What caught my eye this week.
After compiling this list of the best money and investing reads for over a decade now, it’s rare I come across anything super new.
But I loved this fresh idea from Pete The Planner [1] on how to borrow money from your own emergency fund.
Hold up – borrow your own money?
That’s right. Sort of.
Pete explains it’s down to one of those endearing tics of being human. Many people would rather borrow from a lender – and pay interest – because they prefer to see a repayment schedule in place, rather than raid their own emergency fund that they’d diligently saved [2] for a rainy day.
Even when it starts to rain!
One reason is they don’t trust themselves. But research provides a possible solution, says Pete [1]:
In a lab experiment, researchers found that when subjects were given the option of taking money from savings and entering into a “pay-back” agreement, they were more willing to use their savings rather than borrow money.
So simple. See Pete’s blog for a quick example with numbers.
As somebody who got a mortgage [3] because I couldn’t bear to spend the money I’d socked away in ISAs for this very purpose (okay, and to lose the tax wrapping) I can relate.
Anyone else found any leaks in their mental accounting buckets [4]?
Let us know in the comments below.
From Monevator
The stock market is wilder than you think – Monevator [5]
Get out of debt to unleash your inner money maker – Monevator [6]
From the archive-ator: Why factor return premiums can be disappointing – Monevator [7]
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 [8]
Brexit: ‘Very little progress’ in negotiations with the EU, UK says – Sky News [9]
Coronavirus furlough scheme extended to end of October 2020 – Which? [10]
UK scheme for self-employed signs up 440,000 workers on first day – Guardian [11]
London congestion charge comes back Monday, with a price rise from 22 June – BBC [12]
Opening of English housing market catches estate agents on the hop – Guardian [13]
Housebuilding to fall by a third as construction sites reopen with strict distancing rules – ThisIsMoney [14]
Seven out of ten dentists could go bust by the end of summer without state aid – ThisIsMoney [15]
[16]
Strategists query sudden ‘sprint’ in US stocks. Bear rallies over the past 150 years have been gradual and often rocky, says SocGen [Search result] – FT [17]
Products and services
Bounce back loans: How to apply for this helping hand from government – Much More With Less [18]
Help to Buy ISAs vs Lifetime ISAs: which will get you on the property ladder first? – Which? [19]
Mortgage rates drop to their lowest ever average level – ThisIsMoney [20]
Sign-up to Freetrade via my link [21] and we can both get a free share worth between £3 and £200 – Freetrade [21]
Market-leading easy access savings rate slashed from 1.2% to 1.05% – ThisIsMoney [22]
Homes with income potential [Gallery] – Guardian [23]
Comment and opinion
Nothing fails quite like success in the stock market – A Wealth of Common Sense [24]
Is it indefensible not to take out a pension? – Indeedably [25]
Why liquid net worth is so important for your finances – Of Dollars and Data [26]
The people who beat the stock market – Banker on FIRE [27]
The Long Road to Financial Independence: Kat’s Journey – A Chat With Kat [28]
The stock market is [not] ignoring the real economy – The Reformed Broker [29]
Larry Swedroe: Is it really stocks for the long run? – The Evidence-based Investor [30]
We need to talk about ergodicity – Behavioural Investment [31]
Naughty corner: Active antics
Ichigo Ichie – All Star Charts [32]
Can stocks and bonds both be right about this crisis and the global economy? – CNBC [33]
Tips for stock pickers in a coronavirus world – UK Value Investor [34]
A deep dive into the Herald Investment Trust – IT Investor [35]
The stock picker who delivered a 2,550% return: Marlborough’s veteran UK small cap fund manager Giles Hargreave to step down after 22 years… – ThisIsMoney [36]
…while Invesco dumps Woodford protege Mark Barnett after he fell 30% behind the market – ThisIsMoney [37]
It could be a good time to buy Buffett’s lackluster Berkshire Hathaway – Tiho Brkan via Twitter [38]
The illusion of alpha in active bond management – The Evidence-based Investor [39]
Wall Street heavyweights sound the alarm about stock prices – Bloomberg [40]
Why the most futuristic investor in tech wants to back society’s outcasts – The Hustle [41]
Is (systematic) value investing dead? – AQR [42]
Covid-19 corner
[43][Click to enlarge the good/bad news]
…and up-to-date graphs of case rate rises and falls in different countries – End Coronavirus [45]
The risks – know them – avoid them [Excellent] – Professor Erin Bromage [46]
A summary of all the major vaccine and treatment contenders – CNBC [47]
Covid-19 ‘R’ rate for various areas of England, compiled in real-time – PHE/Cambridge University [48]
Public Health England approves Roche’s antibody test as accurate – Guardian [49] & BBC [50]
Without a vaccine, herd immunity won’t save us [Includes a cool interactive tool] – FiveThirtyEight [51]
App shows promise in tracking new coronavirus cases, study finds – New York Times [52]
‘Weird as hell’: the Covid-19 patients who have symptoms for months – Guardian [53]
The co-morbidity question – The Actuary [54]
Dutch official advice to single people: find a sex buddy for lockdown – Guardian [55]
Kindle book bargains
The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity by Carlo Cipolla – £0.99 on Kindle [56]
Digital Transformation: Survive and Thrive in an Era of Mass Extinction by Thomas Siebel – £0.99 on Kindle [57]
Money: A User’s Guide by Laura Whateley – £0.99 on Kindle [58]
The Hating Game [‘The very best book to self-isolate with’] by Sally Thorne – £0.99 on Kindle [59]
Off our beat
“I got fired over Zoom” – The Atlantic [60]
The virtual reality winter [On the technology] – Benedict Evans [61]
How the coronavirus turned a pilot shortage into a surplus overnight – Abnormal Returns [62]
And finally…
“The hungrier one becomes, the clearer one’s mind works— also the more sensitive one becomes to the odors of food.”
– George S. Clason, The Richest Man in Babylon [63]
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