Win £250 when you open a Plum Stocks & Shares ISA

March 17, 2023

Win £250 When You Open a Plum Stocks and Shares ISA!

Nick Investing events, reviews, competitions 0 Comments

Updated 19 April 2023

If you’re looking for a home for your 2023/24 Stocks and Shares ISA allowance, this special promotion from money-management app Plum could provide a solution, with a chance of winning a £250 prize as well!

Plum is designed to help you set money aside painlessly for any purpose – from holidays to major purchases or simply for a ‘rainy day’ fund. It is one of a range of apps that make use of so-called Open Banking. This allows third-party apps to access your financial information (read only) – so long as you provide the necessary authorization, of course – and perform certain transactions on your behalf, if you choose to set up a direct debit.

Plum offers four levels of account. These are the free Plum Basic and the paid-for Pro, Ultra and Premium. The Basic account is (as stated) free of charges. Plum Pro costs £2.99 a month, Ultra costs £4.99 a month, and Premium costs £9.99 a month. The Pro, Ultra and Premium accounts offer a wider range of features and higher interest rates in interest-bearing ‘Pockets’. This is further discussed on the main Plum website.

The current promotion is specifically for people who open a Stocks and Shares ISA with Plum, so in this post I will be focusing on that. But first I should answer the most basic question…

Capital at risk if you invest

What is a Stocks and Shares ISA?

The term ISA is short for Individual Savings Account. ISAs are savings and investment products where you aren’t taxed on the interest you earn or any dividends you receive or capital gains you make, in accordance with ISA rules. An ISA is basically a tax-free ‘wrapper’ that can be applied to a huge range of financial products.

With ISAs you don’t get any extra contribution from the government in the form of tax relief as you do with pensions. But – except in the case of the Lifetime ISA – you can withdraw your money at any time (subject to any provider rules about the term and notice period required) and you won’t be taxed on any earnings.

All adults aged +18 who are registered for tax in the UK have an annual ISA allowance, which is the maximum amount you can invest in ISAs in the year concerned. In the current financial year (2023/24) this is a generous £20,000. But you cannot carry over this allowance into a new tax year, so it really is a case of use it or lose it!

There are four main ISA categories: Cash ISA, Stocks and Shares ISA, Innovative Finance ISA (IFISA) and Lifetime ISA (LISA). You can divide your £20,000 ISA allowance among these in any way you choose, though the most you can invest in a Lifetime ISA in a year is £4,000. Note also that you are only allowed to invest in one ISA in each category per year.

The Plum Stocks and Shares ISA

Investing in a single company can be risky, so if you have a Plum Pro account (or higher), the app enables you to invest your money across a range of well-diversified funds. These contain a mixture of shares from thousands of different companies, plus other assets like bonds. So if one investment doesn’t perform well, it should only affect a small portion of your overall portfolio.

Some examples of the themed funds on offer to Plum investors include:

Tech Giants – Allows you to invest in technology shares like Facebook and Apple.

Balanced Bundle – With 60% shares and 40% bonds, this fund offers a balanced combination of shares and bonds.

Future Planet – Invests in shares of companies within an index which is weighted towards companies that meet positive carbon and environmental levels.

Retirement 2050 – Investments that will pay out money for investors planning to retire in or within approximately five years after 2050.

The Medic – Shares of healthcare, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.

Once you have deposited your money with Plum, you can choose which funds to invest in from the range available. There are up to 21 funds on offer, though some are only available to customers with a Plum Premium account.

You can start investing with as little as £1, up to the annual ISA maximum of £20,000 (in the current tax year). Subject to these limits, you can deposit or withdraw as often as you like, with no hidden fees or charges. If you have already invested your £20,000 maximum ISA allowance, or have invested in another S&S ISA in the current tax year, you can still invest with Plum in a GIA (general investment account) but obviously this will be liable for tax charges.

Plum also offer personal pensions. A Plum Self Invested Personal Pension (SIPP) lets you consolidate existing pension policies and invest in risk managed or other well diversified global funds. Capital at risk. Pension and tax rules apply.

£250 Prize Promotion

As an additional incentive to start investing with Plum, anyone opening a Plum Stocks & Shares ISA before 12 noon on 30th April 2023 will be entered into a prize draw to win £250.

Any existing customers who already have an active Stocks & Shares ISA with Plum will also be automatically entered into the draw. An active Plum Stocks & Shares ISA is defined as a customer account with a current subscription to Plum Pro (or above) at the time of competition close, and where no fees or ID verification remain outstanding at that time. Note also that to open a Plum Stocks and Shares ISA you must be over 18 years old and tax-registered in the UK.

No purchase is necessary to enter this prize draw, but to finish opening your Plum Stocks & Shares ISA, the company may need to perform a KYC (Know Your Customer) check. Note that all outstanding checks must be completed before the competition’s end date (see above) for your entry to be included. So if you are going to do this, it is probably best to apply sooner rather than later.

