Saturday 23 May 2015

My Weekly Top 5: On Here, Over There (and Over To You)--23 May 2015

Another week has gone and it is time for my weekly round up of various posts around the web that caught my eye as well as the most read here on The Dividend Drive

As usual, the summary last week saw a lot of interest from you and was updated as some of you offered suggestions for additions. Hopefully there is plenty in here to catch your interest again and please do suggest anything interesting you bumped into which I have not included.

Just a reminder about my separate Top 5 section in my page which includes Every(ish) Post on this site. So, if you want to look at past ones, have a trot over to that page.

As always, this is going to include your favourite articles "On Here" (that is on The Dividend Drive) and my favourite articles "Over There" (that is, on other personal finance sites I read).

And "Over To You"? Well that is an invite for you to highlight any articles you came across that you found interesting and not included in the list below.

Anyway, here goes my list for 23 May. Enjoy!



"On Here"

NOTE: The "On Here" list is purely quantitative. It is the posts with the most unique reads that week (not including other Top 5 lists).When marked "New" it means they were not on last week's list not necessarily that were published this week.

As is invariably the case, the two new articles on the Dividend Drive take prominent spots. This week--like last week--is a little unusual in that they both are related to new additions to the portfolio. And again, like last week and unusually(!) one is a new purchase and the other is related to a new addition thanks to a corporate action (a demerger in this case)

Outside of these new posts my post on 5 cheap US brokers which accept UK residents remains in the top 5 after entering for the first time last week. Also, the two new articles from last week hold on in the top spots with the review of April still pulling in interested readers.

Anyway, without any further ado, here is my breakdown for the week beginning 16 May 2015:

  1. New: A Minor Miner Addition: South32 Joins My Portfolio After BHP Billiton Demerger
  2. New: BUY: Legal & General--Growth and Income Going for a Song?
  3. 5 Cheap US Stock Brokers who accept UK-resident Account Holders
  4. BUY: AstraZeneca--Healthy Future in Healthcare?
  5. Maybe this joint place malarky is not so special after all. This week 5th place is tied between:
    1. April 2015: Dividend Income and Trading Activity
    2. I'm Exposed in the US! XL Group Joins My Portfolio After Catlin Acquisition


"Over There"

NOTE: The "Over There" nothing like the "On Here" list. It is qualitative through and through and is simply chosen by me from what I read (and mostly commented on) during the week. It is not really a ranking but a motley bag of (excellent) items.

So what about articles published elsewhere? Here is a little list of what caught my eye.

This again is a wonderful mix of fascinating articles. However, this week has seen a huge number of articles related to FIRE planning. Lots of food for thought in there.

Hopefully you enjoy reading them as much as I did.

Budgeting and Frugality

FIRE (Financial Independence/Retiring Early) Planning and Strategy

FIRE (Financial Independence/Retiring Early) Progress

Investing

General Personal Finance

Misc (who doesn't like a good "Misc" category?)

"Over to You"

Anyway, that is it for this week. And here, as promised an age ago (or rather a few lines above), the "Over to You" bit.

What did you read this week that you found really interesting related to investing, personal finance or financial independence?

Make a comment below and include a link. Then we can all take a look!


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15 comments:

  1. Many thanks for the mention DD - just a small point, the Vanguard Lifestrategy is not an ETF (wish it was as it would save me on platform charges!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My pleasure!

      It is interesting to follow your process as it is possible that over the long-term if I find my individual holdings underperform consistently I may follow a similar path to you! Only time will tell. I am nothing if not open minded!

      My error, duly corrected! How crippling are the platform charges for the Vanguard LifeStrategy?

      Delete
    2. The platform charges for funds with AJ Bell are 0.2% (capped at £200) which is obviously better than 0.45% for example with HL. However, there are no platform charges for holding shares, investment trusts and ETFs - unfortunately, Vanguard do not have the LifeStrategy equivalent in the ETF format - maybe that will become available in time.

      In the meantime 0.2% is OKish.

      Yes, always pays to remain flexible and open to try different ways if one strategy is not working for you - will follow progress with interest!

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    3. That's not too bad at all. Would be better if it was 0% though, of course!

      I am planning to set up several different mini-portfolios over time. An ETF-only one (already begun), an Investment Trust one and my current individual shares one. The idea is that I can keep an eye on the progress of each over a prolonged period to see which performs better.

      In reality, I suspect this composite structure may--oddly enough--be the most effective as it combines the best parts and mitigates the worst of each of the different approaches. We will see!

      I'm not sure whether iWeb sells the Vanguard LifeStrategy. However, if they do, it may be that it is cheaper through them. May be worth considering. I will try and look to see if they do when I get a moment.

      Delete
    4. Just took a look. Yes, they do the full Vanguard LifeStrategy range. As far as I understand they charge a £5 charging fee when you buy them and then no platform charges at all.

      May be of interest. I have only had positive experiences with iWeb.

      Delete
    5. Thanks for the further research on this DD - I will take a look at this broker as 0% is better than 0.2%. I have not made any contribution to my S&S ISA for the new tax year.

      OK for lump sum but I guess not for regular monthly purchase with the £5 dealing fee.

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    6. No, sadly not great for regular monthly purchases. When I first joined they had a regular investor service. It was dropped about a year and a half ago. I have been prodding to see whether they would reconsider reintroducing it again ever since. It is the only thing they don't do that I wish they would.

      They are owned by Halifax but operate separately.

      Something to look at at least!

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    7. I will pass on this one - they want a £200 fee to open a new account!! How long would it take to recoup that on the saving in platform fees? I assume they do not need new customers?

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    8. I forgot they changed that recently. I had meant to ask them what their reasoning was.

      It used to be £25 when I first joined. Or, rather, that should read it was "£25" when I joined as they never actually took it from my account!

      Another alternative may be Cavendish Online. I use them for my ETFs and they were, I think, the cheapest I managed to find for that. Whether or not they do LifeStrategy, though, is a different matter!

      If I can remember my login details off the top of my head I will try and have a look for you.

      Delete
  2. DD,

    Thank you for the kind mention.

    Good luck in your dividend investing journey my friend!

    DGI

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My pleasure! Thanks for the interesting posts, DGI. I have just added your most recent article to next week's list!

      Same to you. I feel like the progress is pretty good at present. Hopefully I can keep the momentum up!

      Delete
  3. DD,

    Cheers for the mention buddy!

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    Replies
    1. No worries, Mr Z. Thanks for the excellent content. I thought the future-proofing motivation letter was an excellent idea. I may have to knock one together myself!

      Delete
  4. Cheers for the mention DD!

    Now if only I actually had time to read all of the other fantastic posts you've highlighted... gaaaah!!!! :(

    Keep up the good work. ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My pleasure, TFS. Some are particularly good. If I had time I was thinking of marking some for "special attention"!

      Haha, I will do. Same to you!

      Delete