Just when you thought Christmas couldn’t get any more festive, looky here! A bonus episode of your favourite money podcast! Neither of us could stand the idea of ending the year with 29 episodes. We hope you enjoy episode 30 with your favourite cool beverage and a beautiful view.
In this episode we discuss some outstanding feedback, talk about our investment plans for 2017 and share our favourite lessons from 2016.
We’re looking forward to becoming filthy rich in 2017. Hopefully we can take you along for the ride.
Who can resist a Christmas theme this time of year? While this episode of The Fat Wallet Show is technically about what happens to ETFs when there is a share event, Simon and I spend quite a bit of time trying to navigate the tricky landscape of gifting.
If you’re not very careful, Christmas can become be fraught with crushed expectations and financial ruin. In addition to the gifts for family, friends, colleagues and Christmas party gifting rituals, there is the dreaded Christmas lunch. The turkey stuffed with chicken stuffed with rabbit stuffed with a smaller rabbit is not going to pay for itself.
I’ve found myself emotionally exhausted and financially tapped out by the time the new year rolls around more than once. If a more meaningful life resulted from all that drama, it might have been worth it. Unfortunately, I am yet to come out of a holiday season a better human being.
I’ve realised that automatic opt-in events like Christmas can be murder on the finances. We tend to do what we think is expected and then struggle for months to regain financial equilibrium. This year, I am doing things differently. If the season ends in fraught relationships anyway, I might as well save money on the gifts. And I’m the nice one about this.
This is our last episode of the year. We’ve been surprised and humbled by your support over the past 29 weeks. Being able to admit my ignorance, learn, swear and crack terrible jokes with my friend and have other people be excited about it has been the true gift of 2016. Thank you. And thank you again.
P.S. If you want to give the gift that keeps on giving this year, please review us on iTunes (if you have something sweet to say).
At the beginning of the year I decided to buy Simon’s Momentum Portfolio. Veering from the ETF path, I bought 15 individual shares. Before this brave foray into the world of individual shares, I only held five Sasol shares that I bought on a whim once. Call me Investment Strategy Joe.
This decision has caused me some consternation. Firstly, the portfolio included gold shares, which I refuse to own for reasons discussed with perhaps a touch too much passion elsewhere. Secondly, you’re supposed to hold the shares in the portfolio for a year. Throughout the year at least half of them were in the red every time I checked the portfolio. Which ones were under water kept changing throughout the year, because we’re basically living in the end times. That makes it even more alarming. It’s like knowing someone is about to poke you with a sharp stick, but never knowing who has the stick.
Lastly, I’ve been receiving way too much communication about these shares. I’ve gotten mail. On paper. Delivered by a human being. To my house. I prefer to ignore my portfolio as much as possible. I overthink things, and overthinking is a terrible investment idea.
A few weeks ago I received a 16-page document that seemed to want me to do something. The trouble is, I couldn’t understand a word of it. I've attached it here, if you’ve never seen one. I hope it’s not illegal. Apparently renounceable claw-back offers are a thing. Who knew? Certainly not me.
I dealt with this situation the way one is apparently supposed to deal with bears: roll into a ball and play dead. I realised a little while later that that’s old, stupid, indebted Kristia’s way of dealing of things. I am not that person anymore. I’m fearless about finances. So I asked Simon.
Remember that we have our final JSE Power Hour of the year on Thursday. I hope to put some faces to names on the day. Come say hi!
P.S. On the day we recorded this we got an email from Jane Matthews asking us to discuss renounceable claw-back offers, because she also got this godforsaken document. Jane, we were in sync there for a moment. I hope it means we get to be best friends.
Kris