My Overview
Total portfolio: £7961 (+649)
Debt:- £610 (-20)
Net Worth: £7351 (+369)
Investments UK: £1859 (NIL)
Investments overseas : £1664 (NIL)
Cash: £802 250 (+552)
Pension: £3151 2968 (+183)
Total Income: £1635
Passive income: £116 (7.09%)
Not a bad month after all. I see a nice increase of my net worth, and even if investments where the same, i am working to increase my cash amount at the moment, as i will go in two weekend holidays in February. Flight and hotel is already booked and paid. So my expenses will be only for meal and treats, i would like to think. I also notice a healthy increase in passive income, mostly from royalties.
A good start, if I am doing this for the rest of the month, with an expected increase of 2.5% monthly, it will be perfect.
Sunday, 31 January 2016
Thursday, 28 January 2016
January monthly report - soon
This year i had a good start. And every system put in place in 2015 is working with increased efficiency, due to some minor or major tweak. Few more days and i will see if this month will be better than any of the previous 12. As i started my way to financial independence exactly one year ago. I will also try to describe what changes i went through as soon as i find some free time.
Friday, 22 January 2016
Captain Obvious and the parental influence on achieving financial independence
Some interesting survey finally done in UK. Read more about it here.
Positive parental influence on money issues has a lasting effect
By Marina Gerner
The importance of financial education
People aged 18 to 34 - dubbed the millennial generation - who enjoy a positive parental influence around money have twice the savings and half the debt as those who don't, according to Experian's Millennial Me & My Money survey. In a survey of 4,075 adults (about half of whom were aged 18 to 34 and the other half were aged 35 to 55), 67 per cent say their parents or guardians have had a positive influence on their money management habits, while 17 per cent say their parents have had a negative influence. The survey showed that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree: those respondents who were aged 18 to 34 (so-called millennials) who believe their parents had a positive influence on their money habits had almost double the amount of savings compared to those who say their parents had a negative influence - £9,842 and £5,282 respectively. Those who have benefited from a positive parental influence also have less than half the outstanding debt (excluding mortgages and student loans), amounting to £2,322 versus £5,139 for those with a negative parental influence.
People aged 18 to 34 - dubbed the millennial generation - who enjoy a positive parental influence around money have twice the savings and half the debt as those who don't, according to Experian's Millennial Me & My Money survey. In a survey of 4,075 adults (about half of whom were aged 18 to 34 and the other half were aged 35 to 55), 67 per cent say their parents or guardians have had a positive influence on their money management habits, while 17 per cent say their parents have had a negative influence. The survey showed that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree: those respondents who were aged 18 to 34 (so-called millennials) who believe their parents had a positive influence on their money habits had almost double the amount of savings compared to those who say their parents had a negative influence - £9,842 and £5,282 respectively. Those who have benefited from a positive parental influence also have less than half the outstanding debt (excluding mortgages and student loans), amounting to £2,322 versus £5,139 for those with a negative parental influence.
Commenting on the survey, Clive Lawson, managing director at Experian, says: "It's striking to see just how much of an impact parental influence can have on the financial wellbeing of millennials in adulthood. What this research made clear to me was the opportunity that we as parents have to set foundations by helping our children learn from our experiences of managing money and enjoy the advantages that might bring them later in life." In contrast to those who have been positively influenced by their parents, those who stated their parents had a negative influence are twice as likely (32 per cent versus 14 per cent) to save none of their disposable income each month. They are also twice as likely to have run out of money before payday in the past (44 per cent versus 21 per cent) and more than twice as likely to have missed an agreed credit repayment (17 per cent versus 7 per cent). Furthermore, they are more likely to have gone into an unplanned overdraft (33 per cent versus 19 per cent) and more than twice as likely to have defaulted on a credit account (10 per cent versus 4 per cent). They are five times more likely to have a County Court Judgment against their name (5 per cent versus 1 per cent). Robert Gardner, founder of financial services firm Redington, has also emphasised the importance of parental influence. He says: "It has been suggested that our attitudes towards money are formed by age seven, so if your parents prefer to spend, spend, spend on credit cards rather than save, then it's likely you will have the same attitude. That's why financial education is so important and the earlier, the better."
