New Investments: Stocks ISA, Aberdeen Emerging Markets & INSYNERGY Odey Fund

I have made a few changes in my Stocks and Shares ISA to reflect a higher exposure to risk after a relatively short investment in bonds. It’s my feeling the god returns from bonds are fading into the past and 2010 will provide slower growth in this area.

My ISA currently consists of monthly contributions into M&G Optimal Income Class X, Jupiter Corporate Bonds and HL Multi-Manager Inc & Growth Portfolio. This month I am dropping contributions to the Jupiter Corporate Bonds and adding two new funds. Welcome to Aberdeen Emerging Markets and the INSYNERGY Odey Fund.

Aberdeen Emerging Markets

I’m investing in this fund due to it’s exposure to emerging markets, funnily enough! I wanted more exposure to emerging Asia and South & Central America, this fund provides exactly that. In my opinion investing in UK and US markets is pretty futile and the future for larger gains is in the emerging and growing economies of developing countries. Everything from agriculture to medicines are rapidly developing in these countries and its a good time to cash in on it. The fund is predominately held in International Equities which is in my preference.

Aberdeen Emerging Markets - Global Allocation

Aberdeen Emerging Markets - Asset Allocation

INSYNERGY Odey Fund

Bought purely because of the man at the helm…. Crispin Odey. There is nothing more to say on this fund, it is mainly UK invested which goes against my plans but I’ll swallow that pill to have Crispin managing some of my money.

INSYNERGY Odey Fund Global Allocation

INSYNERGY Odey Fund Allocations

What are you guys investing in? and why?

Investment Status at the Start of 2010

Now that the financial blogs have calmed down after their initial 2010 postings I thought I would chirp up with where my investments are at the beginning of 2010. My investments lie in two main containers, a ‘Self Invested Pension Plan’ (SIPP) and a ‘Stocks & Shares ISA’. For those outside the UK the stocks and shares ISA is a tax free lump sum that the UK government allows you to have in both cash and stocks per year.

Analysing both of these investments the assets are located in the following ways:

Asset Allocation Q1 2010

This chart shows the aggressive nature of my current portfolio, I am currently happy to take higher risks for potentially higher returns. At the moment, my strategy is to adjust this every 5 years to increase the proportion of cash/bonds & guilts. These two categories can be further split down into the following fund sector allocations:

Fund Sector Allocation Q1 2010

A lot of my portfolio is allocated to specialist sectors; including agriculture and Indian and Russian funds. Whist this is potentially a dangerous balance these three funds alone are currently providing me over £3000 of profit. Hopefully in the coming months I am going to add an emerging markets fund to this portfolio to increase the specialist allocation. The bond allocations provide a more secure income providing some diversification to the overall portfolio. Drilling down into these asset allocations we can see in the following chart even clearer how they are distributed:

X-ray Asset Allocation Q1 2010

They are distributed globally as follows:

Global Distribution Q1 2010

In 2010 I am going to try and increase my contributions in ‘emerging asia’. I am also going to invest heavily in oil & gas production in New Zealand due to some personal beliefs in this area.

Drilling down into which sectors are involved the following bar chart shows where my money is allocated:

Sector Share Q1 2010

Heatlh care, technology and oil & gas will be my main investments this year. Oil and gas due to it’s up and coming rebound and through the recent lack of exploration, this should take off towards Q3/Q4 of 2010. Technology as I think this year will be a big year of 3D TVs, Blu-Ray and new computing devices ad screens combined with a recovering economy this sector should drive well this year. Health care I believe is always a good investor, when a bio-technology firm strikes big they strike very big so some good choices in this sector could really help my portfolio.

So, this is a brief over view. I will update monthly with how it is doing and half yearly with the asset allocations. What do you think? How does this differ to your portfolio’s? What would you recommend I change if anything?

Hydrogen From Pee!?

A great little post on how we might be able to power our cars and maybe even our homes from our own pee!

Goals for 2010

It is no surprise that I have written very little here so far. 2009 has been hectic, starting a new job and working offshore on oil rigs for weeks at a time leaves very little time for blogging. However, 2009 was a year where I realised a few things…..

1. My original plans were to make as much money as possible so I could retire as early as possible – this typically means my work/life balance is work/work.
2. I realised, or more accurately confirmed I don’t like working for a big corporation…. or working for anyone but myself for that matter.
3. I no longer want to move anywhere in the world at a moments notice for an undefined amount of time and have a company tell me so.
4. In a big company your only as good as your last job.

