On the road to financial independence and beyond
Hello again after a long break in my writing here. Today I’m going to consider the state of my finances during and at the end of the 2023 year. The United Kingdom and the wider world experienced changeable markets during the year. Inflation in retail prices continued during the year but we should have now…
As stock market returns continue to underwhelm me, I have concentrated on the details of tax planning in the past few weeks. Tax Most of my portfolio is in tax protected accounts (ISA and SIPP). A smaller part of my portfolio is in a trading account that I am running down to zero. I am…
As stock market returns disappoint me, it is good to have portfolio income that is growing. It is also useful to have a margin of safety between income and expenditure when prices are rising. February One review of the month stated that “resilient economic data in February led to a move higher in bond yields…
January It was reported in a monthly market review by J. P. Morgan that “January has shown that after a difficult 2022, and with inflation now falling, both equities and bonds can deliver positive returns for investors.” They added that in the UK ”core inflation remained steady at 6.3% year on year” and “business surveys…