What's in your portfolio - and why?

[Harley]

2 hours ago, Bobthebuilder said:

My garden hose was full of leaks, so I spent the day repairing an old one with some left over half inch brass fittings, made the old adjustable spray head fit on it, then made a new handle for my gardening trowel.

Don't know where people find the time to go to work, I am always too busy.

My sentiments exactly.  I have so much to do.  I do the odd job but first do the stuff I need at home to save the money.  Just planted a load more fruit trees, laying a fruit bed (cage to come), have some trees to transplant, and have started on a new allotment which I will enclose with a dry stone wall.  The list is endless.

[Funn3r]

1 hour ago, Mandalorian said:

Peaceful.  Can't imagine anything worse than having children.  The absolute worst sexually transmitted disease.

 

Everyone's different but I would recommend having children, if it is at all realistic in your lifestyle.

I never wanted them because I thought they were just a drag on your resources etc. My ex-wife talked me into it and I 'm glad she did. I'm 67 and doing pretty well financially (by my admittedly low standards) but why would I even bother any more if I knew that when I died the government would take it all? NB not saying all I see in my children is financial.

[Bobthebuilder]

48 minutes ago, Harley said:

My sentiments exactly.  I have so much to do.  I do the odd job but first do the stuff I need at home to save the money.  Just planted a load more fruit trees, laying a fruit bed (cage to come), have some trees to transplant, and have started on a new allotment which I will enclose with a dry stone wall.  The list is endless.

Fuck me, so far this year I have planted 2 apple trees, 3 kitchen herb bushes and a single marijuana plant, and I thought I was busy.

[Mandalorian]

2 hours ago, Funn3r said:

Everyone's different but I would recommend having children, if it is at all realistic in your lifestyle.

I never wanted them because I thought they were just a drag on your resources etc. My ex-wife talked me into it and I 'm glad she did. I'm 67 and doing pretty well financially (by my admittedly low standards) but why would I even bother any more if I knew that when I died the government would take it all? NB not saying all I see in my children is financial.

I don't have the patience or temperament to have children.  It's bad enough having the parents bring them when they visit.  I noticeably wince when a child starts screaming in public.  I just... don't like them, I guess.

As my friend says about her (now 19 year old) child:  "I love my daughter, but I do wish I'd never had her.  It's been hard fucking work."  And she was a low maintenance kid.

[Bobthebuilder]

1 hour ago, Mandalorian said:

I don't have the patience or temperament to have children.  It's bad enough having the parents bring them when they visit.  I noticeably wince when a child starts screaming in public.  I just... don't like them, I guess.

As my friend says about her (now 19 year old) child:  "I love my daughter, but I do wish I'd never had her.  It's been hard fucking work."  And she was a low maintenance kid.

I never had any children, not any I know about as a male, But that is the end of your genes, it has taken thousands of years and the survival of countless generations of your family tree to end up with lucky old you, it wont go any further, that is the end of the line, My biggest regret in life was not having children.

Edited April 8 by Bobthebuilder

[desertorchid]

1 hour ago, Bobthebuilder said:

I never had any children, not any I know about as a male, But that is the end of your genes, it has taken thousands of years and the survival of countless generations of your family tree to end up with lucky old you, it wont go any further, that is the end of the line, My biggest regret in life was not having children.

Are you married? If so, was there a reason you chose not to?

[wherebee]

9 hours ago, Mandalorian said:

I'm not a 'put all eggs in one basket and watch the basket' kind of guy

It would just have BATS. VOD and a load of shitty gold miners and dodgy Chinese shares in it.

I feel personally attacked.

[Bobthebuilder]

16 minutes ago, Jesus Wept said:

How old are you? 

Is being a father still possible? 

I am closer to 60 than 50, I wouldn't even attempt it at my age.

[Mandalorian]

15 hours ago, Bobthebuilder said:

I never had any children, not any I know about as a male, But that is the end of your genes, it has taken thousands of years and the survival of countless generations of your family tree to end up with lucky old you, it wont go any further, that is the end of the line, My biggest regret in life was not having children.

Can't say I'm arsed about continuing the genetic lineage tbh.

[Mandalorian]

26 minutes ago, Jesus Wept said:

I should have posted this here - it was from Thursday 11th of April:

Rejigged the portfolio on Thursday so:

80% cash (@4.4% net)

17% commodity related equities (small (juniors) and large cap miners and oil - BP and SHELL + physical gold and silver etfs GBP.

3% Emerging Markets

Replace the tobacco IMB with more Sibanye Stillwater (I bought the little dip on Friday). 

 (I can see all of the above - except the cash - getting hammered in a crash - on margin calls - so only 20% in equities as an insurance - the rest in cash on deposit). 
 

From the previous Credit Deflation thread. 

 

 

 

80% cash...?

[Mandalorian]

On 13/04/2024 at 10:24, Jesus Wept said:

Yep. (Eg see Rolls Royce thread).

Unwound everything last few weeks.

Does not mean I will stay in cash forever .

