What caught my eye this week.
Besides a brilliant comment thread [1], our early retirement Christmas debate [2] concluded with a poll. That’s now closed and the votes are in.
And you, The People – as we must say these days – expressed your FIRE plans as follows:
[3]1,199 readers voted. Wish I’d waited for one more now.
Tempting though it is to present these results as a crushing blow for my workshy arch-frenemy The Accumulator, I’d say it’s really a no-score draw.
That’s because in hindsight the phrasing of the ‘maybe do a bit of work if interesting’ option made it a no-brainer. Only the most dedicated rat race escapee would turn down doing a little paid work they thought was both interesting and useful, surely?
Actually, perhaps the ever-reasonable Details Man really won the debate, given this result.
If so, the prize for victory – diddlysquat, bar the joy of me contesting the results when I see him next – couldn’t have gone to a nicer FIRE-seeker.
Enjoy the links, and your weekend.
From Monevator
The Slow and Steady passive portfolio update: Q4 2019 – Monevator [4]
From the archive-ator: Admit it – you miss the market meltdown – 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]
FCA proposes rules requiring banks to stick with a single rate after introductory deals – Guardian [7]
Vanguard prepping to enter UK advice space – Investment Week [8]
Your tax return: The deadline is looming [Search result] – FT [9]
40% rise in companies opting to leave the stock exchange – Guardian [10]
British collector sells 3,000 Matchbox toy cars for £300,000 – ThisIsMoney [11]
Two-thirds of London Capital Finances clients set to lose their savings – ThisIsMoney [12]
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Products and services
Six tips for anyone buying a leasehold property – ThisIsMoney [15]
Energy bills: Switch now to save up to £300 – Guardian [16]
Ratesetter will pay you £100 [and me a cash bonus] if you invest £1,000 for a year – Ratesetter [17]
Equity release mortgage rates are at record lows, but tread carefully – ThisIsMoney [18]
Grade I-listed homes for sale [Gallery] – Guardian [19]
Mini house price and property special
Halifax: UK house prices up 1.7% in December, lifting annual rise to 4% – Guardian [20]
London house prices link to earnings is ‘almost entirely dislocated’; North, no so [Search result] – FT [21]
What do you want to happen to house prices? – Simon Lambert [22]
Why one wealth adviser changed his mind about buy-to-let [Search result] – FT [23]
Comment and opinion
Charts of the decade (UK-style) – The Financial Bodyguard [24]
Mr Market isn’t so foolish, after all – Morningstar [25]
Extreme FIRE and how to live well – Simple Living in Somerset [26]
3 ways to get the ‘unbanked’ into equities [Podcast, US but relevant and passionate] – Bloomberg [27]
Massive ‘Tweetstorm’ thread making the case for global investing – Meb Faber via Twitter [28]
Why longer-term bonds have greater price volatility (interest rate risk) – Oblivious Investor [29]
Annual FI audit – FireVLondon [30]
How much does rebalancing frequency matter? An interesting experiment – Of Dollars and Data [31]
Gradual improvements redux – The Irrelevant Investor [32]
Crazy tales of financial fraud – A Wealth of Common Sense [33]
Naughty corner: Active antics
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UK Value Investor’s 2019 portfolio review… – UK Value Investor [36]
…another review, from one of my favourite UK small cap stock pickers – Maynard Paton [37]
…and a review of the past decade from one who focuses on investment trusts – IT Investor [38]
Secondary lessons from The Intelligent Investor [39] – Novel Investor [40]
A heroic attempt to make a theoretical case for active investing [Geeky] – Alpha Architect [41]
Brexit
The economic cost of Brexit has already hit an estimated £130 billion, with a further £70 billion set to be added by the end of this year – Bloomberg [42]
Kindle book bargains
Economics: The User’s Guide by Ha-Joon Chang – £1.99 on Kindle [43]
The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism by Naomi Klein – £1.99 on Kindle [44]
The Making of a Manager: What to Do When Everyone Looks to You by Julie Zhuo – £0.99 on Kindle [45]
Off our beat
Frog in a blender – The Feld Report [46]
The end of ‘someone’ – Seth’s Blog [47]
Obsessed with Wikipedia’s personal life entries? You’re not alone – Seattle Times [48]
2020: What a time to be alive – Morgan Housel [49]
And finally…
“The world is full of examples of two things that appear to be related because they move in concert with one another, merely by chance. The number of films Nicholas Cage appeared in is highly correlated with the number of people who drown in a swimming pool each year.”
– Ben Carlson, Don’t Fall For It: A Short History of Financial Scams [50]
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