1. Build up a second income stream alongside my main job. This will probably mean this and my other blog will get a lot of my attention to help drive traffic and advertising to build up income.
2. Consider buying a small house. I’m not sure about this one at all. It would essentially rob me of all my cash, however, a mortgage is likely to save me £200-£300 a month on my current rent and the cash isn’t lost…. I will see it again when I sell it or rent the house out.
3. Finish my outstanding PhD.
4. Keep my financial goals set on being a millionaire by being frugal, saving, living with less and hopefully winning the lottery
5. Get all my possessions together from the two locations they are in and sell sell sell. To make money out of my goods but to also eliminate all the clutter.
6. Clear out all my massive online storage and disk systems of all the crap I have accumulated over the years.
7. When I have days off (Weekends etc) I actually need to do something/go and see things instead of sitting in. I think I will invest in some walking books and a rucksack and start to go walking when the snow has disappeared. Or get back into mountain biking.
8. Consider riding into work some days on a bike to get exercise and to reduce fuel costs.
9. Take up running to reduce my stress levels.
10. Try and live more frugally and track my spending more carefully as I started in the last month of December. More on this to follow in my next post.

As you can see there are quite a few things I am looking at doing. Hopefully these will all help me meet my goals of being free at 45

Saving Time and Energy by TV Scheduling

With high monthly costs I am always looking at ways to save money. My latest obsession is saving money on energy. Whilst looking to save me time in the evening I have been recording all the TV shows I want to watch whilst I do other chores or work at home. Then at 9pm I sit down to relax and watch all the programs I have just recorded.

This allows me to skip the adverts and I no longer sit there watching crappy TV in between my main programs making me more productive. As an added bonus I realised that this also saves me money as I no longer have the TV on the second I walk through my door.

Double bonus! What do you do to save energy?

Fuel Economic Driving

I have just bought my very first car having had a driving license for 9 years now. I have never needed to use a car, public transport has always been good enough and not to expensive. However, the move to my current location and working in the area I do and the hours I work are making public transport less desirable. There was no way I was going to buy a new car so I lumped for a 9 year old BMW 5 Series for £3000. It was a good price for a car in good condition and BMW’s are typically reliable.

Over the last 3 weeks whilst getting back into driving I have been implementing fuel saving tips and changing my style of driving to improve my miles per gallon (MPG). Here are a few simple tips that will allow you to save money:

1. Don’t Idle, you get 0 MPG by idling.
2. Don’t drive aggressively, there is no need to accelerate rapidly. This can decrease your fuel efficiency by 33%. In town driving it can be 5%.
3. Don’t drive above 60MPH, efficiency decreases rapidly above 60.
4. Empty you car. Excess weight needs fuel to move it.
5. Keep the aerodynamics clear. Keep windows up, and store things like bikes and luggage in the car not on it.
6. Don’t use cruise control. It is not as efficient as a human at regulating a constant speed when inclines change.
7. Keep your tyres at the correct pressure. Doing so will increase your fuel efficiency by up to 3%.
8. Replace your air filters to increase efficiency by up to 10%.
9. Drive proactively. Watch what is happening ahead of you, if you see traffic lights are red then take your foot off the gas long in advance so that you don’t need to stop at the lights. This not only saves you fuel in the drive up to the lights but also saves you fuel when accelerating again when the lights change.

Back In Business

I thought I should write a brief post to say I’m back! I have been away starting a new career and learning all there is to learn in my new field. I’m back though, and ready to be Free at 45 more than ever! Hell lets make it free at 35!!

I’ll be starting the posts of all the steps I am taking on the way, whether its money saving, money making or budgeting.

Sign up to the RSS and join the ride!

Looking into 2009

With the new year upon us it isn’t looking terribly bright. The British Government is following the same policies it always has despite the rapid downward trends of the global economy. These same policies are the ones that have left the country fundamentally weak and crippled, policies that were meant to make the country grow and prosper have failed. In their pursuit, the government has failed to put money aside for hard times and instead spent, spent and spent.

Now it is savers that are expected to bail the country out, the very people that have not contributed to this problem are the very people that are now going to be penalised as they help bail out reckless borrowers and the incompetant government. In addition to this the higher band tax payers are also going to be penalised, not only will their savings income be reduced but they will also be taxed more.

