My Weekly Worthies: On Here, Over There (and Over To You)--1 August 2015

It is that time again. Another week, another round-up of weekly worthies. This time, I have given it a bit of a facelift after suggestions from readers (thanks!).

Time to settle down with a nice well-brewed drink (tea, coffee, beer...whatever your fancy) and maybe a biscuit, cake or two and catch up with what has been published during the week related to financial independence, early retirement, frugality and personal finance more generally (with a little of other bits and pieces thrown in).

As usual, last week's bumper post pulled in a mighty amount of interest from you all. Hopefully there is plenty in here to catch your interest again.

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 1 August. Enjoy!

PS: If you want to look at the archive of previous weekly round-up articles then head over to my Every(ish) Posts page. Here you will find all the articles (except portfolio purchase-related ones) published on the Dividend Drive as well as every weekly round-up to date. Take a look.

"On Here"

NOTE: The "On Here" list is purely quantitative. It is the posts with the most unique reads that week (not including other weekly round-up lists). Here's a little legend for you to explain the symbols: ★ = newly published; ▲ = moved-up list since last week; ▼ = moved down list since last week; ▬ = same place as last week.


An unusual one this week. First, the new posts published this week--predictably--tops the list. This week I published a piece on GSK and the supposed bids in the wings for it. I ran the numbers to see the "value" for investors this may represent.

An odd week again. Two spots were shared with the same number of reads: 6th and 9th (it is more common than I originally imagined!).

The biggest positive jumper this week has been my post on 5 cheap US brokers which accept UK/overseas investors. This seems to have become a semi-permanent member of the Top 10 list, it must be said.

My post on South32 has also continued to pull in the reads. I suspect this is because their first results--and hopefully dividend declaration--is due in August (assuming they are following BHP's old schedule) and so people are researching the "lay of the land" with regards to this. I may update the predictions on them at some point, as clearly people find it interesting.

Other than that, a lot jostled up a few spaces with both the AstraZeneca and Tax-related posts dropping sharply allowing the others to shunt up the table a little.

Anyway, without any further ado, here is my breakdown for the week beginning 18 July 2015:

1. ★ A Bid for GlaxoSmithKline? Running the Numbers on the Buy-out Speculation
2. ▬ The Maestro's Movers: Neil Woodford's Big Buys and Sells in June 2015
3. ▬ June 2015 Goals Progress Report: First Half
4. ▲ A Minor Miner Addition: South32 Joins My Portfolio After BHP Billiton Demerger
5. ▲ 5 Cheap US Stock Brokers who accept UK-resident Account Holders
6. A joint sixth place this week:
• ▲ Taxing Times: Dividend Tax Changes in the UK Government's June 2015 Budget
• ▼ BUY: Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR)--Preparing to Power Future Earnings?
7. ▼ June 2015: Dividend Income, Trading Activity and Portfolio Snapshot
8. ▼ BUY: Legal & General--Growth and Income Going for a Song?
9. A joint ninth place as well this week:
• ▲ "Work Freedom Day"--A New Way to Chase Your Financial Independence "Crossover Point"?
• ▼ The Maestro's Movers: Neil Woodford's Big Buys and Sells in May 2015
10. ▬ BUY: Royal Dutch Shell "B" (RDSB)--Betting BiG on the BG Bid?

"Over There"

NOTE: The "Over There" is 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 and high-quality articles. From historically-focused reviews of the current situation in China to the first flows of July reviews (next week will be wash with these I suspect) there is plenty to sink your teeth into.

Anyway, hopefully you enjoy reading these as much as I did.

FIRE (Financial Independence/Retiring Early) Planning and Strategy

• The Definition of Insanity (No More Waffles)--NMW highlights the most powerful tool in the FIRE fighter's toolkit: perseverance. Simple yet inspiring message.
• Happiness, Time, Independence, & Dividends (Sure Dividends)--Another inspiring post (is there something about late-July?). How do you maximise happiness as an passive income investor? Ben takes a look.
• Shouldn’t The Joneses Be Keeping Up With Us? (Dividend Mantra)--What is the ultimate luxury? Free-time, of course. Jason highlights this point superbly here. Own your time first before you own the newest luxury. I missed this last week somehow.
• How I manage my dividend portfolio (Dividend Growth Investor)--DGI's investing "work-flow" is laid bare. A nice insight in how the DGI portfolio is managed.
• How to Stop Paying Attention to Your Stocks (Sure Dividends)--An echo of Ben's early blogging days here. Excellent set of 4 steps to stop paying too much attention to your portfolio and why it is important. 
• The Simplicity Portfolio (The Escape Artist)--TEA explains why the Vanguard LifeStrategy fund system is such an attractive proposition. Well worth a read.
• The Pareto Principle Used at Work, at Home and on my Investing Strategy (Dividend Guy)--How can you use the 80/20 principle in your everyday and investing life? TDG takes a look. Very interesting.

