What caught my eye this week.
I am away from my (home) office again today, so it’s another premature round of Weekend Reading links.
When I go early with these I sometimes miss good stories. If you do see anything others should read, please add it in the comments below.
A few people have said they’d prefer to always get the links by early Friday afternoon. Apparently these paragons slackers are done with their working week by then. I admire the spirit, but when we publish early we don’t really see much of an uptick in views or comments so it seems to be a minority who can start the weekend early.
If you are reading this before 6pm on Friday and you wish you always could – at the cost of some missing links – let me know below. It will all be evaluated and taken into consideration, Sir/Madam.
Have a great weekend! 🙂
p.s. If we do get a Brexit resolution where Northern Ireland is in the single market but not the customs union – with an ocean border with mainland Britain and no physical checks on the border with the Republic of Ireland – then I suspect there may be a case for buying investment property in Belfast before the boom! There will surely be arbitrage opportunities in such a scenario.
From Monevator
The Slow and Steady passive portfolio update: Q3 2019 – Monevator [1]
10-year retrospective: Investing in the future with specialist funds – Monevator [2]
From the archive-ator: Or, why I don’t work 9-5 any more – Monevator [3]
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 [4]
Worst September for retailers since BRC records began in 1995, Brexit blamed – ThisIsMoney [5]
UK’s worst-off pensioners receive thousands of pounds less in state support than richest – ThisIsMoney [6]
London house prices suffer their steepest fall since the financial crisis – CityAM [7]
[8][Click to enlarge]
Products and services
Are VCTs worth the risk for higher-earners? [Search result] – FT [10]
Three quirky savings accounts to help you get a better rate – ThisIsMoney [11]
Non-transparent ETFs lure asset managers [Search result] – FT [12]
Ratesetter will pay you £100 [and me a cash bonus] if you invest £1,000 for a year – Ratesetter [13]
How home-swapping lets you travel abroad for less – ThisIsMoney [14]
Can [zero-fee pioneer] Robin Hood survive commission-free trades? – Financial Planning [15] [via A/R [16]]
Kent Reliance’s owner One Savings Bank and Charter Savings Bank merge – but keep double FSCS protection – ThisIsMoney [17]
The most viewed homes on Rightmove [Gallery] – Guardian [18]
Comment and opinion
A 6-point manifesto for UK investors – Financial Suitability Forum [19]
Holding a mirror up to mirror funds – The Evidence-based Investor [20]
The prevalent but problematic probability of ruin [Couple of weeks old] – The Retirement Cafe [21]
Economic ignorance – Crossing Wall Street [22]
What’s your delta? On comparing yourself to others – Of Dollars and Data [23]
The ‘nocebo’ affect and how it could harm your wealth – Financial Bodyguard [24]
Recent US bond returns make Ben Carlson’s head hurt – A Wealth of Common Sense [25]
Ivy league endowments make the same old mistakes, this time with private equity – Yahoo Finance [26]
Bored games – Humble Dollar [27]
Use your best judgement – Seth Godin [28]
The nine types of people you’ll meet in retirement – Advance Capital Management [29]
Naughty corner: Active antics
MSCI model suggests a 10% bounce in UK shares on Brexit deal, 15% slide on no-deal – MoneyObserver [30]
A letter to a friend thinking of starting an investment fund [Applies to any business] – Graham Duncan [31]
Just one-in-five active bond managers in emerging markets beat their benchmark – Institutional Investor [32]
Don’t fight the fiscal – The Macro Tourist [33]
Active managers best ideas outperform when they load up, but they don’t put enough in them – CFA Institute [34]
An investment tip from Mr. ZIP – Wall Street Journal [35]
Brexit
British people hardly ever thought about the EU before Brexit, now it dominates their lives – The Conversation [36]
Rethink demanded as UK admits EU citizens could be deported [Search result] – FT [37]
A great thread showing how the UK economy has underperformed since the Referendum – FT via Twitter [38]
Brexit: Boris Johnson and Leo Varadkar ‘can see pathway to a deal’ – No 10 – BBC [39]
Don’t forget the ideals of the foot soldiers who brought down the Berlin Wall – Evening Standard [40]
Brexit: What will happen to European Health Insurance Cards? [Um, we’ll probably lose them] – BBC [41]
Kindle book bargains
Fooled by Randomness by Nassim Nicholas Taleb – £1.99 on Kindle [42]
Who Moved My Cheese? by Dr Spencer Johnson – £0.99 on Kindle [43]
Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth – £0.99 on Kindle [44]
Little Black Book: A Toolkit for Working Women by Otegha Uwagba – £0.99 on Kindle [45]
Off our beat
How China is using AI in the classroom [Video] – WSJ on YouTube [46]
Japanese assault suspect ‘tracked down pop star via eye reflection in selfie’ – Guardian [47]
No one needs a superyacht, but they keep selling them – New York Times [48]
And finally…
“In the 1960s, when America was neck and neck with Russia in the race to get the first man in space, NASA trained the astronauts in one skill more than any other – the art of not panicking. Nothing else matters if you can’t control your reactions under stressful situations.”
– Ben Carlson, A Wealth of Common Sense: Why Simplicity Trumps Complexity in any Investment Plan [49]
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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”. [↩ [55]]