What caught my eye this week.
A few of you have been asking what happened to our pal Lars Kroijer? And it’s true, there was a time when you couldn’t turn to Monevator without tripping over another great article [1] by the ex-hedge fund manager [2] turned index investing ultra [3].
Well, I’m pleased to report that Lars is well and so are sales of Investing Demystified [3]. However there are only so many ways you can urge people to buy a global index tracker [4] (tell us about it!) and I get the sense he’s enjoying a bit of a break.
Never one to ignore a hint, however, I was able to penetrate Lars’ chill-zone defenses and persuade him to make another appearance on this website.
Instead of an article though, Lars wants to do something different – a real-life Q&A where he responds to reader questions.
Lars suggested doing it live, but I watched too much Blue Peter as a kid for that and feared a calamity. So instead he’ll record a video answering your questions and we’ll post it here.
Of course that does mean we need some reader questions to ask him…
So, what would you like to know from a man whose career improbably straddles the spectrum from successful hedgie to best-selling passive investing author? Asset allocation, overseas bonds: yea or nay, whether the hedge fund world is really as witty as Billions, do they eat Danish pastries in Denmark – all fair game I reckon.
Please ask a few good questions in the comments below. Otherwise we’ll have to pad out the Q&A with karaoke requests, and nobody wants that…
From Monevator
Can you invest your way onto the Rich List? – Monevator [5]
From the archive-ator: A mortgage is money rented from a bank – Monevator [6]
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 [7]
Pound slides to four-month low as Brexit talks end – BBC [8]
BT to hand £500 of shares to each of its employees – ThisIsMoney [9]
What matters most for our life satisfaction? [Data] – Office for National Statistics [10]
US birth rate lowest in three decades, despite improved economy – Associated Press [11]
[12](Click to enlarge)
The 150 apps that power the gig economy – The Visual Capitalist [13]
Products and services
ETF veteran hits out at negative-fee ‘gimmick’ launch – CityWire [14]
Swap gold for Bitcoin, says fund that has $1.2bn in Bitcoin – ETF.com [15]
Ratesetter will pay you £100 [and me a cash bonus] if you invest £1,000 for a year – Ratesetter [16]
Will anyone save the investment trust saving scheme? – IT Investor [17]
A dive into investment trusts that yield 4% or more – ThisIsMoney [18]
Charlie Bilello: Bitcoin has generally been a poor hedge against equity declines – via Twitter [19]
Fidelity’s new 0% index funds versus Vanguard [US but interesting] – Budgets are Sexy [20]
For sale: Homes used as TV and film locations [Gallery] – Guardian [21]
Comment and opinion
Why keeping up with inflation isn’t enough – SL Advisors [22]
The avocado principles [Month old but worth it] – Seth Godin [23]
Who can you trust with your money? [Search result] – FT [24]
Larry Swedroe: Emerging markets need time – ETF.com [25]
Would being richer make you happy? [Podcast] – ThisIsMoney [26]
…actually, money can buy happiness – A Teachable Moment [27]
The not so obvious reasons why people want to achieve FIRE – Financial Samurai [28]
Power of two – Humble Dollar [29]
What should you do with an inheritance? – A Wealth of Common Sense [30]
Why a lack of competition is rubbish for investors [Search result] – FT [31]
Meb Faber interviews valuation guru Aswath Damodaran [Podcast] – Meb Faber [32]
If ‘Hot Hands’ do exist, what then? – Morningstar [33]
Is buying expensive stocks – priced above 10x sales – ever a good idea? – Alpha Architect [34]
Brexit
Tory-Labour Brexit talks end without deal – BBC [35]
Labour’s Brexit tactics are failing spectacularly – Guardian [36]
Is there a single Blue Rinse Tory who doesn’t fancy a knee-trembler with Boris Johnson? – Guardian [37]
Kindle book bargains
My Morning Routine: How Successful People Start Every Day Inspired by Benjamin Spall – £1.99 on Kindle [38]
Trump: The Art of the Deal by Donald Trump – £1.99 on Kindle [39]
So Good They Can’t Ignore You by Cal Newport – £0.99 on Kindle [40]
The Personal MBA: A World Class Business Education in a Single Volume by Josh Kaufman – £1.99 on Kindle [41]
Off our beat
Goal! The football league that helped one man lose five stone – Guardian [42]
What happens when a podcast addict goes cold turkey for two weeks – Fast Company [43]
Air pollution is slowly killing us all, new global study claims – Clean Technica [44]
Manchester restaurant accidentally serves £4,500 bottle of wine, but wins on social media – CNBC [45]
And finally…
“Wealth is not an absolute. It is relative to desire. Every time we yearn for something we cannot afford, we grow poorer, whatever our resources. And every time we feel satisfied with what we have, we can be counted as rich, however little we may actually possess.”
– Alain de Botton, Status Anxiety [46]
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- 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”. [↩ [52]]