Commenting on the survey, Clive Lawson, managing director at Experian, says: "It's striking to see just how much of an impact parental influence can have on the financial wellbeing of millennials in adulthood. What this research made clear to me was the opportunity that we as parents have to set foundations by helping our children learn from our experiences of managing money and enjoy the advantages that might bring them later in life." In contrast to those who have been positively influenced by their parents, those who stated their parents had a negative influence are twice as likely (32 per cent versus 14 per cent) to save none of their disposable income each month. They are also twice as likely to have run out of money before payday in the past (44 per cent versus 21 per cent) and more than twice as likely to have missed an agreed credit repayment (17 per cent versus 7 per cent). Furthermore, they are more likely to have gone into an unplanned overdraft (33 per cent versus 19 per cent) and more than twice as likely to have defaulted on a credit account (10 per cent versus 4 per cent). They are five times more likely to have a County Court Judgment against their name (5 per cent versus 1 per cent). Robert Gardner, founder of financial services firm Redington, has also emphasised the importance of parental influence. He says: "It has been suggested that our attitudes towards money are formed by age seven, so if your parents prefer to spend, spend, spend on credit cards rather than save, then it's likely you will have the same attitude. That's why financial education is so important and the earlier, the better."
Wednesday, 20 January 2016
Working on self-control
Trying to retire very early, or to achieve financial freedom, you will often hear references to stoics, Seneca, self control and other stuff related to this.
How to resist temptation, how to get that elusive self control that will help me to reach my goals faster than i am thinking?
You want to find out? Let's start together on this journey. First i will underline the importance of intrinsic motivation versus extrinsic motivation. If you rely on some external help, the probability to fail is higher. After this, you will need to act, to plan and stick to your plan, day by day, even if the results are not there at the beginning. To withstand to some emotional discomfort now for greater rewards later.
Adopt a set of exercises and routines to gain self control. Sleep is the most important, i would say. Set a sleeping schedule and follow it. You can also use the habit of making the bed right after you wake up. For more about making the bed habit research just google search. You will be surprised when you will read the benefits. Learn how to meditate. A lot of successful people said to me that meditation helped them to grow. Find a kind of meditation that you enjoy, and do it daily. No need to do it for hours, even 15 minutes after you wake up or before to go to sleep will give you tremendous advantage. Or maybe you are the experimental type. If meditation is not something you enjoy, try lucid dreaming as a hobby. Plan your life. Plan your month. Do not plan your day. Some researchers find that is more effective to have directions of action instead of to do lists. You can experiment here to see what work better for you. If you have some gigantic task, change it in 100 smaller ones. If you read 20 pages daily, you will still read around 30 books per year. If you write 50 pages every day, you can write a 500 pages book every 10 days. Right? Books are important, the real ones, where you can feel the pages. They have an important role in creating new inter-neuronal path and bla bla bla, giving you an edge versus Kindle like. Is about your senses, seeing versus seeing, tactile sensation, smell and so. Real books make you smarter. There is a research about this too.
Take care of yourself. Train your body to be in shape, Check what you eat, Cut extra-refined stuff, white sugar (did you tried honey, agave or maple syrup?), too much salt, heavy, fatty meat or whatever is creating you problems. Cold showers for a change, or fasting for 1-2-3 days, in order to surpass yourself and change your perspectives. You can gain a boosted immunity and more as a result.
This is a mere suggestion, you can find your own way to improve yourself and to control your excesses. I will appreciate if you can write me about your ways of doing this. Any help is well received.
Good luck and see you soon.
G.
How to resist temptation, how to get that elusive self control that will help me to reach my goals faster than i am thinking?
You want to find out? Let's start together on this journey. First i will underline the importance of intrinsic motivation versus extrinsic motivation. If you rely on some external help, the probability to fail is higher. After this, you will need to act, to plan and stick to your plan, day by day, even if the results are not there at the beginning. To withstand to some emotional discomfort now for greater rewards later.
Adopt a set of exercises and routines to gain self control. Sleep is the most important, i would say. Set a sleeping schedule and follow it. You can also use the habit of making the bed right after you wake up. For more about making the bed habit research just google search. You will be surprised when you will read the benefits. Learn how to meditate. A lot of successful people said to me that meditation helped them to grow. Find a kind of meditation that you enjoy, and do it daily. No need to do it for hours, even 15 minutes after you wake up or before to go to sleep will give you tremendous advantage. Or maybe you are the experimental type. If meditation is not something you enjoy, try lucid dreaming as a hobby. Plan your life. Plan your month. Do not plan your day. Some researchers find that is more effective to have directions of action instead of to do lists. You can experiment here to see what work better for you. If you have some gigantic task, change it in 100 smaller ones. If you read 20 pages daily, you will still read around 30 books per year. If you write 50 pages every day, you can write a 500 pages book every 10 days. Right? Books are important, the real ones, where you can feel the pages. They have an important role in creating new inter-neuronal path and bla bla bla, giving you an edge versus Kindle like. Is about your senses, seeing versus seeing, tactile sensation, smell and so. Real books make you smarter. There is a research about this too.
