I write about personal finance and investing and stuff. If you like the content there's more here: https://www.perpetualprudence.com/
I Solved the Passive Investing Debate
Passive is one of the most polarising strategies in modern investing. In retail, the battle is over. Done. Finito. Passive investing won. You won’t get many retail investors who strongly oppose this method. In fact, many see it as the only way non-professionals should be investing. They think it’s obvious — just look at how well the strategy has worked in the past, how cheap it is, and how easy it is. But some retail investors don’t employ passive investing (PI). This is because they think th...
I Solved the Passive Investing Debate
Passive is one of the most polarising strategies in modern investing. In retail, the battle is over. Done. Finito. Passive investing won. You won’t get many retail investors who strongly oppose this method. In fact, many see it as the only way non-professionals should be investing. They think it’s obvious — just look at how well the strategy has worked in the past, how cheap it is, and how easy it is. But some retail investors don’t employ passive investing (PI). This is because they think th...
Putting Out a FIRE Part II: The Happiness Problem
We have already seen how FIRE is mathematically flawed. The “4% Rule” and other such heuristics used to build up a pot big enough to RE are not as safe as FIREees think they are. Here, we leave the mathematical criticism to one side and focus on the non-numerical parts of life. I explain that FIRE is not only financially risky, but also the wrong philosophical and practical approach.Wasted timeThe most obvious downside of sacrificing enjoyment in years 20–40 is that, well, those years aren’t ...
Putting Out a FIRE Part II: The Happiness Problem
We have already seen how FIRE is mathematically flawed. The “4% Rule” and other such heuristics used to build up a pot big enough to RE are not as safe as FIREees think they are. Here, we leave the mathematical criticism to one side and focus on the non-numerical parts of life. I explain that FIRE is not only financially risky, but also the wrong philosophical and practical approach.Wasted timeThe most obvious downside of sacrificing enjoyment in years 20–40 is that, well, those years aren’t ...
Putting Out a FIRE Part I: The Numbers Don't Add Up
Noah doesn’t enjoy life. Not at the moment, anyway. And he doesn’t anticipate much enjoyment in any of the next 5 years, either. But that’s ok. Noah has a plan. Noah is frugal. He lives in a small 2-bedroom flat on the outskirts of London. He doesn’t go on holiday. He hasn’t purchased a new item of clothing since 2018. He would never, gun-to-his-head-never, purchase barista-made coffee or other caffeinated beverages. Not even from the 1-little-old-lady stall at the end of his road. Why do tha...
Putting Out a FIRE Part I: The Numbers Don't Add Up
Noah doesn’t enjoy life. Not at the moment, anyway. And he doesn’t anticipate much enjoyment in any of the next 5 years, either. But that’s ok. Noah has a plan. Noah is frugal. He lives in a small 2-bedroom flat on the outskirts of London. He doesn’t go on holiday. He hasn’t purchased a new item of clothing since 2018. He would never, gun-to-his-head-never, purchase barista-made coffee or other caffeinated beverages. Not even from the 1-little-old-lady stall at the end of his road. Why do tha...
Against Optimisation
Whenever I’m browsing investing and personal finance content I see a word that makes me sick: “Optimisation” We are told we need to optimise everything. This approach is wrong. By “optimising”, you increase vulnerability and reduce robustness. This happens for two reasons. First, you can’t increase the probability of a better result in one dimension without sacrificing another dimension. It’s a trade-off. There is no free lunch. If you’re an Economics first-year student who for some sick, twi...
Against Optimisation
Whenever I’m browsing investing and personal finance content I see a word that makes me sick: “Optimisation” We are told we need to optimise everything. This approach is wrong. By “optimising”, you increase vulnerability and reduce robustness. This happens for two reasons. First, you can’t increase the probability of a better result in one dimension without sacrificing another dimension. It’s a trade-off. There is no free lunch. If you’re an Economics first-year student who for some sick, twi...
Is Crypto Here to Stay?
I used to think crypto was just a meme. Just a fad. Just a phase. But then something changed. I started to read. To watch. To listen. I started to pay attention. And although I can’t bring myself to say that I “went down the rabbit hole”, that’s exactly what I did. When I understood the potential applications, knowing how crap existing finance is, I was forced to acknowledge that the whole thing might not be just a trend. How can you tell? One way is to determine which category of innovation ...
Is Crypto Here to Stay?
I used to think crypto was just a meme. Just a fad. Just a phase. But then something changed. I started to read. To watch. To listen. I started to pay attention. And although I can’t bring myself to say that I “went down the rabbit hole”, that’s exactly what I did. When I understood the potential applications, knowing how crap existing finance is, I was forced to acknowledge that the whole thing might not be just a trend. How can you tell? One way is to determine which category of innovation ...
