Happy New Year! I hope you all finished 2016 with a laugh and a smile, and are enjoying a great start to 2017. I’ve learnt a lot from running my blog over the last twelve months, so I thought I’d kick this year off with a summary of what I want to achieve for 2017. […]
A long time ago, I had it put to me that “if I’m the smartest guy in the room; I’m in the wrong room”. When this concept was first presented to me, I wasn’t certain how sure of its value, but as time has gone by, I’ve come to believe in it strongly. Life presents
In early 2016 I started working for a company in Windsor when I lived in Oxford. It meant that I needed to get up at six in the morning, Prior to this, I was working for a company who were located in Oxford. I used to get around at 8, leave the house at about
Over the last few months, I’ve written a fair number of articles about finance and personal investing. I believe that achieving financial security is one of the best ways to reduce stress in your life, as well as enjoy the best that the world has to offer. But there’s something that money can’t buy; good
A few weeks ago, I was having a conversation with a friend of mine who works for a big investment bank. He’s always struck me as an intelligent and considerate person, so it doesn’t take much effort to listen to him when he’s explaining his thoughts on something. This friend is reasonably high up the
“I hate being critiqued!” said a relative of mine. “I really hate it. I enjoy doing this; why do I care what other people think about how good I am at it? I just want to do my thing and enjoy it,”. It was eye-opening to me to hear this, as I never thought anyone
Personal Branding. Urgh. What a cliché. What a con. Who on earth cares? Well, according to a quick google search, enough to cause people to write 8,950,000 results for the question ’What is personal branding?’. If I’m honest, I think the whole ‘personal branding’ thing is a bit of a fad – you could call
Infrastructure; if people and commerce are the lifeblood of our society, infrastructure are the veins through which they flow. Whilst I could hardly claim to be an expert in economics, I feel reasonably confident in asserting that a correlation exists between long-term growth in a country, and its level of investment in infrastructure. Of course,
Is The West in financial collapse? I might not be an LSE educated economist, but it seems obvious to me that my side of the planet is facing some pretty serious economic challenges. Across Europe and America, inequality is rising, as are housing prices and unemployment. Bank rates remain at ludicrously low levels (even being
For many people, achieving income from savings and investments has been a struggle for the better part of ten years. With interest rates at record lows of 0.25%, the interest from cash deposits is negligible and unlikely to improve soon. The search for income is becoming increasingly difficult in an environment of low-interest rates, but that
The search for income in an environment of low interest rates Read More »
Have you ever wondered how to go about analysing a Cap Rate for an investment ? Are you trying to figure out what NOI means? Do you want to know how to calculate the various types of ROI, like Cash-on-Cash Return and Total Return? If so, no need to struggle alone – I’ve written what
An introduction to Real Estate Investment Analysis Read More »
The ability to acquire income generating assets is an essential part of achieving financial independence. If you can generate enough income from your savings, investments and business ventures, you can effectively ‘retire’ from the 9-5 grind of every day employment. For many people, this might seem like a pipe-dream, but it’s a serious goal of
There are many criteria I consider when making an investment in a stock. Among them is the price relative to historical value; does it look cheap, or is it at an ‘all-time high’? In theory, if I believe a company to be solid, short-term fluctuations in price are meaningless, so a falling value only encourages
We all know that a moment in time can change our lives forever. A decision we make, a path we take, a road we choose – they can transform our lives for better, or worse. It’s usually impossible to know exactly what the outcome of our actions will be. But by being prepared to deal
With constant reports of incomes being squeezed, house prices rising, and new fears about inflation ticking upwards, are you making the most of your money? In my opinion, the most efficient way to generate an income is to utilise tax-free allowances to maximise your tax-free income. To those that follow personal finance, you’ll know that ever
