What caught my eye this week.
First off, apologies if you got a rogue email from us yesterday pointing to a popular US investing website – and nothing else!
This was a screw-up, and the person responsible has been roundly ballsed-out – which was the longest talking to I’ve given myself in a bathroom mirror since I worked up the courage to ask out Joanna Jones when I was 13.
It was also a reminder that I really must sort out our creaking email system.
If you subscribe to Monevator by email (and how could you not, it’s free [1]?) then please watch for an opt-in reconfirmation in the next few weeks. That will ensure you keep getting posted our articles.
(The real ones, I mean. Not the SNAFUs!)
Watching the watchmen
Second, a quick pointer that the FCA is after comments on its discussion paper [2] concerning the rules around high-risk investments and regulated investment firms.
I appreciate that Monevator is the spiritual home of ‘two cheap diversified tracker funds in a tax-wrapper and you’re done’ investing. Many of the products being looked at – such as P2P investing, crypto, and crowdfunding – are frowned upon by true passivistas.
But personally I enjoy the opportunity to lose money experiment with all sorts of weird and wacky things – with my eyes open to the risks – and I know I’m not alone.
Of course there should be proper regulation, disclosure, and oversight. But active and esoteric investing shouldn’t just be for the rich.
Maybe you feel differently? Fair enough. The point is the FCA is asking for your thoughts by 1 July. If you want to have your say, you best get opining [2].
Otherwise there are truly tons of links below, just in time for the end of summer floods… Enjoy!
From Monevator
How an offset mortgage can help you achieve financial freedom – Monevator [3]
Defensive asset allocation and model portfolios – Monevator [4]
From the archive-ator: Enter The Accumulator’s confession booth – Monevator [5]
News
Note: Some links are Google search results – in PC/desktop view you can click to read the piece without being a paid subscriber. Try privacy/incognito mode to avoid cookies. Consider subscribing if you read them a lot!1 [6]
UK inflation hits 2.1%, ahead of BOE target – Reuters [7]
About 2.3m Britons hold cryptocurrencies, despite warnings – Guardian [8]
JP Morgan swallows Nutmeg ahead of UK launch of digital bank – Sky News [9]
Cashless society nears, with only one in six payments in cash – Guardian [10]
UK food and drink exports to the EU have plummeted – ThisIsMoney [11]
FCA urges thousands to seek compensation over pension transfers [Search result] – FT [12]
‘Big Short’ investor Michael Burry warns of biggest bubble in history – Business Insider [13]
Hong Kong’s Apple Daily newsroom raided by 500 officers over national security law… – Reuters [14]
…and the paper subsequently sells five times as many copies – BBC [15]
[16]
The distributions of equity returns are not that different whether inflation was rising (blue) or falling (red) [PDF] – JP Morgan [17]
Products and services
Equifax has revamped its credit score scale: does it matter? – Which [18]
Lifetime ISA deposits hit £1bn for the first time – ThisIsMoney [19]
Offer: Open a SIPP at Interactive Investor and you pay no SIPP admin fee for six months, saving you £60 – Interactive Investor [20]
Savers pull £24.5 billion from NS&I after rates are slashed – ThisIsMoney [21]
Fidelity now has nearly $18bn in its game-changing zero-fee index funds – Investment News [22]
Sign-up to Freetrade via my link and we can both get a free share worth between £3 and £200 – Freetrade [23]
Seraphim investment trust to give UK investors access to space – ThisIsMoney [24]
How the Maker crypto token reinvents the financial system – Net Interest [25]
Homes for celebrating the summer solstice, in pictures – Guardian [26]
Comment and opinion
Three solutions for index fund voting dominance – Morningstar [27]
Portfolio acid test – Humble Dollar [28]
Want to stick to your budget? Open six bank accounts – Guardian [29]
A mindful way to pay your bills – Rock Wealth [30]
Avoiding early retirement invisibility madness – Leisure Freak [31]
Predicting inflation is hard – A Wealth of Common Sense [32]
Factory reset – Indeedably [33]
Mid caps are not hidden champions versus small or large – Factor Research [34]
The evidence against private equity and venture capital – Advisor Perspectives [35]
Naughty corner: Active antics
When does the stock market go up? – The Blindfolded Chimpanzee [36]
Two stock pickers look back at their Covid trading journals [Podcast] – Telescope Investing [37]
Mega marketplaces – Drinking from the Firehose [38]
Ideas – Enso Finance [39]
The Schiehallion Fund: early and patient – IT Investor [40]
The post-Covid economy mini-special
Office, hybrid, or home? – Guardian [41]
Winners and losers of the Work From Home revolution – The Atlantic [42]
Kill the five-day workweek – The Atlantic via MSN [43]
A ‘Great Resignation’ wave is coming for companies – Axios [44]
Half of US pandemic unemployment money may have been stolen [Really?!] – Axios [45]
Covid corner
English Covid R number remains unchanged at 1.2-1.4 – Reuters [46]
What will delaying the 21 June full unlock achieve? – BBC [47]
All over-18s in England can now book a vaccine appointment – The Sun [48]
Brazil’s main Covid strategy is a cocktail of unproven drugs – NPR [49]
In hunt for pandemic’s origin, new studies point away from lab leak – Guardian [50]
Kindle book bargains
The Joy of Work: 30 Ways To Fall In Love With Your job Again by Bruce Daisley – £0.99 on Kindle [51]
Legacy by James Kerr – £0.99 on Kindle [52]
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill – £0.99 on Kindle [53]
Liars Poker by Michael Lewis – £0.99 on Kindle [54]
Environmental factors
How low can birth rates go before it’s a problem? – Five Thirty Eight [55]
Standard or ESG benchmark? – Klement on Investing [56]
Off our beat
Man swallowed then spat out by a whale – Cape Cod Times [57]
Harder than it looks, not as fun as it seems – Morgan Housel [58]
Some scientists believe the universe is conscious – Popular Mechanics [59]
Three couples in their 60s who share a house in their retirement – Guardian [60]
And finally…
“Indeed, the very idea of ‘normality’ is now little more than a fiction, and in no sense a guide to the future in a world continuously reshaped by radical uncertainty.”
– Gordon Brown, Seven Ways To Change The World [61]
Like these links? Subscribe [62] to get them every Friday! Like these links? Note this article includes affiliate links, such as from Amazon, Interactive Investor, and Freetrade. We may be compensated if you pursue these offers – that will not affect the price you pay.
- Note some articles can only be accessed through the search results if you’re using PC/desktop view (from mobile/tablet view they bring up the firewall/subscription page). To circumvent, switch your mobile browser to use the desktop view. On Chrome for Android: press the menu button followed by “Request Desktop Site”. [↩ [67]]