What caught my eye this week.
Long-time readers may recall that my investing life is ruled by an enormous multi-sheeted monster of a Google Spreadsheet.
This spreadsheet doesn’t just track my actively-managed portfolio and its returns.
It also keeps tabs on everything from my private investments [1] to the cashflows that enable me to unitise [2] my returns and so keep score versus [3] the professionals.
My spreadsheet also surfaces interesting data and charts, such as where I’m geographically exposed and what proportion of my wealth is tax-sheltered and how.
There’s even an implied sustainable withdrawal rate [4] sheet with various scenarios.
Needless to say, this spreadsheet also tells me my up-to-the-second net worth. (For good or ill [5]).
Naturally this value includes the asset [6] that is my house, as well as the liability of my mortgage [7].
But because I have various windows onto my financial status, I can see figures with or without the house/mortgage. (And the same for my pension).
Such distinctions help because, for instance, your personal home is an extremely important asset that should be factored in when you consider your net worth and financial posture – but for most of us it can crowd out insights into how your ‘true investing’ portfolio is structured.
For example, if you have 5% in a REIT and 45% of your net worth in your home, then you have 50% property exposure. Sometimes it’s useful to think that way. More often not so much.
I even have a ‘liquid/illiquid’ view that groups my pension (for now) and my private investments together as being functionally inaccessible.
This is handy to see what I could get at as cash if I had to cut and run. (The hopefully very unlikely Plan B aka bugout scenario…)
I did it my way
Some masochistic readers have asked me to share this sheet – or at least the template – as we do our mortgage repayment-or-invest [8] calculator.
But I’m not sure that’s the best idea. Mostly because I created this sheet to fit my personality and goals over the years.
I’m weird, and yours will be different.
Case in point: when I open it up, the first two sheets of my spreadsheet are watchlists – a fairly futile attempt to stop me focussing on the noisy movements of what I do own, and instead pay attention to the potential of what I don’t own.
At times I’ve even buried all my return data in a separate sheet at the end of a long line others, though that’s not my current set-up.
Again: an attempt to force better behaviour through structure.
Creating and evolving your own spreadsheet like this will teach you things about how you invest, too. And that’s valuable in itself.
They did it their way
Perhaps I will post more about my sheet someday.
But in the meantime check out Nick Maguilli’s article this week on how to track your net worth at Of Dollars and Data [9].
Nick’s shared his own net worth-tracking spreadsheet [10], too.
Its vastly simpler than mine, and probably better-suited to the majority of our sensible passive investing readers. You can always use it as a starting point if you want to build something more complicated.
One snag is last time I looked live UK fund data is a lot harder to come by with the Google query functions Nick employs for his ETF-based portfolio.
I have less than 1% in non-listed funds at present and I just update the values manually when I think it matters. But from memory you can scrape fund price data from Yahoo Finance with alternative calls to bring live values into Google.
A few years ago Fire V London shared a spreadsheet [11] that pulled fund data from Hargreaves Lansdown, so that’s worth checking out too.
A Google search [12] reveals this is a common roadblock. If anyone has the current and definitive solution, please do share it in the comments below.
Finally, if you’re just looking for an off-the-shelf tracker, then here’s how [13] The Accumulator does it with Morningstar. Note that TA prefers money-weighted returns [14] to unitisation.
What better project for the long weekend than overhauling your portfolio tracking? (I’m not entirely joking, given the weather…)
Enjoy!
From Monevator
US stocks vs the world: how often does the lead change hands? – Monevator [15] [Members [16]]
Reasons not to downsize in retirement – Monevator [17]
From the archive-ator: On the plateau – Monevator [18]
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.
