired in their 30s in 1991 and have no regrets – CNBC [33]
Secrets of an airline points millionaire [Search result] – FT [34]
Are millennials right to accuse boomers of hoarding? – Slate [35]
Labour’s pension reforms are based on flawed analysis [Search result] – FT [36]
Spend to live, save to die – A Teachable Moment [37]
Forward motion, not retiring – We’re Gonna Get Those Bastards [38]
Predictions and forecasts mini-special
12 things that probably won’t happen in 2025 – A Wealth of Common Sense [39]
Marketing, masquerading as investment expertise – Fortunes & Frictions [40]
30 years ago Tomorrow’s World predicted 2025. How’d it do? – BBC [41]
Scientist’s ‘ruthlessly imaginative’ predictions from 1925 mostly came true – Guardian [42]
Forecast mostly gloomy, but that’s a good thing [Search result] – FT [43]
Naughty corner: Active antics
On dividends and stock price fluctuations – Dividend Growth Investor [44]
MicroStrategy mania exposes rare fault line in ETF industry – FT [45]
Ten cheap US wide-moat stocks for 2025 – Morningstar [46]
Stock picking hedge funds post highest average returns since 2020 – Reuters [47]
Owning one BTC is better than being a millionaire – Bitcoin Magazine [48]
Kindle book bargains
The Black Swan by Nassim Taleb – £0.99 on Kindle [49]
The Simple Path to Wealth by J.C. Collins – £0.99 on Kindle [50]
Number Go Up: Inside Crypto… by Zeke Faux – £0.99 on Kindle [51]
Side Hustle by Chris Guillebeau – £0.99 on Kindle [52]
Environmental factors
Insects flourish in restored habitats on solar energy farms – Bird Guides [53]
UK needs to ban full hybrid cars by 2030 says motoring body – Guardian [54]
Hakai’s last post [another great indie site goes R.I.P.] – Hakai [55]
Nine stories that prove not all hope is lost for the climate – Vox [56]
Robot overlord roundup
‘Godfather of AI’ shortens odds of it wiping out humanity – Guardian [57]
Can France become an AI powerhouse? [Search result] – FT [58]
AI-powered OnlyFans rival launches in London with £3m funding – T.I.M. [59]
Origin stories mini-special
Morris Chang and the origins of TSMC – Construction Physics [60]
Better Man and the origin of Robbie Williams – Roger Ebert [61]
Leonid Radvinsky and the origins of OnlyFans – Reuters [62]
Off our beat
Four questions – Humble Dollar [63]
UK’s biggest ever dinosaur footprint site unearthed – BBC [64]
77 mind-blowing facts from The Atlantic’s 2024 – The Atlantic [65]
America has lost control of bird flu – KFF News [66] [h/t Abnormal Returns [66]]
Why thousands of Hongkongers have moved to the Midlands – BBC [67]
Repetition tricks the mind into thinking a thing will last forever – Guardian [68]
And finally…
“Churchill sent Keynes a cable reading, ‘Am coming around to your point of view’. His Lordship replied, ‘Sorry to hear it. Have started to change my mind’.”
– Philip Tetlock, Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction [69]
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