Take care of yourself. Train your body to be in shape, Check what you eat, Cut extra-refined stuff, white sugar (did you tried honey, agave or maple syrup?), too much salt, heavy, fatty meat or whatever is creating you problems. Cold showers for a change, or fasting for 1-2-3 days, in order to surpass yourself and change your perspectives. You can gain a boosted immunity and more as a result.
This is a mere suggestion, you can find your own way to improve yourself and to control your excesses. I will appreciate if you can write me about your ways of doing this. Any help is well received.
Good luck and see you soon.
G.
Monday, 18 January 2016
The science behind the cycles
They say that our life is ruled by cycles. Cycle or cellular regeneration, day-night cycle, lunar cycle. There are so many of them. I will talk today about one of them. The cycle of change. How many days we need to create a new habit (or to get rid of an old one, if is bad for us). We will often try to create new healthy financial habits. We need to do that. Some said it will take 28 days, a lucky synchronicity with the Lunar phases. Some said 100 days (as we regenerate 1% daily at a cellular level, hence 100 days for 100% regeneration, because you cannot make an old cell, ugh, wanted to say an old dog, to learn new tricks). Based on a personal observation, i would say that the number that work well for me is 90 days.
Did you ever think about it? How many days do you need to create a new habit?
Saturday, 16 January 2016
Side hustle for teenagers
...and not only. Doing reviews for music, books, games. If you want to receive all the new hits, books or games, you can do that. You can use websites like Slicethepie, and make some extra cash enjoying latest trends. I must to admit that i do this at work, on night shift break, when i do not want to spend time on Facebook.
Good luck!
G.
* The website mentioned is a referral link.
Good luck!
G.
* The website mentioned is a referral link.
Monday, 11 January 2016
Tips and tricks - The piggy bank experiment - Birthday party
So, i gathered with my friends in a good enough Chinese restaurant, the kind of serve yourself one. Unlimited food, unlimited drinks. We enjoyed a nice evening, at the end, as i previously informed them, i received money instead of gifts, in a piggy bank that everyone could find in the middle of the table.
The result: I completely covered the party expenses, resulting in a free party on my birthday, all my friends happy and feeling good. Bonus: they enjoyed the fact that they did not need to go out searching for a gift, and the feedback was positive, it is possible in the future to see this kind of party to other of my friends birthday.
Huh, next year will be a habit already.
Kind regards
G.
The result: I completely covered the party expenses, resulting in a free party on my birthday, all my friends happy and feeling good. Bonus: they enjoyed the fact that they did not need to go out searching for a gift, and the feedback was positive, it is possible in the future to see this kind of party to other of my friends birthday.
Huh, next year will be a habit already.
Kind regards
G.
Friday, 8 January 2016
Random news
News no.1
Talking about statistics. According to a study consisting of 5,500 millennials, only 24% of them knew "basic information around financial literacy." For example, according to the study, only 8% know about risk diversification. As a quick reminder, where humans fall on the care-o-meter surrounding financial literacy, is pretty much, don't care. Click here for the whole thing.
(P.S. Millennial - one born between 1980-2000)
News no.2
China devalued its currency again. The Chinese Central Bank has been devaluing the country's currency (the yuan) to help boost its economy. If you can buy more of "X" in China with say, your USD, because the USD is strong relative to the yuan, you'll buy more from China. Despite the devaluation in an attempt to boost the economy, China's main stock market index, The Shanghai Composite Index, fell -5% at the open of the trading day on Thursday. This triggered a circuit breaker to halt all trading. It's essentially a timeout for stock market trading in an attempt to minimize the selling. The stock market re-opened on Thursday 15 minutes later and immediately fell to -7% for the day. This triggered an automatic shut down of stock trading on that index for the day.
Now relax, forget about China, click here and feel the music.
Talking about statistics. According to a study consisting of 5,500 millennials, only 24% of them knew "basic information around financial literacy." For example, according to the study, only 8% know about risk diversification. As a quick reminder, where humans fall on the care-o-meter surrounding financial literacy, is pretty much, don't care. Click here for the whole thing.
(P.S. Millennial - one born between 1980-2000)
News no.2
China devalued its currency again. The Chinese Central Bank has been devaluing the country's currency (the yuan) to help boost its economy. If you can buy more of "X" in China with say, your USD, because the USD is strong relative to the yuan, you'll buy more from China. Despite the devaluation in an attempt to boost the economy, China's main stock market index, The Shanghai Composite Index, fell -5% at the open of the trading day on Thursday. This triggered a circuit breaker to halt all trading. It's essentially a timeout for stock market trading in an attempt to minimize the selling. The stock market re-opened on Thursday 15 minutes later and immediately fell to -7% for the day. This triggered an automatic shut down of stock trading on that index for the day.
