What caught my eye this week.
Technology marches on. I almost got knocked over by a stealthy Tesla this morning. The electric vehicles proliferate along my street like units spawning in a real-time strategy game.
Meanwhile, Apple is readying its Vision Pro headset to immerse us in new realities – or at least its App store – while chatbot AIs conspire in the wings. India just launched [1] a mission to the other side of the moon.
Monevator is not being left behind in this tumult. That’s right! Thanks to your support and the efforts of our hard-working engineer(s), we’ve finally enabled reader edits in our comment section.
That’s right, no need to regret one ‘s’ too many in the word ‘recession’ anymore. When you post a comment, you will have five minutes to give it a read through and tweak. You can also delete your comment entirely if you have second thoughts.
For Monevator members [2], there’s no time limit. Your comments will always be editable and can be deleted, provided you’re logged-in and posting under your registered email address.
Update 18/7/2023: Following reader feedback and further thought, we’ve decided allowing comments to remain open forever could have more downside than upside. However I’m also increasing the time limit for editing to 10 minutes, which I hope should cover most scenarios!
Say what?
Our comments are home to excellent discussions, and I’ve long resisted tampering with a winning formula. But editing has been requested many times. Hopefully this strikes the right balance.
One worry I’ve had is a rare malicious poster manipulating their comments for nefarious reasons. The timer should restrict the scope for that. We’re implicitly trusting members to be good actors by removing the time limit for them.
But just to be safe, all edits are tracked and stored. If someone does say something just to start a row and then sneakily goes back and changes what they wrote – a big reason I’ve avoided allowing edits for so long – then we’ll know.
For 99.9% of you this is irrelevant. But trolls beware!
Otherwise bumper links this week, with lots to be discussed. How crazy is that graph of parental help for house deposits? Then there’s the pension shake-up shenanigans…
Enjoy the reading – and maybe the writing and – have a great weekend.
From Monevator
How well do commodities protect against UK inflation? [Members [2]] – Monevator [3]
Interest rates on cash at investment platforms – Monevator [4]
From the archive-ator: Summertime [2020] and the living is queasy – Monevator [5]
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.
Mortgage rates hit a 15-year high in Britain – Which [6]
Renting a room tops £700 a month; £971 in London – Guardian [7]
GDP fell 0.1% in May – Guardian [8]
Bank of England: mortgage defaults rise 30% in three months – This Is Money [9]
National debt could reach 300% of GDP by 2070s, says ONS – Sky News [10]
Ripple notches landmark win with SEC over cryptocurrency – Reuters [11]
[12]Home ownership in Britain has become a hereditary privilege [Search result] – FT [13]
Pension raid to boost blighted Brexit Britain* news mini-special
‘Mansion House reforms’ seek to channel pension savings into unlisted firms [Search result] – FT [14]
All the official pointers and documents regarding Jeremy Hunts proposals – GOV.UK [15]
Rolling the dice on British pensions [Podcast, excellent overview but the call for local authority apparatchiks to make sub-scale investments in unlisted local projects using other people’s life savings is bonkers IMHO] – A Long Time In Finance [16]
How to opt out of Hunt’s risky plans for your pension [Search result] – FT [17]
Pensions industry tries to get to grips with ‘avalanche’ of developments – Pensions Age [18]
I told you so – Monevator [19]
*I may be editorializing a tad.
Products and services
Coventry’s new easy access account pays 4.5%; four withdrawals a year – This Is Money [20]
TSB launches £200 bank-switching offer – Which [21]
Transfer your SIPP to Interactive Investor in July and get from £100 to £3,000 in cashback, plus pay no SIPP fee for six months. Terms apply – Interactive Investor [22]
NS&I boosts rate on one-year bond to 5% – NS&I [23]
UK banks improve rates for savers after FCA meeting [Search result] – FT [24]
Open an account with low-cost platform InvestEngine via our link [25] and get £25 when you invest at least £100 (T&Cs apply. Capital at risk) – InvestEngine [25]
What to do if your phone gets stolen – Which [26]
MMM reviews his Tesla Model Y – Mr Money Mustache [27]
Amazing UK homes to rent, in pictures – Guardian [28]
Comment and opinion
Passive investors: enough with the puritanism – Humble Dollar [29]
Labour’s plan will not transform UK’s poor economic prospects [Search result] – FT [30]
Gen Z want to work ‘lazy girl jobs’. Who could blame them? – Guardian [31]
Bill Bernstein revisits The Four Pillars of Investing [32] – Morningstar [33]
Wealthy UK borrowers face interest-only mortgage shock [Search result; yep [34]] – FT [35]
Should emerging markets play a role in your portfolio? – Morningstar [36]
Why 1966 was the worst year to retire – Think Advisor [37]
Understanding Fat FIRE: an in-depth guide – Of Dollars and Data [38]
UK consumers splashed the cash, and helped push prices up – David Smith [39]
Have older investors become too aggressive? – Morningstar [40]
Career – Indeedably [41]
What exactly is your problem with stock index concentration? [Search result] – FT [42]
A blueprint for peak retirement – A Teachable Moment [43]
Naughty corner: Active antics
[44]UK PLC going cheap. [I wonder what happened in 2016…?] – Merryn via Twitter [45]
Private equity firms add debt. That’s just about it – Verdad [46]
The UK market boasts an abundance of high-yield stocks – UK Dividend Investor [47]
A first-half investment trust portfolio review – IT Investor [48]
Are you a good investor? – Maynard Paton [49]
This US small cap has paid an unbroken dividend for 205 years – Motley Fool [50]
Ten graphs that show how the year has been full of surprises (as usual) – Bilello [51]
Signs of hope for late-stage private market valuations – Axios [52]
Kindle book bargains
Money Men by Dan McCrum [On the Wirecard fraud] – £2.99 on Kindle [53]
The Ride of a Lifetime by Bob Iger – £0.99 on Kindle [54]
How to Own the World by Andrew Craig – £0.99 on Kindle [55]
Environmental factors
How alt fund managers became green energy leaders – Institutional Investor [56]
Orca whales are ramming boats. Why? – Guardian [57]
How ancient ‘skywells’ keep old Chinese homes cool – BBC [58]
Scientists are ready to formally declare the Anthropocene era – Sky News [59]
Will you catch dengue fever in Europe this summer? – Which [60]
Researchers find 176 bird species using man-made materials in nests – The Conversation [61]
Scientist says we’re in “uncharted territory” after world’s hottest week on record – Lad Bible [62]
Turning humid air into renewable power – Guardian [63]
Robot overlord roundup
How AI chatbots can help you understand – Humble Dollar [64]
Off our beat
What did people do before smartphones? – The Atlantic via MSN [65]
Do hard things if you want an easy life – Darius Foroux [66]
What to make of physicist’s claim to alien discovery? – The Conversation via Yahoo [67]
The 2023 Comedy Pet Photography Awards, in pictures – Guardian [68]
The story behind the Mission Impossible theme tune – The Honest Broker [69]
Peak China and the coming of ‘Altasia’ – Noahpinion [70]
And finally…
“Reps, reps, reps.”
– Arnold Schwarzenegger, Total Recall [71]
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