What caught my eye this week.
Very interesting news this week from Belgium is not a phrase that has grown stale from overuse.
But as the world gropes towards a better post-pandemic work-life balance I read [1]:
…workers in Belgium will soon be able to choose a four-day week under a series of labour market reforms announced on Tuesday.
The reform package agreed by the country’s multi-party coalition government will also give workers the right to turn off work devices and ignore work-related messages after hours without fear of reprisal.
“We have experienced two difficult years. With this agreement, we set a beacon for an economy that is more innovative, sustainable and digital. The aim is to be able to make people and businesses stronger,” Belgian prime minister Alexander de Croo told a press conference.
Ten years ago you sought financial independence to get out of a stifling office culture. It was about finding a better balance between making ends meet and the freedom to control [2] what you did and when.
But now everything from hybrid working [3] to four-day week trials to more calls for a universal basic income [4] shows the system may be adapting, too.
Capitalism co-opts and exploits – one big reason it’s so successful. What was rebellious in the 1960s was mainstream youth culture by the 1990s, for example.
4% for all
While it’s hardly a serious prospect, some have wondered: what would happen to economic growth if FIRE1 [5] went mainstream?
They’ve even couched the less productive population that might result as morally irresponsible.
But while it’s an equally unlikely prospect, I wonder: what would happen if it was the other way around, and the mainstream went FIRE [6]?
Could more of us end up – whisper it – happy at work [7]?
From Monevator
Quantitative tightening and you – Monevator [8]
What is the cause of high inflation? – Monevator [9]
From the archive-ator: Stocks and shares ISAs: Everything you need to know – Monevator [10]
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 [11]
UK wage growth lags rising cost of living – BBC [12]
Rents rising at fastest rate for five years [albeit only 2%…] – Guardian [13]
Natwest and Royal Bank of Scotland to close these 56 branches in 2022 – Which [14]
Covid bounceback loan or grant on record could cost you a mortgage – ThisIsMoney [15]
Developers face ban on building new homes if they don’t pay to deal with cladding – Which [16]
MoneySupermarket expecting zero revenue from energy switching due to lack of any meaningful choice for consumers – ThisIsMoney [17]
Basic income: Wales pilot project offers £1,600 a month to care leavers – BBC [18]
Government’s 5% mortgage guarantee scheme has been a damp squib – ThisIsMoney [19]
[20]
The looming threat of long financial Covid [Search result] – FT [21]
Products and services
How to be a savvier shopper at the supermarket – ThisIsMoney [22]
NS&I doubles the rate on Green Savings Bonds to 1.3% – Moneyfacts [23]
Is it worth taking the Open University’s free ‘midlife money MOT’? – ThisIsMoney [24]
Open a SIPP with Interactive Investor and pay no SIPP fee for six months. Terms apply – Interactive Investor [25]
Will insurance cover Storm Eunice and how do you claim? – Guardian [26]
Can smart meters really drive down energy bills? – ThisIsMoney [27]
Power of Attorney in desperate need of overhaul – Which [28]
How (and why) you might invest in forestry funds – ThisIsMoney [29]
Homes for those inspired by the Winter Olympics, in pictures – Guardian [30]
Comment and opinion
A down-to-earth story of striving to financial independence by 33 – Humble Dollar [31]
The psychology of the meme stock ‘revolution’ – Spencer Jakab [32]
Boomer mathematics: why the old can’t understand the young – New Statesman [33]
Facade – Indeedably [34]
Larry Swedroe: market declines are normal – Advisor Perspectives [35]
Here’s why diversification rarely feels good – Peter Lazaroff [36]
Look out for scams, especially as you age [37] – Humble Dollar [38]
Nine reasons why active investing is difficult – Banker on Wheels [39]
10 lessons learned from 10 years pursuing financial independence – Aussie FIRE Bug [40]
FIRE RIP – Tawcan [41]
Progress in economics – Klement on Investing [42]
More on inflation mini-special
Why are inflation-protected bond funds losing money? – Morningstar [43]
The inflation hedges haven’t hedged – Morningstar [44]
Why the stock market doesn’t like high inflation – A Wealth of Common Sense [45]
Crypt o’ crypto
When you count users instead of dollars, the NFT world is tiny [Search result] – FT [46]
Why proof-of-work staking offers eye-popping returns – Business of Business [47]
Regulators have cryptocurrencies in their sights [Search result] – FT [48]
Legendary VC Sequoia’s new $600m active coin/token trading fund – The Block [49]
Naughty corner: Active antics
Leaving the casino: how active investing can mess you up – Calvin Rosser [50]
Revaluing the mega tech behemoths – Musings on Markets [51]
Will this truly, finally, be ‘the year of the stock picker’? [Search result] – FT [52]
Covid etc corner
The trouble with one-way masking – Slate [53]
So can I eat on the bus again? And other post-pandemic concerns… – Guardian [54]
…though sadly not everyone can get out and about now – Guardian [55]
How the enemy [56] is decided [US but relevant] – Slate [57]
Kindle book bargains
Real Life Money by Clare Seal – £0.99 on Kindle [58]
The World for Sale by Javier Blas and Jack Farchy – £0.99 on Kindle [59]
The Joy for Work by Bruce Daisley – £0.99 on Kindle [60]
The Perils of Perception by Bobby Duffy – £0.99 on Kindle [61]
Environmental factors
Can going green (with renewable energy ITs) fight inflation? – ThisIsMoney [62]
Merryn S.W.: divesting fossil fuel stocks is so last year [Search result] – FT [63]
More than eight million trees were lost in the UK this winter – BBC [64]
Off our beat
A reminder of why I too sometimes delete comments on Monevator:
The problem with unmoderated online spaces is that a few people will always ruin them. Most conflicts between Reddit can be traced to a handful of active users with a history of angry comments. A mere 0.1% of all Reddits generate 38% of attacks on others, and 1% accounts for 74%. pic.twitter.com/yMbZLFAs78 [65]
— Ethan Mollick (@emollick) February 5, 2022 [66]
[The comment policy on Monevator is there isn’t one. This is a dictatorship. I delete comments on my whim. Almost always the comment will be troll-ish or abusive but maybe I got out of bed the wrong side. Who knows? That’s the policy. I typically only delete one or two comments a week. Thanks to the 99% of posters who make our comments a great discussion forum!]
The thing about a gold rush – Seth’s Blog [67]
Your next job interview could be with a robot – Axios [68]
Seven habits that lead to happiness in old age – The Atlantic [69]
The man who really feels your pain – BBC [70]
An ancient language has defied translation for 100 years. Can AI crack the code? – ROW [71]
And finally…
“The ease of online dealing makes many people act as if investing was positively scored, but the arithmetic of compounding dictates that it is really negatively scored. Success in investing consists mainly of avoiding big mistakes.”
– Guy Thomas, Free Capital [72]
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- Financial Independence Retire Early. [↩ [80]]
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