Now relax, forget about China, click here and feel the music.
2016 tips and trick for a FIRE begginer
I will start with one statistics here from which i will just point out this:
" The average working household has virtually no retirement savings. When all households are included - not just households with retirement accounts - the median retirement account balance is $3,000 for all working-age households and $12,000 for near-retirement households. "
Come on good people, will you ever learn your lesson?
1. Always, i repeat, always have a cash emergency fund of at least 3-6 monthly wages equivalent
2. Define your sources of income in retirement, how much savings you have, how much more you’ll need to be financially secure, when you can afford to retire by.
So dividends, interest, rental, royalties, profit as sources of income, i go 7k, i need 240k, as for now i will afford to retire at 54 (thanks for the Excel, Jmoney!)
3. How to begin to save more money for your early retirement? Think along the lines: avoid consumer debt, pay your credit cards balance, increase savings automatically, every time you got a raise, use it for more savings, avoid unnecessary expenses, recover lost money, consider new employment, cancel unnecessary insurance policies (this one is tricky), drive a used car instead a new one, side hustle.
4. Housing: downsize your home, relocate where you live, think about reverse mortgage or sale-leaseback, convert other assets, insure your inheritance,
5. Maximize your retirement savings: think tax deferred savings and employer-matching savings programs.
6. If you are close to retirement: maximize retirement plan contributions, use catch-up contributions, multiple savings plans and even switching employers, if they provide a better retirement plan.
7. Control investment expenses, maximize tax advantages, move to a low cost area,
8. For a risk adverse person: postpone your retirement with 1-2 years, phased retirement or no retirement at all (meaning find your perfect work that is not a work for you).
9. Avoid this errors: reaching for return, assuming Overly Optimistic Returns, all eggs in one basket, banking one lucky inheritance, following simplistic guidelines blindly, not investing for a lifetime, procrastination.
I hope you find this interesting, tell me if you have more ideas. I will be happy to add them.
G.
Wednesday, 6 January 2016
Why you need self-control? Here you got 7 reasons.
1. You become mentally stronger.
2. You become the best imperfect version of yourself.
3. More healthy.
4. More wealthy.
5. You get things done (ability of doing).
6. More control over your urges (habits change and creation).
7. You will increase your willpower.
2. You become the best imperfect version of yourself.
3. More healthy.
4. More wealthy.
5. You get things done (ability of doing).
6. More control over your urges (habits change and creation).
7. You will increase your willpower.
Side hustle - Orchard
So, as i am constantly looking for a side hustle, i found something interesting, applied in my country of origin. On paper seems good enough, ROI is approx. 400% in 4 years, so almost 100% per year. Is about some tree called Pawlonia - 2 species in fact, pawlonia tormentosa and pawlonia elongata. You will make futures contracts with furniture companies, that oblige them to buy it at the harvest time, and you can make the contract at the moment you planted the trees. Once you got the land, you can hire a tree company to plant the small trees, end of April is the best, other option is in Autumn, but is more complicated. You got insurance on every tree that need to be replanted in the next 12 months, which is good as the rate of success is 98%, so probably 2 trees need to be replanted for every 100 planted initially. Then, most important thing, you need to water them for 5-6-7 months as requested. After that they are alright by themselves. So all you need is land, a water source and 1800-2000 euro per 10.000 square meters. Al least 3 meters between each tree is recommended. That all. I will update about this once i will start it.
Sunday, 3 January 2016
2015 - end of the year report
My Overview
Total portfolio: £7312 (+4652)
Debt:- £630 (+630)
Net Worth: £6982 (+4322)
Investments UK: £1859 (+1299)
Investments overseas : £1664 (+864)
Cash: £250 (-150)
Pension: £2968 (+1698)
Total Income: £16506
Passive income: £114 (0.69%)
Health:
First 5k run (achieved in December)
149 Freeletics workouts
Others records:
- Courses and trainings: 2 (Nutrition and health + Justice(Harvard)
- Jobs changed: 3 times
- Holidays: 3 (Countries visited: 3)
- Books published: 3 on paperback, 4 on Kindle
- Books to read: more than 250
My portfolio went up slowly, because i was just learning, January being the month that i decided i want to give a shot to this financial freedom achievement stuff. I did some debts, mainly because i was careless with credit cards spending, i want to solve them soon (end of March as ultimate deadline). Net worth increased approx 300%, Total income jumped from 12k to 16k, thanks to the fine art of side hustle, as in the past year i tried bitcoin trading, shares and mutual funds, P2P lending, real estate crowdfunding, angel investing, getting royalties paid to me, blogging (i mean this blog), cashback, getting more interest from my bank accounts, invention patents contests and many other ways to make money. Some of them worked out well, some of them don't. But i get experience in dealing with this kind of things, and that is invaluable. To conclude, 2015 was the year of my life in which i achieved more than in any other year, and i am not speaking only about personal finance. I am very satisfied of my actions and i do not have any New year resolutions. Just to improve myself in the same way i did in the last 12 months.