One lucky winner will be selected at random and notified within five working days of the competition close date (see above). The prize of £250 will be paid into the winner’s Primary Plum Pocket within 10 working days of the competition close.

Closing Thoughts

If you are looking for a home for your 2023/24 Stocks and Shares ISA allowance, a Plum S&S ISA is certainly worth considering. It offers a simple, straightforward method for investing in a range of themed and well-diversified funds. As such, it may be particularly suited to people who are new to investing and/or those who don’t want to spend many hours researching specific investments themselves.

Furthermore, as stated above, you can start with as little as a pound and withdraw your money at any time without giving notice or paying extra fees (as with all stock market investments, some fees and charges are payable).

In addition, as a Plum account holder you will enjoy all the other features and benefits of the app too, including interest-paying ‘pockets’ you can use to set money aside for specific purposes such as holidays. See the main Plum website for full details.

And, of course, there is that potential £250 prize to be won as well!

Capital at risk. The value of your investments can go down as well as up.

As always, if you have any comments or questions about this post, please do leave them below.

Important note: I am not a qualified financial adviser and nothing in this post should be construed as personal financial advice. You should always do your own ‘due diligence’ before investing and seek advice from a qualified professional if in any doubt how best to proceed. All investing carries a risk of loss.

Disclosure: This post and others on Pounds and Sense includes affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase or perform some other qualifying transaction, I may receive a commission for introducing you. This will not affect in any way any fees you are charged or the product or service you receive.

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March 7, 2023

Mother’s Day 2023 Gift Guide and Giveaway!

Nick Everything Else events, reviews, competitions, families 0 Comments

Spring is in the air, so it’s time for another great giveaway on Pounds and Sense! This one is themed around Mother’s Day, which this year is on Sunday March 19th.

I have clubbed together with some of my fellow UK bloggers to provide a bumper bundle of prizes that will amaze and delight any mum! As you will see, they range from an adult micro scooter and helmet to a bamboo underwear set, a luxury silk pillowcase and eye-mask to a ‘home spa’ face-and-body gift set.

The total value of all the prizes is over £550. And the best news is, it’s entirely free to enter!

This giveaway has (again) been organized by Rowena Becker, who blogs at My Balancing Act. No small amount of effort has been involved in arranging and co-ordinating this event, so many thanks again to Rowena for her hard work and dedication.

Without further ado, then, I’ll hand you over to Rowena to introduce the giveaway…

And we’re back! This time to spoil your mum. Or perhaps you can win yourself some treats! We have over £550 worth of incredible prizes! This is not only a giveaway but also a great Mother’s Gift Guide to help you get ideas and inspiration for your mum or the special lady in your life this Mother’s Day.

KEEP SCROLLING DOWN TO ENTER AND FOR THE FULL LIST OF AMAZING PRIZES!

The Prizes

Adult Micro Scooter and Safety Helmet

Micro Scooters are renowned for producing the most robust scooters for all the family. From toddler ride-ons, three-wheeled wonders, 2 wheel scooters for older kids plus their multi award winning adult range, there is something for every member of the family.

Founded and run by two mums, Micro are B Corp certified. Their range of eco-scooters and accessories made from recycled bottles means more families can tread lightly on the planet.

Hopping on a two-wheeled adult scooter – whether it’s to do the school run, journey to work or for weekend family time – makes it easy and fun to get from A to B. Exploring the world on two wheels is a greener, cleaner and cheaper way to get around.

THE PRIZE

- Any adult Micro scooter

- Any adult Micro scooter helmet

- Total prize value of £215

Cocoonzzz Silk Pillowcase and Eye Mask

At Belledorm, they understand the importance of a good night’s sleep. For over 45 years, this family-owned company has been dedicated to providing UK customers with exceptional bedlinen that helps them rest easy.

They don’t just sell bedding – they offer a solution. Sleep is the foundation of our daily lives, and the right bedding can make all the difference. That’s why they are passionate about providing soft, cozy, and luxurious sheets, pillowcases, and duvets that make you feel like you’re sleeping in a dream. From the moment you slip into bed, you’ll experience a sense of comfort and calm that carries you through the night and prepares you for the day ahead.

Here we are offering the chance to win a Cocoonzzz Silk Pillowcase and Eye Mask Bundle made from 100% pure mulberry grade A silk. Unlike cotton or linen, silk glides over your face and reduces the stretching and pulling that causes lines on the skin. Sleeping on silk has proven beauty benefits: it reduces lines and wrinkles, helps you wake with a hydrated glowing skin, and is hypo-allergenic and temperature regulating.

Treat yourself or your mum to the best!

