What caught my eye this week.
Remember when I said I was going to simplify the compiling of my Weekend Reading links?
Well this one is ridiculously long and took pretty much a day to pull together.1 [1]
Is it better for all this heft?
When I first started linking to other blogs like this back in 2008 or 2009, I’d include just a half-a-dozen or so and some well-wishes for the weekend.
Now you need to set aside some time just to read the list of potential articles to read!
I suppose it’s easier than browsing every site for all these stories for yourself. I’m equally sure some would prefer heavier curation.
But simplicity does not come easy to me.
Nearly a decade ago I advocated simplicity [2] in investing as best for most people – yet for some reason I centered my argument around a lecture on anthropological research into child learning behaviours.
Yep, that’s the stuff that made Monevator into the household name it is today!
Simple does it
I’m pretty normal in drifting into over-elaboration. There seems to be a human tendency to make things more complicated than they need to be, whether we’re talking about smartphones, relationships, or investment portfolios.
I did however come across a really great – and simple – piece in praise of investing simplicity (via Abnormal Returns [3]) this week.
On his Movement Capital blog [4], investment advisor Adam Collins writes:
It took me a while to realize that the solution to complexity isn’t managing it better – it’s avoiding it altogether.
So simple. Go read it [4]!
From Monevator
How I trick myself into achieving financial independence – Monevator [5]
From the archive-ator: Horizontal diversification – 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!2 [7]
UK businesses slip into deepest downturn since 2016 – Reuters [8]
Natwest launches new digital business challenger bank Mettle [See also Bó below] – ThisIsMoney [9]
Marie Kondo is moving into selling stuff that ‘sparks joy’. [Discuss.] – Fast Company [10]
Guardian-powered ‘Who Is Rich?’ mini-special
Labour says £70,000 a year makes you rich… – Guardian [11]
Bary Blimp [12] of Bolton thinks he’s “not in the top 5%, not even in the top 50%” on £80,000 a year – BBC [13]
…for the avoidance of doubt, yes, if you earn £80,000 a year you’re in the top 5%… – Guardian [14]
…but the super-rich are on another planet… – Guardian [15]
[16]
…or at least in London, where they are ‘rattled’, and seeking old-fashioned security – Yahoo Finance [17]
Products and services
Funding Circle revamps its resale market in bid to improve liquidity – ThisIsMoney [18]
NatWest’s new youth-focused, would-be Monzo-slaying digital bank Bó has launched – Bó [19]
Facebook and iTunes to cryptocurrencies — what happens to digital assets when you die? [Search result] – FT [20]
Explained: the state pension, and how the goals will shift in the future – Money Observer [21]
Ratesetter will pay you £100 [and me a cash bonus] if you invest £1,000 for a year – Ratesetter [22]
Hargreaves hit by transfer backlog in wake of Neil Woodford crisis [Search result] – FT [23]
Nationwide’s restricted-access regular savings account is the last 5% payer left standing – ThisIsMoney [24]
Should you get a ‘petnup’? – ThisIsMoney [25]
Comment and opinion
Compare your progress to your plan, not to other people – Humble Dollar [26]
It’s not how much – The Motley Fool via Twitter [27]
It’s a great time to get a mortgage, but will rates ever be able to get back to normal? – Simon Lambert [28]
Using first-order thinking to visualize spending decisions – The Simple Dollar [29]
Pizza delivery is for millionaires – Mr Money Mustache [30]
Review: Playing with FIRE documentary [Which is now on general release] – Much More With Less [31]
Are banks really magic money trees? [Paywall] – FT Alphaville [32]
Naughty corner: Active antics
Did computing power kill value investing? – Institutional Investor [33]
Jim Simons’ Medallion Fund could have charged 50% a year and still beaten the S&P 500 – Of Dollars and Data [34]
Are US stocks overvalued? – Ed Yardeni [35]
My worst investment ever – UK Value Investor [36]
[Political] regime change and valuation – Musings on Markets [37]
Negative interest rates and the perpetuity paradox [Touches maths I mentioned in comments recently] – Elm Funds [38]
Politics & Brexit
EU citizens aren’t scrounging on the NHS, contrary to government claims [Data] – In Facts [39]
It’s not just Boris Johnson’s lying. It’s the media that let him get away with it – Guardian [40]
Election debate: Conservatives criticised for renaming Twitter profile ‘factcheckUK’ – BBC [41]
The Labour party manifesto in full [The second longest suicide note in history?] – Labour Party [42]
Brexit talks: the brutal reckoning that awaits the UK [Search result] – FT [43]
Three lions on a beach: a sculpture for the age of Brexit – Guardian [44]
Kindle book bargains
How to Win Friends and Influence People in the Digital Age by Dale Carnegie & Associates – £0.99 on Kindle [45]
The Wealthy Retirement Plan by Vicki Wusche – £0.99 on Kindle [46]
Radical Candor: How to Get What You Want by Saying What You Mean by Kim Scott – £0.99 on Kindle [47]
RESET: How to Restart Your Life and Get F.U. Money by David Sawyer – £0.99 on Kindle [48]
Off our beat
The eight-hour workday is a counter-productive lie – Wired [49]
Long read: how our home delivery habit reshaped the world – Guardian [50]
Rituals and routines – A Wealth of Common Sense [51]
Light pollution is ‘key driver of the insect apocalypse’ – Guardian [52]
Extinction crisis: How can we end the illegal wildlife trade? [Search result] – FT [53]
The Google tax – Seth Godin [54]
Forgotten gods – Indeedably [55]
Greta Thunberg, time traveller – Guardian [56]
And finally…
“About once every generation, the markets go barking mad. If you are unprepared, you are sure to fail.”
– William Bernstein, The Four Pillars of Investing: Lessons for Building a Winning Portfolio [57]
Like these links? Subscribe [58] to get them every Friday!
- If this sounds crazy, consider that I vet everything. What’s more I read at least five posts or articles for every one that makes it here, and these days ever more of that reading is left until Thursday/Friday. [↩ [63]]
- 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”. [↩ [64]]