The lower interest rates have not yet been truely relected in peoples savings accounts, indeed when they are, in my opinion they will not offer an effective investment. Indeed I think we will see these savings options being outstripped by the rate of inflation. It is therefore time to seek alternative investment opportunities.

I believe the best place to invest at this point in time is in fixed interest coporae bonds & gilts. They lock you in at a decent and fixed rate of interest and currently are very well priced, though as more people jump on the bandwagon this will change as prices will be pushed up. This rise in price however, will be a good increase in investment if you are already aboard. For those of you in the UK the best place to house these investments is within your stocks & shares ISA’s and your SIPP’s. This tax free haven combined with the fixed interest will make coporate bonds and & guilts one of the best investments in 2009.

Kaupthing Edge in Administration and Acquired by ING Direct

I’m sure I don’t need to speak about the current global economic issues, though maybe for our American readers it is pertinent to mention that this crises does stretch outside of America. Most notably of late is the Icelandic economy which is probably one of the worst hit outside of the United States.

Both of it’s big banks, Kaupthing Edge and Icesave have been big business here in the UK for their very attractive interest rates, however, both are now in extreme difficulty. As a Kaupthing Edge customer I am going to concentrate on their current situation and how this crisis affects us here in the UK. The Icelandic government’s promised to protect all Icelanders’ savings but this isn’t thought to extend to UK savers. However, Kaupthing Edge was regulated by the Financial Compensation Scheme which has recently been extended to £50,000 per customer per bank. Quite simply, if you have less than £50,000 in Kaupthing Edge then you are 100% safe.

Luckily you don’t need to look into financial compensation as of the 8th October 2008 Kaupthing Edge is now owned by ING Direct as discussed in a statement from HM Treasury:

Kaupthing Edge deposit business has been transferred to ING Direct, a wholly-owned subsidiary of ING Group, which operates through its branch in the UK. ING Direct is working to rapidly ensure that it is business as normal for all customers.

Is my money safe now under ING?

Essentially yes, although ING has confirmed that we are now protected under the Dutch Investor Protection Scheme. Note that this is now a UK protection scheme and in the very unlikely event ING was to go bust, 100% of the first €100,000 (approx £78,000) will be covered. However, the claim for this money will need to be made with the dutch authorities.

I know this article isn’t about ICESAVE but what about them?

Well if you were with them you really were in trouble and the bank is now in the hands of the Icelandic government. However, the UK government today announced that it will secure all deposits with 100% backing:

The UK authorities expect that Landsbanki will soon be declared in default. Should that occur, the Chancellor has put in place arrangements to ensure that no retail depositor will lose any money as a result of the closure of Icesave. The Treasury and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme are working with the Icelandic authorities and their Deposit Insurance Scheme to ensure that depositors are paid back as quickly as possible. The Chancellor has also spoken to the Icelandic Finance Minister about the importance of the Icelandic authorities ensuring that UK depositors in Icesave are given the same protections as depositors in Iceland and receive their deposits back in full promptly.

So there is no need to panic with either of these banks. However, it will be interesting to see what ING Direct does with our interest rates and at the time of writting this article I am still trying to contact them to find out. Obviously today is not a good day to do so as the number is permanently engaged, however, if you have any worries or concerns as a Kaupthing Edge Customer you can contact them on 08451 31 32 34. You can also find more information HERE.

Free at 45 Now on the iPhone and iPod Touch!

I have been an iPhone user since it was first launched in the UK. One of the nice features that came in a January software update was the ability to save an icon on your home screen that relates directly to a website. This allowed you to easily launch and few a site with one push of your finger. 

A couple of weeks ago I had an icon made by Arron Hirst from RazorianFly. Arron is responsible for most of the graphics you see on my sites, mainly the icons, banners and post banners. I hope he continues to provide me with these excellent graphics for shameless plugs on my sites

Arron will soon be starting up his own graphics design business which I hope will continue to provide Free at 45 with great, simple and clean graphics. Who knows, if the site becomes popular I may even be able to pay him, but that wouldn’t be frugal, or help me retire at 45

To place the Free at 45 webclip icon on your desktop you need to follow the steps below:

1. Navigate to Freeat45.com with mobile Safari.
2. Hit the plus button on mobile Safari.
3. Select ‘Add to Home Screen‘.