Growing into investing
Watch out Warren Buffet (lol).
What a week! I got back from an incredible US trip, slept a LOT and still feel exhausted - and there was a dock-workers strike in the US that could have caused a ton of issues, but thankfully was resolved after a few days. If you blinked and missed it,
wrote an excellent explainer about what was happening, and why it was a significant incident.This week I’ve also been making some headway on my financial goal for this year, which was to start managing my own investments, rather than keeping them with a robo-adviser (read: automated, managed).
When I first started investing in 2020, I opted to go with Nutmeg1 because it offered a great user experience, I liked the look of its platform and it offered a fairly good socially responsible option - as well as a stocks and shares ISA.
I’ve had a fairly good return on that investment, but now that I’ve built more confidence and knowledge about investing, I’m ready to start down the DIY stocks and shares ISA route, and pay much less in fees.
I’ve been playing around with Vanguard and Hargreaves Lansdown, but have decided this week to go with Trading 212.2
The other thing that’s changed is that I’ve decided that if I want to make money, hoping to do this in an ethical way is probably not the way to do it. There are still stocks I absolutely refuse to touch - like Amazon (gross), Tesla (barf) and other companies who predominantly make money from peddling harm to individuals (cigarettes, alcohol, processed foods) - but more that I will look at, despite their poor corporate responsibility (energy, pharma, tech etc).
Why? My not buying stocks will have absolutely no impact on these businesses. Yes, it’s a nice principled position to take, but it, arguably, acts as a handicap to getting to a place where I may be able to have some influence. The way to have influence is to increase wealth (or an incredibly public platform), and right now I am a long long long way from being there.
I’m not saying I feel good about it (so far with the minuscule amount I’ve invested in three companies). But it’s actually quite interesting going into something without a ‘black or white’ approach, and also sitting with the discomfort.
Either way, I’m feeling fairly proud that I’ve come a long way since starting out as a baby investor in 2020, going through the toddler phase, and now, maybe I’m a tween. Exciting times!
1. Workers must keep all customer tips under new law
So I’m back in the UK from the US where I learned quickly to ‘get over it’ and just tip 20%.
But something Americans said is that tipping culture has gone wild. This analysis from one Money Bruncher in our WhatsApp group felt very sharp:
Tipping culture in America has gotten way out of hand. I do not want to contribute to a tip culture that puts the pressure of paying an employee’s salary on the consumer when then the employers should be doing that from the start.
On this side of the pond, tips have started to become more commonplace. When you go to a cafe or bakery or any shop where they use a machine to collect payment, there’s often an option to select the % of tip you’d like to add. Or, at the bottom of the screen, you can select ‘No tip.’ All of it feels a bit weird, and there’s an opinion piece here that explores some of this.
Part of the hesitation behind tipping might be that the business doesn’t always share this money with the staff. But, from this week, it’s become law that workers receive all tips from customers - firms are banned from withholding the payments - whether in cash or by card. So that gets rid of some of the weirdness, but certainly not all, and it continues to raise questions about who should be paying for employee’s salaries.
2. What wedding planners wish you didn’t spend money on
The wedding party (the group, not the event); not having bridesmaids or groomsmen is a surefire way to cut thousands in £/$ and energy.
Establish a no plus-one policy: “Managing your guest list is one of the best ways to control your overall wedding spend.”
Hire a DJ instead of a band.
Avoid a “traditional” wedding cake — and wedding favours, for that matter: “Opting for a smaller display cake with a dessert table can be more practical.”
Stick with one location: “Having different venues for the ceremony and reception automatically increases costs.”
Don’t bother with a day-after brunch: “If you really want to say good-bye to people the next day, mention that you’ll be at a local coffee shop during certain hours, or post up at the hotel lobby where most of your guests are staying — but there’s no need to plan a whole extra event. You’ve done enough!”
3. How to stay on top of expenses claims at work – and avoid being left out of pocket
On average, employees tend to expense between £100 and £500 per month! Often, this is on their own cards, not company-issued cards.
The key points:
MAKE SURE YOU DO YOUR EXPENSE CLAIMS ON TIME - and make sure you do these during the work week, not at the weekend when ‘you have some time’
Read the expenses policy, and if there isn’t one or you need more clarification, request this information in writing. You want to avoid any ‘grey areas,’ and risking claims being rejected
If you need to use your own card for business expenses, opt for a credit card that gives you bonuses and rewards (like the British Airways Amex where you can earn Avios points)
One thing the Americans do better than the Brits is credit card rewards, ours are paltry in comparison!
✨ Other things! ✨
MONEY
62% of scams reported to Revolut originate from Meta platforms - that’s Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, and it’s likely that it’s a similar figure with other banks
Romance scams have surged, despite 65% thinking they would never fall victim 😕
Half of Britons plan to ration their energy use this winter as a 10% bill rise looms - Great Britain indeed! 😕😕
LIFE
Corporate swag is a “leading indicator” for specific industries and even the economy at large - and right now it’s thriving (this is also a really interesting piece about swag in general)
Beyoncé is iconic; somehow, her brands are not. This is brilliant by the very brilliant
People are expecting perfection from Chappell Roan while accepting mere adequacy from the candidate running to become President of the USA. Shouldn’t the asymmetry be alarming?
1 in 8 Americans feel lonely a lot of the time - that number rises to nearly 1 in 4 for younger people 😕
The next Money Brunch (Saturday 19 October) is going to be on investing. And I don’t mean just talking!
No, we’re going to be going through some of the platforms, showing you how they work, what different things mean, and sharing experiences about investing.
If you would like to attend, we have a very full waitlist(?!), so join the waitlist and DM me, so I can move you to the ‘going’ list!
Know someone who would enjoy this in their inbox on a Sunday morning?
A UK platform and potential tech success via IPO, which struggled to grow users and become profitable, that was acquired by JPMorganChase in 2021
My referral link; please see later paragraphs alluding to my current financial situation, free money is free money!