Are you being targeted by a financial scam?
IT’S back to financial scams again. I will just preface this column and all scams with this super sandwich quote from two bright young lads: Einstein: “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it enough,” and Warren Buffet: “Risk comes from not knowing what you are doing.” Put those together and you wouldn’t […]
Preparing investors for storms and potential losses
FOLLOWING on from last week’s introduction to investment risk, and still using the maritime metaphors, I will cover the other risk measures investors should be considering, to ensure you know the true risk of your investments and how to check them. Last week I covered volatility (standard deviation), or the size of the waves, alongside […]
How do I know if I’m taking too much risk with my investments?
HOW do you know if you’re taking too much risk with your investments?If there’s one thing better than learning from your own mistakes, it’s learning from others. In over 20 years of writing this column I have reviewed many readers’ investment portfolios/pension pots/ISAs. We have trust in institutions and advisers and hope they are well […]
Where did the 2% inflation target come from?
ASKING where the two per cent inflation target came from is an interesting question, but the bigger ask might be why central banks have an upward target for inflation at all? It would seem to be a good idea if you cared about society that you would target for prices to fall rather than rise, […]
Beware of the crypto conmen who are out to get you
I THOUGHT three columns on crypto currencies would do it, but it’s ran on and on and this week I’m writing about the crypto conmen who are out to get you. We have had numerous calls regarding fraud, and they will grow. Some are six figure numbers, police and fraud are involved, and intelligent people […]
So, how should we ‘value’ Bitcoin?
In what is the penultimate of my crypto and Bitcoin coverage, I’ll answer the question of its ‘valuation’. You only need to look at the wildness of its price to see that no-one knows the answer to that – other than the market makers creating it probably. There can clearly be no efficient pricing structure. […]
Financial fraud ‘in the name of God’ and crypto risk
If my last three columns haven’t put you off investing into something you can’t rationalise the risk for, this will surely do it. Once again, I repeat Einstein’s comment (because he was a bright guy): “if you couldn’t explain something simply, you didn’t understand it” and therefore you shouldn’t invest into it. This is so […]
Bitcoin and the new Exchange Traded Funds
IN the third of the series on Bitcoin, I’ll cover the new Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), which have just been launched in January. Firstly, they are not available to the UK public, and I cannot see the FCA signing off on them, so don’t hold your breath. Indeed, their words are: “Crypto had no inherent […]
The bitcoin bubble’s logic
IN the second of what will be a series of columns on cryptocurrency (bitcoin et al) I’ll cover each of your concerns, but, remember that the thinking that applies to the logic of bitcoin or other such ideas, applies to most financial matters. Confirmation bias is worrisome: ‘But surely…’, is not a start to a […]
Crypto is not an investment, it’s a punt on a ‘valuation’
WHEN I cover cryptocurrency, it feels like that Bisto advert when I type ‘Crypto…ahhhh’. Personally, I don’t understand the ingredients of one (no-one can) and can neither pronounce nor draw many of the ingredients of the other (Bisto), so my ‘ahhhh’ is pronounced differently than that soothing advert. I’ve had many requests for information on […]
February’s financial planning tips
AS we dive deeper into February, it’s a perfect time to wrap up the New Year’s financial planning tips with a comprehensive review of all areas of financial planning. Pensions – go deep into that cupboard and take out that dusty old boring pension and make sure it’s fit for purpose. It won’t be long […]
Lowering debt costs
LOWERING debt costs can be worrying and December’s credit card bill will have arrived by now and soaked up much of January’s wages. It’s often the story. I’m currently in India, and it has been fascinating to see where cash is often preferred and used, but governmentally there is a push toward using digital payments. […]