Buyagift: Treat Her Gift Voucher

Not sure what to get your mum? Look no further than Buyagift! The Treat Her Gift Voucher or Experience Box is the ideal gift, with a selection of over 2,955 afternoon teas, relaxing spa days and adrenaline adventures for her to choose from. We have one Treat Her Gift Voucher for our lucky winner.

For more gift ideas for your mum, check out Buyagift’s gift guide here: Mother’s Day Gift Guide 2023

Framed Best Selling Print of your choice from ink & drop

Win a framed Best Selling Print from Ink & Drop! Our lucky winner can choose a bestselling print of their choice in 50 x 70cm size.

There’s an incredible selection of unique prints to choose from in a range of different styles, from vintage antique prints, cheeky altered art paintings, pop art, dark decor, and street art graffiti prints.

Ink & Drop’s incredible posters will look amazing on any wall and best of all, the prize will arrive already framed, ready to hang straight on the wall!

Home Spa Face & Body Set With Cosmetic Bag – Mimosa & Petitgrain

Treat your mum with this gorgeous home spa face and body gift set which comes with a beautiful cosmetic bag. This gift set includes a luxurious combination of Pure Lakes Facial and Body Skincare products for an indulgent home spa experience. It includes a Face Mask, Salt Scrub and Body Butter. The Mimosa & Petitgrain blend has both a sweetness and woodiness that balance beautifully to really infuse the senses. The set includes:

- Bentonite Clay x 25g

- Rosehip Seed Soap Free Facial Cleanser x 30ml

- Neroli & Geranium Flower Water Toner x 30ml

- Mimosa & Petitgrain Salt Scrub x 80g

- Mimosa & Petitgrain Shea Body Butter x 80m

Collagen Shots from Rejuvenated

Indulge mum this Mother’s Day with Rejuvenated’s multi-award-winning Collagen Shots. The brand’s multi-award-winning collagen drink contains the perfect blend of hydrolysed marine collagen (10,000 mg,) antioxidants, vitamins and hyaluronic acid to plump, smooth and hydrates the skin. The amazing formula also helps to promote healthy blood sugar levels, strengthen connective tissue, alleviate menopausal symptoms and support joint health. We have 30 servings of collagen shots for our lucky winner.

Bamboo Underwear Set from Positive Outlook

Help all mums feel extra special this Mother’s Day with Positive Outlook. We have a gorgeous bamboo underwear set for our lucky winner. Our winner can mix and match bamboo briefs and bralettes in their desired size and colour for the perfect fit and style of their choice.

Positive Outlook’s underwear is not only extra comfortable and super stylish but also kind to the planet, making it the perfect gift for any mum who wants to secure a bright future for the planet and their children.

Crystal Candle from Wakuda

This crystal candle was lovingly made to awaken your feminine energy and celebrate all that is beautiful within us. With the beautiful home scent of aqua blossom and coral this inner goddess crystal candle smells divine and instantly teases your senses, lifts and makes you smile.

~Snow Quartz~ This stone is known for its soft feminine energy that will align your chakras and balance your yin and yang. It is a stone that represents purity and will help you connect with and appreciate your inner goddess.

~Rose Quartz~ This is the stone of universal love and self-love. Connecting to the heart chakra, the rose quartz will promote inner healing and feelings of peace while dispelling negative energy and replacing it with loving vybz.

Signed Copy of Coming Home

One lucky mum can win a signed copy of Coming Home: A Guide to Being Your True Self. This gorgeous book aims to help readers break free of self-limiting beliefs and the expectations of others. It will help you rediscover your passions and become the person you really want to be. Along with Gillian’s own story, she sets out practical exercises for readers to try, Coming Home reveals how one ordinary woman turned her life around and how others can do the same.

* As an Amazon Associate I earn from any qualifying purchases

The Bloggers

This Gift Guide and Giveaway have been organised by My Balancing Act, a busy mum’s guide to getting the most out of your days, in collaboration with the family finance blog, Savvy Dad.

The amazing UK blogs behind this giveaway all offer fantastic content from parenting, finance and recipes to travel, days out and much more! Check their blogs out below for top tips and inspiration.

