Trading is very different to investing. Most personal finance blogs, and even many well-known, reputable financial information and news organisations, glamourise and encourage trading. But at To the pound we believe that it is investing which will help you to build wealth and become financially independent in the future. Trading is the exercise of buying … Continue reading Why you should not be trading, but investing
Author: tothepound
The time value of money
Would you rather have £100 now or £100 in one year? Most would choose the former, but not all would know why. So what about this instead: would you rather have £100 now or £105 in one year? Your answer will depend on two things: If you saved or invested the £100 today, how much … Continue reading The time value of money
The 100 minus age rule
When it comes to building wealth over the long term, one type of investment reigns supreme: stocks, or ‘equities’. Investors with long time horizons, such as young people saving for retirement, can stomach the volatility of equities, knowing that such high risk will be compensated with high returns over the long run. However, as an … Continue reading The 100 minus age rule
Three laws when selecting individual stocks
Professional investors themselves often don’t make particularly good investment decisions, so their funds often underperform or lose money. But before writing them off and deciding to do it all yourself, take a moment to ask yourself: do you really think you can select individual investments better than a professional? Regardless of whether you can outperform … Continue reading Three laws when selecting individual stocks
What is the ‘energy transition’?
Humankind’s use of energy – from power generation through to final consumption – has had negative side effects on the global climate. The primary concern is global warming, caused by greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which has had knock-on negative impacts such as rising sea levels and erratic weather patterns. These negative impacts on the … Continue reading What is the ‘energy transition’?
How can I make my money more sustainable in 2021?
It’s no accident that our first article of the year is a sustainable one. And we’re getting stuck right into it. Here is a framework that you can use to put your money to work, sustainably. We think sustainable money has five pillars:1. Consume2. Invest3. Donate4. Contribute5. LearnOur expertise is clearly the investment pillar, and … Continue reading How can I make my money more sustainable in 2021?
A difficult year, in review
2020 has come to a close, and it was no normal year. Let’s review what happened, and what we can learn from it. We all became epidemiologists. This was a double-edged sword for the investment industry. Whilst a ‘new’ topic for us all to read about genuinely increased and improved our individual and collective bases, … Continue reading A difficult year, in review
What is the FTSE 100, the S&P 500 and the EuroStoxx 50?
Equity (stock) indices are composite measures of stock market performance that typically group together companies within a certain category, to give observers a quick and easy summary of whether that particular group of companies increased or decreased in value over a particular time frame. For example, the FTSE 100 index comprises the 100 largest companies … Continue reading What is the FTSE 100, the S&P 500 and the EuroStoxx 50?
Redefining the ‘principal-agent’ problem from a sustainability perspective
You ask your doctor to make a diagnosis. You ask your teacher for a lesson. You ask your MP to give you the facts. You ask your mechanic to fix your car. What do these things have in common? You expect them to behave in your best interest. In the corporate world, the same expectation … Continue reading Redefining the ‘principal-agent’ problem from a sustainability perspective
Should I make changes to my portfolio because of Brexit?
No. Here’s why:Your portfolio should already be globally diversified, or at least not concentrated in any one country. On a global scale, Brexit barely registers. That’s a bit sad for us Brits, but it is a practical truth. Living in the U.K., we obviously receive a disproportionate amount of news coverage on Brexit, which makes … Continue reading Should I make changes to my portfolio because of Brexit?
To the pound 