FIRE (Financial Independence/Retiring Early) Progress

• June 2015 – Dividend income and portfolio update (Dividend Life)--A belated update from DL. With an incredible first ever four-figure income total, it was worth the wait!
• Dividend Income for July 2015 (No More Waffles)--NMW provides us with another monthly update. Despite July being a slower month over 80% of 2015's dividend target has already been reached. Excellent news.
• Portfolio update – July 2015 (Dutch Dividend)--DD sees a 33% year-on-year increase in dividend income for July. Excellent progress!
• Income & Expenses - June 2015 (Financially Free by Forty)--Huw is still catching up with some updates. June was another superb month all round. Can't wait for July's review!
• Monthly Summary – June 2015 (Dividend Life)--DL offers up a more thorough review of his monthly progress. What a set of numbers. 

General Investing

• The changing face of UK pharmaceuticals (Hargreaves Lansdown: Charlie Huggins)--Perhaps the best summary I have read of the diverging strategies of the three major pharma and healthcare companies in the UK. Well worth a read if yor are or are planning to be invested in healthcare. 
• Investor Views: “Dividend Tax Will Force Me To Sell Shares” (Morningstar: Emma Simon)--An interesting article with an interview of an "ordinary investor" who claims it will cost him £15,000 a year under new tax regime (portfolio must be about £2 million). I partly enjoyed this because it felt like such an odd article. See what you think.
• Why the Chinese stock market crash is (very) old news (UK Value Investor: John Kingham)--A fascinating historically-focused article. Definitely should be read. Interesting on many, many levels!

Specific Investing Analysis/Purchases

•  Recent Buy [ITC Holdings] (Dividend Mantra)--Jason picks up the electricity utility which has a remarkable growth record for one in that industry.
• Lonmin Plc: Value buy or value trap? (Firing Room)--Roland argues that the miner is a value trap. Reading his analysis, it is hard to disagree.
• August 2015 Stock Considerations (DivHut)--A quick run-down of some attractive US and Canadian companies to consider adding to your portfolio.
• Sky - Full Year Results (DIY Investor (UK))--John gives us a nice run-down of Sky's recent results. Overall, a positive update with some caveats. 
• Recent Buy [Emerson Electric] (Dividend Mantra)--Another buy for Jason. This time it is industrial conglomerate Emerson Electric. A really attractive dividend aristocrat.
• Dividend Growth Stocks I Purchased in July (Dividend Growth Investor)--DGI gives us a quick overview of the new purchases for July. It is a list of some very nice long-term investments. Take a look.
• Capitalize On Canada’s Wireless Oligopoly Now with BCE’s 5.2% Dividend Yield (Sure Dividend)--Ben explains why the Canadian telecoms giant is such an appealing investment. I am surprised to see such a huge market share being dominated in this way. 

Budgeting and Frugality

• Rent vs. Buy: If You Have to Ask, You Should Probably Rent (Mr Money Mustache)--MMM enters into the hotly-contested rent vs. buy debate. Worth a read, brings up some interesting points (and sharp debate in the comments section!).
• Rush, rush, rush (Finance Zombie)--Getting the most out of time in the modern world is not easy. But Mr Z points out a few ways which may seem good, but just aren't for really getting time back for yourself.

Misc

•  Boost Your Income with Swagbucks (Frugal Cottage)--This is a service I had not actually heard of before. Sounds intriguing. Has anyone else tried it?
• Mustachian Spotting UK (FireStarter)--TFS takes a quick look at those around him to work out how long along the FI scale they are. Interesting post. 
• Office Vegetation (Quietly Saving)--Weenie explains the value of plants in the office as well as offering an update on the looming changes and potential adjustments that may be needed.

"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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Creative Commons image reproduced from Flickr user Ruz