What’s piqued my interest this week?
With most blogs falling silent at this time of year, it seems we all go into a state of contemplative reflection. Or maybe it’s a cumulative cheese, booze, chocolate and sprout hangover. Because of this I’ve expanded my net of blogs in the side orders section, so readers may find someone new of interest.
Many blogs, including this one, are publishing year end posts looking back on all they’ve achieved. For me that included jumping aboard the financial independence bandwagon, and starting this blog as a journal and lodestone. It’s important to reflect and remember how lucky we are. Financial independence, despite what some people say, is not for everyone (1). While some of the frugal lessons run both ways, having an emergency fund in the bank is a dream for many. A study this year by the Social Metrics Commission found 4.5 million children in the UK are living in poverty (2). The number of people relying on food banks has risen by 13% since this time last year (3). Figures only tell half of the story, which is why I’d recommend reading last week’s ‘How I spend it’ in the Guardian (4). It’s a human story, the experiences of a mother, an asylum seeker, trafficked to the UK and now forced to live on a £100/week allowance.
As we sit in our warm homes, eating our Christmas dinner and swigging our New Year’s plonk, let’s not forget the message of that classic, A Muppet Christmas Carol. Love and care to our fellow people, lest we all become FIRE Scrooges.
Have a great 2019,
The Shrink
N.B. I’ve had a bit of a restructure of the top menu this week, to make the site easier to navigate. Apologies for RSS spam!
Other News
- Thousands of NHS workers are abandoning their amazing defined benefit pension plan, to make ends meet (5)
- Evidence that the future is now, Exoskeleton suits may become mainstream (6)
- And Samsung is working on Star Wars style hologram phones (7)
- A new pricing model for stocks has been developed which looks to have promise, the Popularity Asset Price Model (8)
- The UKs house price boom has slowed, but does that mean it won’t crash? (9)
- Next on the High Street chopping block; HMV (10)
- The US stock market has had a post-Christmas rally after the pre-Christmas slump, prompting hopes that the ‘almost a bear market’ is over (11)
- The year in business; winners and losers from 2018 (12)
Opinion/ blogs:
- Interesting Bloomberg opinion piece. The Fed is now looking globally, and interest rates are following global cues not domestic market (13)
- A more amusing ‘How I spend it’, by a games developer knight living by a chivalric code (14)
- TEA – on freedom and fundamentalism (15)
- Nikki, the Female Money Doc, gives her goals for 2019 (16)
- Of Dollars and Data – How the stock story you tell is framed by your attitude (17)
- The Irrelevant Investor – A history of bear market bottoms (18)
- I’m really enjoying the Frugalwoods blog at the moment, so here’s their November update (19)
- But my god is it snowy in Vermont (20)
- Back in the UK MrFive2Fire (aka MrLMF) muses on paying off the mortgage early (21)
- The Frugal Cottage reviews their December numbers (22)
- DIY Investor UK reflects on the year and his investments (23)
- The English Investor also has an end of year review (24)
- Michael at FoxyMonkey looks at how stock market crashes shouldn’t push you to time the market (beyond buying the dip) (25)
- Frugal Blogger, Shoestring Cottage, reviews 2018 (26)
- And Debt Camel rounds up the 2018 Debt changes (27)
- Cashflow Cop decides that Property Crowdfunding isn’t their bag. Similar reasons to last weeks Full English (28)
- The Canny Contractor tests the retiring early waters (29)
- And finally, Indeedably takes aim at those self-same year reviews. Pick your battles and hold yourself accountable people! (30)
The kitchen garden:
Nothing to report here, as all my usual blog suspects have shut up for the Christmas break.
What I’m reading (now affiliate links):
Rivers of London – Ben Aaronovitch – Absorbing stuff
Starting with Chickens – Kate Thear – A hint to a goal for 2019
Enchiridion by Epictetus – Bedside reading for a bad day
References:
- https://theescapeartist.me/2017/11/08/financial-independence-is-for-everyone/
- https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/sep/16/new-study-finds-45-million-uk-children-living-in-poverty
- https://www.trusselltrust.org/news-and-blog/latest-stats/mid-year-stats/
- https://www.theguardian.com/money/2018/dec/22/im-an-asylum-seeker-ive-not-been-allowed-to-work-for-three-years
- https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/12/29/240000-nhs-workers-abandon-gold-plated-pension-plan/
- https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/dec/28/exoskeleton-suits-can-superhuman-frames-cross-into-the-mainstream
- https://www.trustedreviews.com/news/samsung-s10-hologram-3637674
- https://www.morningstar.com/articles/906343/the-price-of-popularity-a-new-stock-market-model.html
- https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/dec/30/the-uks-house-price-boom-is-slowing-and-thats-welcome-news
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-46708075
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-46690452
- https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/dec/28/the-year-in-business-who-were-the-winners-and-losers
- https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2018-12-27/federal-reserve-is-watching-world-not-just-its-domestic-mandate?srnd=opinion
- https://www.theguardian.com/money/2018/dec/29/im-a-knight-and-i-live-by-the-chivalric-code
- https://theescapeartist.me/2018/12/26/the-fundamentalists-are-fundamentally-wrong/
- https://thefemalemoneydoctor.com/goals-for-2019/
- https://ofdollarsanddata.com/kind-or-hostile/
- https://theirrelevantinvestor.com/2018/12/27/a-history-of-bear-market-bottoms/
- http://www.frugalwoods.com/2018/12/28/tractor-chains-and-other-november-2018-expenditures/
- http://www.frugalwoods.com/2018/12/18/this-month-on-the-homestead-snow-power-and-celebrations/
- https://littlemissfireblog.wordpress.com/2018/12/29/why-pay-off-the-mortgage/
- http://www.thefrugalcottage.com/december-2018-a-month-in-review/
- http://diyinvestoruk.blogspot.com/2018/12/portfolio-review-end-2018.html
- https://theenglishinvestor.com/the-english-investor-end-of-year-review-2018-edition/
- https://www.foxymonkey.com/stock-market-crash-good/
- https://www.shoestringcottage.com/frugal-year-shoestring-cottage-review-2018/
- https://debtcamel.co.uk/debt-advice-2018-round-up/
- https://cashflowcop.com/property-moose-why-property-crowdfunding-is-not-for-me/
- http://thecannycontractor.com/my-dress-rehearsal-with-post-fi-life/
- https://indeedably.com/take-flight/
The FIRE Shrink 
Hmm, I think I’m more inclined to say that FI is for everyone, but not everyone can achieve it. If not for my own DB pension, I doubt very much that I would have embarked on this journey as it would not be achievable on my salary and the lateness in life that I discovered FIRE, would require me to make some big sacrifices to cut costs.
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