Energy price cap to rise 10% to £1,717 on latest review – Ofgem [19]
Millions targeted by pension scammers… – Which [20]
…and lookout for the ‘business tax compliance’ scam letter, too – Which [21]
“Time has come to cut rates [22]” says US Fed chair in policy shift – Reuters [23]
Former Sunak adviser urges Labour to introduce wealth tax on housing… – Guardian [24]
…as UK house prices drop more than £5,000 in August – Yahoo [25]
Martin Lewis calls for rethink on Winter Fuel Payments – Guardian [26]
Alzheimer’s drug lecanemab given green light in UK, but not for NHS – Sky [27]
[28]
The economy is healing – Apollo [29]
Products and services
Buy-to-let blues: rents rise as landlord purchases hit record low – Which [30]
Britons going to Europe will need US-style Visa waiver from next summer – T.I.M. [31]
How to get the best deal on a UK mortgage – Guardian [32]
Open an account with low-cost platform InvestEngine via our link [33] and get up to £50 when you invest at least £100 (T&Cs apply. Capital at risk) – InvestEngine [33]
Santander Edge Saver: earn 6% interest – Be Clever With Your Cash [34]
Is now the time to fix your savings? – Which [35]
Homes for sale on islands, in pictures – Guardian [36]
Comment and opinion
A cautionary tale of stock market forecasting – Novel Investor [37]
Millennials are becoming Boomers – A Wealth of Common Sense [38]
How much income could you retire on and is it enough? – Vanguard [39]
Avoiding bad guys – Humble Dollar [40]
The return of economic idiocy – Cliff Asness via X [41]
A tree isn’t forest, a stock isn’t a portfolio – A Teachable Moment [42]
Why investors will always be buying US bonds even as debt swells – Sherwood [43]
Kamala Harris has the right ideas on housing [US but relevant] – Noahpinion [44]
Navigating the nonsense mini-special
Fooled by the truth – Annie Duke [45]
The C.R.A.P. framework for dealing with bullshit – Klement on Investing [46]
Naughty corner: Active antics
20 pandemic-era darlings that arced from boom to bust – Investment Talk [47]
Debunking dividend-investing myths [Podcast] – The Long-Term Investor [48]
The economy-wide bullwhip effect – Axios [49]
Berkshire Hathaway the mutual fund – Morningstar [50]
We’re in a godawful vintage for VC funds – Sherwood [51]
The summer of Bill Ackman’s discontent – Institutional Investor [52]
Kindle book bargains
The Happy Index by James Timpson – £0.99 on Kindle [53]
Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt – £1.99 on Kindle [54]
Smarter Investing by Tim Hale – £9.29 on Kindle [55] [£9.29! But rarely reduced]
Rebel Ideas: The Power of Diverse Thinking by Matthew Syed – £0.99 on Kindle [56]
Environmental factors
The promise of vertical farming – Uncharted Territories [57]
Charts reveal how air quality has changed around the world – The Conversation [58]
Rat-sized spiders make comeback in UK after nearing extinction – ITV [59]
The European boats fishing under a veil of secrecy [Search result] – FT [60]
Tesla owners are to get live updates of EV cost savings – This Is Money [61]
A new wave of climate claptrap [Search result] – FT [62]
Robot overlord roundup
Chubby, the AI-generated cat who could be the future of the Internet – BBC [63]
Waymo’s robotaxi depot is still honking its neighbours awake – The Verge [64]
ASML: AI’s laser show – Sherwood [65]
AI-powered coding pulls in almost $1bn of funding to claim ‘killer app’ status [Search result] – FT [66]
A running list of all the organisations partnering with or suing OpenAI – Sherwood [67]
Off our beat
The great wealth wave – Aeon [68]
Here’s why we must fight the Musk and Trump army – Prospect [69]
Somebody has already figured it out for you – Raptitude [70]
The woke pendulum – Uncharted Territories [71]
The gender life expectancy gap is growing. So what’s killing men? – Men’s Health [72]
I was a pawn in a chess game says teen swapped for Putin hitman – BBC [73]
“The sub-Reddit that radicalised me against small penis jokes” – Slate [74]
I wag, therefore I am: The Happiness of Dogs [75] – Guardian [76]
Stephen Hawking proved wrong about the most extreme black holes – Quanta [77]
On the clock – Humble Dollar [78]
The power of super-citizens – The Garden of Forking Paths [79]
And finally…
“The world clings to its old mental picture of the stock market because it’s comforting; because it’s so hard to draw a picture of what has replaced it; and because the few people able to draw it for you have no interest in doing so.”
– Michael Lewis, Flash Boys [80]
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