Quantitative Easing

[TheHeathens]

Thanks TH, there is some great information here. I will do some more research based on your suggestions. I think I am a bit out of my depth to challenge you in this area. Well done on beating the market for 5 years, that is impressive.

I wasn't trying to be clever mate; I need to know this for my livelihood. It's not rocket science and most people could do it themselves but they don't have the time or inclination to do the research (and I can't blame them - it's not the most interesting thing in the world!).

As I said though, the return you get on your investments is a red herring. Time is our most valuable commodity, not money. The best part of my job is helping clients put a plan in place to achieve their desired lifestyle both now and in the future - the difference you can make is amazing.

I had a 55 year old client who hated his job (teacher) and was going through the motions until retirement at age 60. He'd put money aside all his life but I was able to show him that he could afford to retire straight away, which he did - I saved him 5 years of being miserable. What price can you put on that? That's the reason I go to work and I'm really passionate about that - I want to make a difference.

The point of that little anecdote was that investment return isn't the be all and end all of investing. To meet that client's goals, he only needed an annual return of about 4.5% on his investments so he didn't need to take excessive risk. Taking excessive risk could have derailed his plans if markets had gone tits up and he didn't need to do it.

Choose your goals first, calculate the investment return needed and invest accordingly.

Do some research and feel free to PM / post here me if you have any questions. I'm more than happy to help you out where I can mate. The more people that take ownership of their future the better, in my eyes.

[Mike T]

There was a recent Money Program on Radio 4 about investing. I cannot remember all the conclusions but my understanding is they decided:
almost all fund managers think they can beat the market - clearly not possible
passive funds earned more, once costs had been taken into account
active management organisations benefitted themselves more than their customers.


These are of course gross generalisations - there will be some active fund managers who know more/perform better than others, and who do think about their customers - the problem is identifying them.

[TheHeathens]

All of these studies assume a buy and hold strategy. Plus, the vast majority of managers don't try and beat the market, they try to match it (closet trackers). Once fees are added in, they underperform.

Filter those out and it's a different story.

Alex Ferguson's title winning side last year wasn't the same as the one that won in 2000. Things move on and you should review your investments regularly; change your players about and retire the under-performing ones

Or just be Everton.

[Richard Shlong]

A study from the London School of Economics indicates being seen as a high flyer in primary school, regardless of actual ability, can be a strong motivator for boys' performance in secondary school.

Paul says: “Personally, one of my all-time favourite drinks is a half-bottle of Krug with lunch. Krug is a very biscuity champagne, which is how we describe a champagne with strong yeasty flavours. It’s also very dry which makes it an excellent aperitif and a bottle shared over smoked salmon or charcuterie and good company makes me very happy.

And so as the renewables sector have grown up, so the incentive system which government provides must mature – and this is in part why this we’ve embarked on EMR which I want to update you on today.