(I also own a house / home - but that’s not included in my ‘stock portfolio’.

Does the 80% cash concern you?

Do you think I am overexposed on equities (commodities)? Maybe should have gone 90%:10% ratio? 

What is your % of cash at present? 
 

(Last time I went all cash was in June 2007 - sold our home (STR’d) after unfeasibke capital gains. Wife wasn’t happy - in August 2007 Northern Rock and then HBOS collapsed. 
A few weeks later I put all our money in the new “government backed” NR at 5.5% and rented for 2 years. Bought a new home for -30% below peak in May 2009.

I’m as lucky as Luke Littler 🤪
 I have a lot to learn about equities. Got my first “4 ISAs” in March 2020 and have been getting up to speed since - massive thank you to @DurhamBorn - it’s been a great journey - OPTIMiSM and tax shelters were the best things I learnt in the first few weeks on this thread. 
cheers 🍻 

80% cash would always concern me.

There are no guarantees with investing except that cash will always lose value.  Unless you are parking it to buy something that later falls in value and you get it cheaper (but that's market timing again).

My cash is currently about 25% but that includes Premium Bonds and some inflation linked NS&I bonds that you can't get any more.  Bank deposits are less than 10%.

 

 

[MightyTharg]

I’m something of an expert in this.

Most of mine is invested in making little plastic toys space marines etc.

[Red Debt Redemption]

6 hours ago, MightyTharg said:

I’m something of an expert in this.

Most of mine is invested in making little plastic toys space marines etc.

 

[reformed nice guy]

4 hours ago, Red Debt Redemption said:

 

Stuey would have loved that meme. He would have had the appropriate frog picture to match it.

He showed us his frog picture collection once when we were over looking at his new space marine unit a few weeks ago funnily enough.

The froggy files were sorted in an alphabetical file system with a corresponding spreadsheet that listed attributes for each file. He made a special pivot table so he could filter for "happy" then as many other attributes as required to get the perfect frog. He was very proud of it.

More proof that he was worth his £180,000 salary

 

[snaga]

On 13/04/2024 at 10:24, Jesus Wept said:

Yep. (Eg see Rolls Royce thread).

Unwound everything last few weeks.

Does not mean I will stay in cash forever .

(I also own a house / home - but that’s not included in my ‘stock portfolio’.

Does the 80% cash concern you?

Do you think I am overexposed on equities (commodities)? Maybe should have gone 90%:10% ratio? 

What is your % of cash at present? 
 

(Last time I went all cash was in June 2007 - sold our home (STR’d) after unfeasibke capital gains. Wife wasn’t happy - in August 2007 Northern Rock and then HBOS collapsed. 
A few weeks later I put all our money in the new “government backed” NR at 5.5% and rented for 2 years. Bought a new home for -30% below peak in May 2009.

I’m as lucky as Luke Littler 🤪
 I have a lot to learn about equities. Got my first “4 ISAs” in March 2020 and have been getting up to speed since - massive thank you to @DurhamBorn - it’s been a great journey - OPTIMiSM and tax shelters were the best things I learnt in the first few weeks on this thread. 
cheers 🍻 

80% cash in GBP would concern me, the BK could come in many forms, and putting money in a global index fund hedges against a BK in GBP.

[Mandalorian]

8 hours ago, snaga said:

80% cash in GBP would concern me, the BK could come in many forms

Including no form at all

[UmBongo]

Excluding pensions and savings account, all I have is a Stocks and Shares ISA.

[Mandalorian]

1 hour ago, UmBongo said:

Excluding pensions and savings account, all I have is a Stocks and Shares ISA.

But what's in it?

[Pip321]

My portfolio is shit….but slowly moving from property and a generic Pru Fund to a more robust strategy of equal shares of cash/equities/property/hard assets.

Have been playing the market for the last couple of years but happy just to keep up with inflation. I Like gold….decent hedge as a proportion of wealth. 

Once the global shit show changes I will change strategy more aggressively….and if it doesn’t change in my lifetime I am happy plodding on, keeping up with inflation.

Kids? Absolutely, a boy and a girl (well and man 35 and a woman 38). We were very young parents….like everything, all unplanned😂

I live my dreams with them and they carry my torch. They are me….we invested time heavily in them at a young age and now it pays dividends. They now have their own kids (we have 5 grandkids, now aged 7 to 18). Keeps you young and at only 55 its great being the grumpy old man of the family. 

It’s funny watching the grandkids do something supposedly amazing (eg winning a chess tournament at 7, against 11 years olds…..scoring a goal from a corner, getting A grades at school) and quietly just thinking….yep, I was going that at their age. Feels like completing a circle and makes me feel settled and able to enjoy my new skills….ie sleeping in the day, watching 2 films at once etc. 😂😂

I guess they are nice people and I am not bias….that helps. Imagine having ungrateful greedy shitty kids would do the exact opposite to my well being.  😉

Edited April 23 by Pip321

[Harley]

7 hours ago, Pip321 said:

My portfolio is shit

Clearly just the financial one!

