What caught my eye this week.
I was delighted to welcome a first post from blogger Finumus to Team Monevator this week. What a coup!
I’m hoping for many great posts from Finumus in the months (dare I say years) ahead. Trademark hot takes from the eyes of a seasoned operator.
That, however, is the rub. Like all of us around here, Finumus is no newbie. Everybody writing for Monevator has to some degree already won the game.
The Accumulator declared himself financial independent [1] six months ago.
I’m the same, the way most readers measure it. (I’ve my own perspective on things so… not quite yet. But nearly!)
Lars Kroijer [2] is a former hedge fund manager. Let’s just say he didn’t lose it all in Vegas.
The Greybeard [3] and The Details Man [4] – should we ever see them again – are notoriously in de-accumulation mode.
As for Finumus, well, when you make £1 million on a single stock [5] you’re presumably not pinning your hopes on the State Pension.
The point is myself, TA, and our other semi-regulars are no longer hard-scrabbling up the slopes. Our snowballs have been rolling for years.
It could be you
This means we’re vaguely looking for a new, regular contributor. Possibly even two.
Are you a Monevator fan who can write a witty-ish and informative article every couple of weeks or so?
Are you pursuing financial freedom? Will you never miss a deadline?
Do people say you’re funny, in a good way?
Then we would like to hear from you.
As a potential contributor to the site, it would be ideal if:
(1) You’re nearer the start of your financial journey. We don’t want Monevator to lose touch as we retire to our superyachts (/dinghies).
(2) You’re a maven for personal finance. You’re shuffling cash around the best savings accounts, amassing huge tallies of credit card points – all that. It’s a blind spot for Monevator, and I’d love to correct it.
(3) You’re not a man. I welcome approaches from all genders and I certainly won’t be selecting on this criteria. But Monevator hasn’t got an all-male writing lineup by choice, so at the least please don’t let that dissuade you if you’re not.
(4) You’re very familiar with our style and content. A regular reader!
That’s ideally, not a list of must-haves. And anyway, for a variety of reasons many excellent would-be contributors won’t prove right for us. So please don’t take any rejection to heart.
I get half-a-dozen firms a day asking to submit guest articles (or asking what we charge for paid posts). Sorry, we’re not looking for promotional stuff. We want a fresh independent voice to bring value to our readers.
If this sounds appealing then please contact me via this form [6] with a short explanation of what you’re about – preferably with some links to your previous work – and we can take it from there.
Have a great weekend!
From Monevator
What can investors do in the face of low returns? – Monevator [7]
The secrets of the ISA millionaires – Monevator [8]
From the archive-ator: Here’s a great way to boost your income in an hour – Monevator [9]
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 [10]
Home sales surged by a quarter in February as buyers raced to beat stamp duty deadline – ThisIsMoney [11]
CGT got another reprieve on [anti-climatic] Tax Day – FT Adviser [12]
EV start-up Arrival secures record IPO for a British firm with $13.6bn float on Nasdaq – Business Green [13]
The real deal? The case for and against much higher inflation – Reuters [14]
Hours of work mini-special
Spain is looking to trial a four-day work week – Time [15]
Working one day a week is the secret of happiness [Told you, FIRE-ees] – Guardian [16]
10 ways office work will never be the same again – Vox [17]
Products and services
Vanguard debuts first ESG ETF in Europe – ETF Strategy [18]
Buying a £5,000 bike from Poland has become a Brexit nightmare – Guardian [19]
BlackRock cuts fees on $7.6bn style ETFs to near-zero [US, but watch iShares in UK] – Yahoo Finance [20]
Mortgage hope is on the horizon… unless you want to buy a flat – Guardian [21]
Sign-up to Freetrade via my link and we can both get a free share worth between £3 and £200 – Freetrade [22]
John Lewis reveals locations of eight more stores set to close – ThisIsMoney [23]
New £50 note featuring Alan Turing to enter circulation in June – Guardian [24]
City centre flats for sale, in pictures – Guardian [25]
Comment and opinion
Martin Wolf: the return of the inflation spectre [Search result] – FT [26]
Five investing powers – Morgan Housel [27]
Inflation matters more for the stock market than interest rates – AWOCS [28]
Are we really ready to trade returns for ESG? – Behavioural Investment [29]
Insecurity and high house prices drive young to risky investments – CityWire [30]
The risks coming home to roost for the bond market – Humble Dollar [31]
Do we become better investors as we age? – Larry Swedroe [32]
How to build wealth in your 50s – Banker on FIRE [33]
The problem with portfolio optimisers – Morningstar [34]
CAPE fear [On an interest-rate adjusted CAPE ratio] – Humble Dollar [35]
Naughty corner: Active antics
A beggar’s life – Enso Finance [36]
Robinhood traders are patsies – Klement on Investing [37]
The top-performing UK funds and trusts since 1999 – ThisIsMoney [38]
Interest rates, earnings growth, and equity value – Musings on Markets [39]
How big can Smithson Investment Trust get? – IT Investor [40]
Past peak mania special second mini-special
The worst type of sell-off – The Irrelevant Investor [41]
Tech bubble or rotation? – The Big Picture [42]
The excess of everything – John Street Capital [43]
Non-compete – The Reformed Broker [44]
Covid corner
Why you can’t compare Covid-19 vaccines [Video] – Vox via YouTube [45]
The common cold can boot out Covid [for a bit] – BBC [46]
Vaccines required investors who were long-term greedy [Search result] – FT [47]
France claims UK will struggle to source second vaccine doses – Guardian [48]
Past infection increases vaccine response six-fold – BBC [49]
We are all either desperately lonely or desperate for alone time – Guardian [50]
Kindle book bargains
How to Own the World [Newer, 2019 edition] by Andrew Craig – £0.99 on Kindle [51]
Business Adventures: 12 Classic Tales from Wall Street by John Brooks – £0.99 on Kindle [52]
Money Saving Book: Simple Hacks for a Happy Life by Holly Smith – £0.99 on Kindle [53]
Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist by Kate Raworth – £0.99 on Kindle [54]
Remember, a Kindle [55] is not just for Christmas.
Environmental factors
Bitcoin is a filthy technology with a massive carbon footprint… – Bloomberg [56]
…or is it effectively a battery, enabling greener energy? – Nick Grossman [57]
Off our beat
Mark Carney: “We are seeing a crisis in values” – Guardian [58]
And finally…
“All I can say is that on this earth there are pestilences and there are victims– and as far as possible one must refuse to be on the side of the pestilence.”
Albert Camus, The Plague [59]
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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”. [↩ [65]]