I hope that 2016 will be even more eventful than the last one. Keep in touch!
G.
Total portfolio: £7312 (+4652)
Debt:- £630 (+630)
Net Worth: £6982 (+4322)
Investments UK: £1859 (+1299)
Investments overseas : £1664 (+864)
Cash: £250 (-150)
Pension: £2968 (+1698)
Total Income: £16506
Passive income: £114 (0.69%)
Health:
First 5k run (achieved in December)
149 Freeletics workouts
Others records:
- Courses and trainings: 2 (Nutrition and health + Justice(Harvard)
- Jobs changed: 3 times
- Holidays: 3 (Countries visited: 3)
- Books published: 3 on paperback, 4 on Kindle
- Books to read: more than 250
My portfolio went up slowly, because i was just learning, January being the month that i decided i want to give a shot to this financial freedom achievement stuff. I did some debts, mainly because i was careless with credit cards spending, i want to solve them soon (end of March as ultimate deadline). Net worth increased approx 300%, Total income jumped from 12k to 16k, thanks to the fine art of side hustle, as in the past year i tried bitcoin trading, shares and mutual funds, P2P lending, real estate crowdfunding, angel investing, getting royalties paid to me, blogging (i mean this blog), cashback, getting more interest from my bank accounts, invention patents contests and many other ways to make money. Some of them worked out well, some of them don't. But i get experience in dealing with this kind of things, and that is invaluable. To conclude, 2015 was the year of my life in which i achieved more than in any other year, and i am not speaking only about personal finance. I am very satisfied of my actions and i do not have any New year resolutions. Just to improve myself in the same way i did in the last 12 months.
I hope that 2016 will be even more eventful than the last one. Keep in touch!
G.
December - end of the month report
My Overview
Total portfolio: £7312 (+762)
Debt:- £630 (-40)
Net Worth: £6982 (+1102)
Investments UK: £1859 (-20)
Investments overseas : £1664
Cash: £250 (+210)
Pension: £2968 (+59)
Total Income: £1198
Passive income: £14 (1.16%)
This was a month when i decided just to relax and enjoy the Christmas Holiday, as sometime make no sense to save a lot and feel unfulfilled. I just had a nice 6 day and a half mini holiday, no extra shifts (see the decrease in wages), i slept a lot, i partied a bit, i practiced that end of the year feel good. But i also finished and published 3 of the books on Kindle and i already had as projected income something there.. So, in the end, it a win-win situation. What is more funny, i have no new plans, no New Year resolutions, i will just do what i started to do, because is working. Eh, maybe improving the saving rate with a few percentage points wouldn't hurt. I will do the annually report later. That will amaze me.
That's it for now!
G.
Total portfolio: £7312 (+762)
Debt:- £630 (-40)
Net Worth: £6982 (+1102)
Investments UK: £1859 (-20)
Investments overseas : £1664
Cash: £250 (+210)
Pension: £2968 (+59)
Total Income: £1198
Passive income: £14 (1.16%)
This was a month when i decided just to relax and enjoy the Christmas Holiday, as sometime make no sense to save a lot and feel unfulfilled. I just had a nice 6 day and a half mini holiday, no extra shifts (see the decrease in wages), i slept a lot, i partied a bit, i practiced that end of the year feel good. But i also finished and published 3 of the books on Kindle and i already had as projected income something there.. So, in the end, it a win-win situation. What is more funny, i have no new plans, no New Year resolutions, i will just do what i started to do, because is working. Eh, maybe improving the saving rate with a few percentage points wouldn't hurt. I will do the annually report later. That will amaze me.
That's it for now!
G.
Annually 2015 and monthly report December - not yet
Seems to be a difficult job to estimate everything but i am almost there. My report will be ready soon ( one of this days). I cannot wait to see the final numbers. Hooray!
Some interesting post to read instead! Just in case.
Some interesting post to read instead! Just in case.
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