Investments have been made and the returns have been good!

Plans are good but character is a better guide!

[Mandalorian]

8 hours ago, Pip321 said:

My portfolio is shit….but slowly moving from property and a generic Pru Fund to a more robust strategy of equal shares of cash/equities/property/hard assets.

Have been playing the market for the last couple of years but happy just to keep up with inflation. I Like gold….decent hedge as a proportion of wealth. 

Once the global shit show changes I will change strategy more aggressively….and if it doesn’t change in my lifetime I am happy plodding on, keeping up with inflation.

Kids? Absolutely, a boy and a girl (well and man 35 and a woman 38). We were very young parents….like everything, all unplanned😂

I live my dreams with them and they carry my torch. They are me….we invested time heavily in them at a young age and now it pays dividends. They now have their own kids (we have 5 grandkids, now aged 7 to 18). Keeps you young and at only 55 its great being the grumpy old man of the family. 

It’s funny watching the grandkids do something supposedly amazing (eg winning a chess tournament at 7, against 11 years olds…..scoring a goal from a corner, getting A grades at school) and quietly just thinking….yep, I was going that at their age. Feels like completing a circle and makes me feel settled and able to enjoy my new skills….ie sleeping in the day, watching 2 films at once etc. 😂😂

I guess they are nice people and I am not bias….that helps. Imagine having ungrateful greedy shitty kids would do the exact opposite to my well being.  😉

You paint a nice picture.  I still couldn't be doing with kids though.

[Pip321]

1 hour ago, Harley said:

Clearly just the financial one!

Investments have been made and the returns have been good!

Plans are good but character is a better guide!

Most appreciated. Very generous of you to say. 

I think my financial portfolio is shit because it isn’t structured enough or passive enough. It’s nothing like the lists some people have detailed. And it’s too much in property plus cash because rates are relatively high. Once I get it to a truly passive state with an occasional quarterly tweak required I’ll be happier. 

53 minutes ago, Mandalorian said:

You paint a nice picture.  I still couldn't be doing with kids though.

If I paint a nice picture and it’s still not for you then absolutely fair enough, I get that…..if we were all the same that would be very boring. There is no right or wrong. Nothing worse than imposing a view when there are lots of paths that work.🍻

I guess one reason it worked for me was not planning them…having kids so young when my energy was limitless and by the time I began to reflect, truly plan and think…my kids had grown and become nice people to be around.

[AVERAGEUKBLOB]

Anyone invest in any real estate funds? My shit pension scheme wants to transfer me over to some managed fund that is 9% real estate and now zero emerging market equity funds

[HousePriceMania]

Just now, AVERAGEUKBLOB said:

Anyone invest in any real estate funds? My shit pension scheme wants to transfer me over to some managed fund that is 9% real estate and now zero emerging market equity funds

Real estate or....commercial real estate ?

~
 

[jiltedjen]

I’m mid 30’s mortgage free.

Started investing aggressively since December 2023 when I paid the mortgage off. 

initial plan is to buy UK Dividend paying shares. basically copying the top holdings of a UK dividend income fund, so I can enjoy the diversification without having to pay the fees.

the rough plan is to have dividends offset the arrival of children next year, and the loss of my other halves income. 

the plan is to use the dividends to further diversify, mostly higher dividend payers to start with, to get that initial impact, then over time get the lower dividend payers. 

it’s handy as the UK is cheap right now, where the US S&P is due an imminent pop.

historically the US outperforms for around a decade, then the rest of the world then outperforms for the next, so basically we are due America to poop itself and rest of the world (including the FTSE100) to do OK.

so far have roughly £10k invested, spread about in:

- British American Tobacco

- Imperial Brands

- HSBC

- NatWest

- National Grid

- Legal and general 

- Tesco

- AVIVA

- BT group

next month adding 

- M&G group

- ITV

 roughly it equates to £50 a month average income, should be over £100 a month average income by the end of year 1.

should work out as about half the contribution to living costs that my partner pays into current account by the time baby comes.

Meaning that in my mid 30’s I should be able to continue investing for the next 20ish years and be retired at 55, possibly before that.

initially I’m aiming for a good base-line of dividends, then eventually move onto more exotic stuff.

I DO NOT like the bubble US tech/AI stocks in the US. don’t fancy catching that falling knife. 

should pass £100k combined SIPP and S&S ISA  this year, and from that point onwards things should speed up a bit. 

I’m lucky that I have time, that’s probably the most valuable thing right now. Compounding can do its thing. 

The nice thing with dividends is that generally the companies paying it actually make profits, it’s not the sketchy start-ups which hope to make money in the future. 

plus income is my main goal to help the transition into family life. 

it’s nice that finally I’m no longer paying interest to others, but I have crossed to rubicon, and finally some money is flowing towards me. 

currently it costs me and my partner £1050 to live each month, so £50 a month income is a fair dint into not having to work, obviously the outgoings will go up with kids, but should only take a few short years to reach FIRE.