What caught my eye this week.
One of the most popular posts we’ve ever run on Monevator was my co-blogger The Accumulator’s origin story.
In it we learned how the high priest of passive investing pursued financial freedom to retire early from the daily slog of slaving for a big corporation, for a life of slogging away writing for Monevator and me instead.
(Don’t worry, it’s summer and he’ll be too busy chasing cows to read this.)
Plenty of you shared your own stories in the comments to that article. Which highlighted both the multitude of ways it’s possible to achieve FIRE1 and also the breadth of our community.
So I got to thinking perhaps it could be a regular feature?
This is your life
I’d like to try running a case study focused on a Monevator reader every month or two, revealing the secrets of your financial success.
Don’t worry, you won’t need to wax as lyrical as @TA to be featured.
Rather we’ll follow an interview format. I’ll email you a set of questions, you’ll reply in as much depth as you can, and then I’ll run the edited copy past you before publication.
I imagine all the case studies will be anonymous – except for the Internet handles you use in our comments, of course – and I’m hoping people will feel comfortable sharing quite a bit of detail.
I know we’re (mostly) British and that talking about money still isn’t really the done thing.
But by opening up about the ways and challenges of getting wealthy, we can inspire others to do the same.
Also, it doesn’t matter how you did it.
Index funds, active trading, hardcore frugalism, crypto, fat company pensions, a win on the lottery or an inheritance from a long-lost uncle – all routes are relevant and will add to our archives.
How to get involved
I’m really hoping some of the Monevator regulars will step forward to get the series rolling, but consider this call for entrants open to all.
So if you’d like to get involved, either leave a comment below (with a valid address in the email field so I can contact you) or else let me know via the Contact form (top-right).
Or if you’re reading this after subscribing to get Monevator as an email, you can just hit Reply.
I can’t wait to hear how many of you made it – and your tips for others who’d like to do the same.
Have a great weekend!
From Monevator
ETFs vs index funds: What are the key differences? – Monevator
Reality bites for private company funding – Monevator
From the archive-ator: Sticking to your goals when the funk comes to visit – Monevator
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
Inflation hits 40-year high of 10.1% as food and energy prices surge – CNBC
Food sales rose in July, but we’re spending more to get less – ONS
UK debt interest payments balloon to £120bn – ThisIsMoney
Two-thirds of families could be in fuel poverty by January, research finds – Guardian
Consumer confidence hits rock bottom as prices soar – Yahoo Finance
Blame Brexit: UK hospitality industry loses 200,000 overseas workers [Search result] – FT
WeWork founder Adam Neumann’s residential startup Flow already valued at $1 billion – Protocol
Student made $110mn trading meme stock fav Bed Bath & Beyond [Search result] – FT
Wealth managers warn retail investors over rising inflation [Search result] – FT
Products and services
Interest rate rises make the cash ISA tax shield attractive again – ThisIsMoney
Are student bank account perks any good? – Which
Open an account with InvestEngine via our affiliate link and get £25 when you invest at least £100 (new customers only, T&Cs apply) – InvestEngine
How much could the state pension rise by next year? – Which
The people ditching credit cards due to the cost-of-living crisis – Guardian
Is a payment plan for that new jacket a good idea? – Vox
Open a SIPP with Interactive Investor and pay no SIPP fee for six months. Terms apply – Interactive Investor
Older homes for sale, in pictures – Guardian
Comment and opinion
Retirement income as water management – Portfolio Charts
Read the fine print before consolidating pension pots [Search result] – FT
Panorama: The billion pound savings scandal [Video, iPlayer] – BBC
Sequence-of-inflation risk – Humble Dollar
Show us your portfolio, with passive guru Rick Ferri [podcast, US but relevant] – Excess Returns
Why do advisors recommend complex portfolios? – Oblivious Investor
Larry Swedroe: no, indexing is not worse than Marxism – Advisor Perspectives
When data fails – Of Dollars and Data
What bond investors need to know in a rising rate environment – Vanguard
Four common sense rules of investing – A Wealth of Common Sense
How portfolio rebalancing reduces risk but can also reduce reward – Morningstar
Consistency is overrated – Klement on Investing
Work on your terms mini-special
“The best thing I’ve done”: over-50s on quitting work for good – Guardian
Life is not a game – Get Rich Slowly
The joys and challenges of switching to a four-day week – Guardian
Small US towns are paying as much as $20,000 to remote workers who relocate – Fortune
How one early retiree made his $1million the old-fashioned way – CNBC
Naughty corner: Active antics
A thoughtful review of a long-term dividend portfolio – UK Dividend Stocks
Taming investing regret – Humble Dollar
Inside long-short equity investing [Podcast] – Capital Allocators
Are growth stocks now cheap? – Validea
Outperformance ain’t alpha – Factor Research
Quest for a perfect hedge fund benchmark demonstrates [to me] their aggregate mediocrity – MPI
Emerging market cycles – Verdad
Kindle book bargains
Why We Get The Wrong Politicians by Isabel Hardman – £1.19 on Kindle
The Ride of a Lifetime by [long-time Disney CEO] Bob Iger – £0.99 on Kindle
Anthro-Vision: How Anthropology Can Explain Business and Life by Gillian Tett – £0.99 on Kindle
Money: The True Story of a Made-Up Thing by Jacob Goldstein – £1.19 on Kindle
Environmental factors
Can eating fish ever be sustainable? – BBC
Water firms in England and Wales lost 1tn litres via leaky pipes in 2021 – Guardian
How future generations will remember us – The Atlantic via MSN
Off our beat
Lewis Hamilton never quits – Vanity Fair
The Brexit exodus of EU workers has left a ‘cost of Leaving’ crisis – iNews
Five lessons from history – Morgan Housel
Why you should embrace boredom – Inside Hook
The rise and fall of Ashford International – Londonist
And finally…
“All new markets are inefficient at first.”
– Sebastian Mallaby, More Money Than God
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The post Weekend reading: Tell us your FIRE-side stories appeared first on Monevator.
Why we want you to tell us a story, plus the rest of the week’s good reads…
The post Weekend reading: Tell us your FIRE-side stories appeared first on Monevator.
