A new-ish short duration index-linked gilt fund from iShares gives UK investors an easy way to hedge against inflation – without taking on huge interest rate risk. Now I realise that sounded like “schmargle bargle bumpty tumpty” to some readers. So today I’ll explain as succinctly as I can why this new iShares fund should be good news for everyday UK investors like us. What’s that you say? ‘Should be’ good news? Ahem – yes. Alas there’s a catch. After a Monevator reader comment got us and others excited about this new fund, it transpires the reason we hadn’t heard of it seems to be becaus ..read more

What caught my eye this week. Hard to believe it’s more than ten years ago that I wrote – slightly tongue-in-cheek – about how I was betting against Neil Woodford. The then-lauded fund manager had just handed back the reins of the Edinburgh Investment Trust – one of several funds he ran as Invesco’s superstar manager – because he was opening his own fund shop. Edinburgh’s share price fell from a 5% premium to trade at a discount to NAV in response. But I reasoned: Sure, a few [other] income investment trusts are on a discount, but my point is it’s clearly possible to run an income trust and ..read more

I hadn’t heard of an ongoing investment club for many years before a long-time Monevator reader – and member of the Patrick Investment Club – dropped me a line. Such clubs were common 20-30 years ago. And as David Patrick’s guest article below shows, they filled a niche that today’s more impersonal and often abrasive social investing options hardly replace… For more than 25 years my extended family has been pooling monthly subscriptions of at least £50 into the Patrick Investment Club. This club has had a profound impact in helping us learn about investing. It has also helped bring us to ..read more

What caught my eye this week. Not one but two must-read articles for you this week. Less than ideal now the sun is finally showing its face, I know. The first comes from the ever-reliable Portfolio Charts. Inspired by the many criticisms that ‘safe’ withdrawal rate (SWR) research has overwhelmingly focused on US returns, Portfolio Charts conducted an incredibly deep dive into the SWRs of other countries – and also the myriad different asset allocation mixes you could have chosen to achieve them. It’s a valuable read. Not because I think anybody should load up on any particular asset allo ..read more

The time has come at last to make our first withdrawal from our No Cat Food (NCF) model retirement portfolio. This article can be read by selected Monevator members. Please see our membership plans and consider joining! Already a member? Sign in here. The post Decumulation strategy: first withdrawal, tax-free cash and drawdown antics [Members] appeared first on Monevator ..read more

Somewhat shockingly, it is now exactly 14 years since Monevator was lucky enough to post a three-part mini-series written by a man named Jacob – the up-and-coming voice behind an intriguing blog called Early Retirement Extreme. Then describing himself as semi-retired in his early 30s, Jacob was living an unusual lifestyle. One partly funded with investment income and partly from part-time work. In those faraway times when almost nobody had heard of the term FIRE, Jacob’s views were radical and exciting. My 2010 introduction read: “While I see echoes of his lifestyle in my own, Jacob goes much ..read more

What caught my eye this week. I read an interesting article this week about a former US politician who now lives in France. The gist is that having failed to transform US society to his more liberal tastes – we’d say socialist in the UK – the former Democrat Jim McDermott chose to move to France instead: Today McDermott calls himself an immigrant. He lives alone. He barely speaks French. But he’s a big fan of the French motto ‘Liberté, égalité, fraternité,’ and says that communal spirit is evident both in his everyday interactions with his neighbors and how the French government treats its p ..read more

Should you ever find yourself researching a couple of meme stocks du jour for a long article, plan accordingly. Block out 48 hours – ideally a weekend – and get in the snacks. Warn your significant other you won’t be showering. Type like fury. This article can be read by selected Monevator members. Please see our membership plans and consider joining! Already a member? Sign in here. The post Choose your fighter [Members] appeared first on Monevator ..read more

How quickly things can change! Another bumper quarter for global equities has helped to chase the blues away like a glimpse of spring sun. Our Slow & Steady model portfolio has plumped up 3.7% in the last three months. That’s on top of the 7% gain the quarter before that. Overall, annualised returns are now back to a healthy 7%. Call it 4% after inflation. If you own an equity-heavy passive portfolio you’ll be happier still. Here are the numbers, in Zippity-Doo-Dah-o-vision: The Slow & Steady portfolio is Monevator’s model passive investing portfolio. It was set up at the start of 201 ..read more

What caught my eye this week. Every decade or so, some rebellious storyteller escapes out the back door of an investment bank, breaks the code of omertà, and tells all on how top-tier financial services really work. Michael Lewis and Liar’s Poker in the 1980s. Nick Leeson with Rogue Trader in the 1990s. Why I Left Goldman Sachs by Greg Smith in 2012. And now Gary Stevenson with The Trading Game. Think the lovechild of Liar’s Poker and Rogue Trader with a dash of Thomas Piketty on the side. You won’t be able to put it down, unless you hate swearing or laughing out loud. You’ll probably learn s ..read more