S&S ISA Experiment – January 2022

I don’t usually post about my ISA experiment every month (previous updates here), but January has been an interesting month. Obviously not just for my ISAs, but across the market. Some headline figures, to set the scene for those who haven’t been watching closely (good for you!): Market Representative ETF January Performance All World VWCE

IRA Contributions in UCITS ETFs through Interactive Brokers

One of my financial experiments for this year was was to use one of the lesser-known options for US citizens abroad to buy index funds – buying a non-US UCITS ETF inside a US IRA. Depending on exchange rates and my employer’s performance, I may also be within touching distance of the Roth IRA income

Interactive Brokers ISA – A New Option?

I saw on Reddit yesterday that Interactive Brokers now offers an ISA. Potentially, this could be exciting news, opening up a new ISA option for Americans in the UK. Why? Because IBKR is both a) generally very low cost and b) friendly to US citizens outside the US. I already have Roth IRAs with IBKR

2021 FBAR Exchange Rate is Available

Quick public service announcement: the official FBAR exchange rate is now available at https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/datasets/treasury-reporting-rates-exchange/treasury-reporting-rates-of-exchange Terrible user interface they’ve changed to, but the exchange rate is 0.74 GBP to the USD. Time to cross FBAR off my to-do list today…

S&S ISA Experiment – December 2021

Now that the London market has closed for the year, it’s time for another update on my S&S ISA experiment – no huge changes since September 2021, but good to look back on 2021 and see how it’s gone. Very quick background – because of the PFIC limitations in holding index funds in an ISA,

2021 Year in Review

I always find the end of the year a good time for reflection, on the past year and the upcoming one. It’s a bit of a transition time for many of us – I certainly had a bit of a mad rush to the end of the year at work (which happens every year, and

Bridging to Retirement – Splitting SIPP & ISA Contributions

Edit 06Dec21: I realized that this is all completely wrong! You can get the same effect, without paying National Insurance, by just putting part of the money to the pension, then taking the 62% hit on the take home cash for an ISA. For example, for £1,000 of pre-tax income, put £475 in your salary

November Grab Bag

Hi everybody – sorry it’s been a while, life gets in the way! Nothing bad, just been busy with family and work and nothing has really drawn me in for a full post. So I thought I’d post a few thoughts on two topics today, and some thoughts on upcoming posts. Inflation & Investing Most

A Phased Approach to Emergency Funds

In my recent post on my approach to bonds and cash, I mentioned that I don’t have any dedicated emergency fund at all. I know this flies in the face of conventional personal finance wisdom, but I think I’ve got a pretty sound justification. My personal approach is not quite so aggressive as somebody like

Practical Thoughts on the New Health & Social Care Levy

By now, we’ve all heard of the new Health & Social Care levy – but what does it really mean in practical terms? I’m not going to talk about the politics, or whether the levy is actually fit for purpose to improve the NHS and social care – I’m mostly keeping this blog apolitical. However,