What caught my eye this week.
Hard to make this sound anything like a (not paid for) plug, but I’m sure our many readers who’ve been waiting for it will all want to know that Vanguard is finally ready to take your money into its Personal Pension (SIPP) [1].
I covered the main features [2] of Vanguard’s SIPP back in December, so won’t repeat that again. Instead here’s a couple of other articles that have run to mark the launch.
From ThisIsMoney [3]:
Jeremy Fawcett, head of Platforum, said the Vanguard Personal Pension’s competitiveness compared with Sipps offered by 14 other leading platforms across a range of investment scenarios, makes it ‘one of the lowest-cost options on the market, especially for those at the beginning of their journey’.
The research consultancy found that a typical investor would pay £172 per year to invest a £40,000 annual Sipp contribution, compared to an average of £238 on competitor platforms, with the most expensive charging £396.
And from the Financial Times [4] [Search result]:
The Vanguard SIPP is initially only available to savers who are still building their pensions, or in accumulation, but is expected to open to retirees drawing on their pensions from the start of the 2020/21 tax year. This is a significant market.
There were 984,583 pension drawdown policies in existence at the end of March 2019, according to the results of a Freedom of Information request submitted by Hargreaves Lansdown to the Financial Conduct Authority.
It’s worth noting the Vanguard SIPP option may not be the cheapest in every case. Depending on how you want to construct your pension, it could not even have all the building blocks you need either, as it’s limited to Vanguard’s own funds.
Still, I think it’s probably going to Vanguard-ize the UK personal pensions industry in pretty short order. We can discuss what ‘Vanguard-ize’ means in the comments!
Have a great weekend.
From Monevator
Oops. One of those weeks. For starters The Accumulator was doing sums for his next SWR article. For my part, I had all sorts on. We must try harder!
From the archive-ator: Do great investors live longer? – Monevator [5]
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 [6]
Growing numbers of British firms say coronavirus outbreak is hitting their supply chains – ThisIsMoney [7]
The huge AirBnB scam that’s taking over London – WIRED [8]
Secretive UK tax unit homes in on rich families [On Family Investment Companies; search result] – FT [9]
Housing market looks set for spring surge, as January sees highest level of property sales for two years – ThisIsMoney [10]
UK’s cash economy ‘close to collapse’ – Guardian [11]
[12]
The dangerous democratization of alternative assets – Institutional Investor [13]
Products and services
How to ‘do the splits’ on your mortgage [Search result] – FT [14]
New polymer £20 featuring painter Turner enters circulation – BBC [15]
Premium Bond prize rate to be cut to 1.3%… – MoneySavingExpert [16]
…while Nationwide launches a lottery-style savings account – ThisIsMoney [17]
You can still claim your free share from Freetrade [and I get one, too] – Freetrade [18]
How to invest in rare books – ThisIsMoney [19]
Price of first class stamps to rise 6p to 76p – BBC [20]
RateSetter will give you £20 [and me a cash bonus] within 30 days of you putting in your first £10 – RateSetter [21]
Shared ownership homes for sale [Gallery] – Guardian [22]
Comment and opinion
Avoid the zeroes – Of Dollars and Data [23]
Garbage time – Humble Dollar [24]
Picking bad stocks – XKCD [25]
Merryn Somerset-Webb: Pensions tax relief is on a slippery slope [Search result] – FT [26]
Event horizon: The safe withdrawal rate, annuities, and the brutal reality of low interest rates – Finimus [27]
The value of advice: Improving portfolio diversification [Research paper, PDF] – Vanguard [28]
When does investing become speculation? – Morningstar [29]
One portfolio risk to rule them all – Movement Capital [30]
Bobby Seagull: The puzzle of managing money [Search result] – FT [31]
Resigned to my fate – The FIREStarter [32]
The biggest truth in personal finance – Get Rich Slowly [33]
Your cheating’ wallet: On financial infidelity – New York Times [34]
This one change can improve your retirement wealth by 50% [US wrappers, but relevant] – MarketWatch [35]
Dow 100,000 – Klement on Investing [36]
Day-trading déjà vu
Small investors on epic buying spree fueled by free trades; drove up price of Apple and Tesla – Bloomberg [37]
More Reddit: bull attack [Search result; Stock pumping retail day traders are back, this time using options] – FT [38]
Naughty corner: Active antics
Hunting for sustainable dividend growth [PDF] – UK Value Investor [39]
Larry Swedroe: Value investors should follow their heads, not their stomachs – Evidence-based Investor [40]
Avalanche accidents and investment risk – Behavioural Investment [41]
Manchester and London Trust: Long the future – IT Investor [42]
Venture capital: Worth venturing into? – Factor Research [43]
Politics and Brexit
[44][Click to enlarge]
UK to close doors to non-English speakers and unskilled workers – Guardian [46]
The end of free movement: This is a nation dismantling itself over nonsense – Politics.co.uk [47]
Kindle book bargains
Lab Rats: Why Modern Work Makes Us Miserable by Dan Lyons – £2.99 on Kindle [48]
Secrets of Sand Hill Road: Venture Capital—and How to Get It by Scott Kupor – £1.99 on Kindle [49]
Hit Refresh: A Memoir by Microsoft’s CEO by Satya Nadella – £1.99 on Kindle [50]
Secrets of the Millionaire Mind: Mastering the Inner Game of Wealth by T. Harv Eker – £0.99 on Kindle [51]
Off our beat
What’s in your jar of awesome? – RAD Reads [52]
JP Morgan economists warn climate crisis is a threat to human race – Guardian [53]
100 little [big] ideas – Morgan Housel [54]
How NOT to run a business – Charles Sizemore [55]
Can a shorter workweek make people happier? [Graphic] – Visual Capitalist [56]
SpaceX has plans to fly tourists twice as high as the International Space Station – New Scientist [57]
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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”. [↩ [63]]