How to Enter

You can enter the Giveaway by completing as many Rafflecopter widget entry options below as you like. All entries will be collected and one winner will be randomly chosen. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Terms and Conditions

UK entries only.
The giveaway will run from 11:59 am on 7th March 2023 to 11.59 pm on 19th March 2023.
The winners will be notified by email from rowena@mybalancingact.co.uk
The winner will have 7 days to respond after which time we reserve the right to select an alternative winner.
This prize draw is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, BlogLovin or Pinterest.
Prize draw open to over 18s only. Age verification may be required to receive some prizes.
If any prizes are out of stock then we will do our best to find a suitable replacement but cannot guarantee it.
Anyone who unfollows before the giveaway ends or doesn’t complete the required entry action will be disqualified.
The prize is non-transferable, non-refundable and cannot be exchanged for monetary value.
We may be using a parcel service or Royal Mail for some of the prizes and their standard compensation will apply in the event of loss or damage.
Some items may be sent directly by the supplier and we do not have responsibility if these go missing and we cannot replace them.
In the unlikely event one of the companies withdraws a prize we cannot offer an alternative.
The winner’s name will be stated on some or all of our bloggers’ websites and announced on Twitter and other social media channels. It will also be displayed on the Rafflecopter entry. By entering this prize draw you give your permission for this.
Please note the winner may have the same name as you, so if you see your name displayed, be aware that you are not the winner unless you have been notified by us.
The prizes won’t arrive in time for Mother’s Day and there may be some delays in receiving prizes.

Good luck, and I hope a Pounds and Sense reader wins this fabulous prize bundle!

If you enjoyed this post, please link to it on your own blog or social media:

March 2, 2023

My Investments Update – March 2023

Nick Investing events, reviews 4 Comments

Here is my latest monthly update about my investments. You can read my February 2023 Investments Update here if you like

I’ll begin as usual with my Nutmeg Stocks and Shares ISA. This is the largest investment I hold other than my Bestinvest SIPP (personal pension), from which I recently started withdrawing again.

As the screenshot below of performance for the year to date shows, my main Nutmeg portfolio is currently valued at £20,680. Last month it stood at £20,817 so that is a fall of £137.

Apart from my main portfolio, I also have a second, smaller pot using Nutmeg’s Smart Alpha option. This is now worth £3,162 compared with £3,174 a month ago, a small drop of £12.

Here is a screen capture showing performance since the start of this year.

The general profile for both portfolios is similar, with rises in the first half of February followed by falls in the last fortnight or so. The total value of both portfolios has fallen by £149 or 0.62% month on month. That is obviously a little disappointing, but both are still comfortably up on where they were at the start of the year. And their total value has risen by almost £2,000 (8.61%) since mid-October last year.

Of course, all investing is (or should be) a long-term endeavour. Over a period of years stock market investments such as those used by Nutmeg typically produce better returns than cash accounts, often by substantial margins. But there are never any guarantees, and in in the short to medium term at least, losses are always possible.

You can read my full Nutmeg review here (including a special offer at the end for PAS readers). If you are looking for a home for your annual ISA allowance, based on my overall experience over the last seven years, they are certainly worth considering. They offer self-invested personal pensions (SIPPs) as well.

Moving on, my Assetz Exchange investments continue to generate steady returns. Regular readers will know that this is a P2P property investment platform focusing on lower-risk properties (e.g. sheltered housing). I put an initial £100 into this in mid-February 2021 and another £400 in April. In June 2021 I added another £500, bringing my total investment up to £1,000.

Since I opened my account, my AE portfolio has generated a respectable £103.38 in revenue from rental income. As I said in last month’s update, capital growth has slowed, though, in line with UK property values generally.

Even so, it’s not all bad news. At the time of writing 15 of ‘my’ properties are showing gains, 2 are breaking even, and 8 are showing losses (two fairly substantial). My portfolio is currently showing a very small net increase in value of £0.31, meaning that overall (rental income plus capital gains) I am up by £103.69. That is still a decent rate of return on my £1,000 and does illustrate the value of P2P property investments for diversifying your portfolio. And it doesn’t hurt that with Assetz Exchange most projects are socially beneficial as well.

To control risk with all my property crowdfunding investments nowadays, I invest relatively modest amounts in individual projects. This is a particular attraction of AE as far as i am concerned. You can actually invest from as little as 80p per property if you really want to proceed cautiously.

My investment on Assetz Exchange is in the form of an IFISA so there won’t be any tax to pay on profits, dividends or capital gains. I’ve been impressed by my experiences with Assetz Exchange and the returns generated so far, and intend to continue investing with them. You can read my full review of Assetz Exchange here. You can also sign up for an account on Assetz Exchange directly via this link [affiliate].

Another property platform I have investments with is Kuflink. They continue to do well, with new projects launching almost every day. I currently have around £2,500 invested with them in 18 different projects. To date I have never lost any money with Kuflink, though some loan terms have been extended once or twice. On the plus side, when this happens additional interest is paid for the period in question.

My loans with Kuflink pay annual interest rates of 6 to 7.5 percent. These days I invest no more than £200 per loan (and often less). That is not because of any issues with Kuflink but more to do with losses of larger amounts on other P2P property platforms in the past. My days of putting four-figure sums into any single property investment are behind me now! Nowadays I mainly opt to reinvest the monthly repayments I receive from Kuflink, which has the effect of boosting the percentage rate of return on the projects in question

Obviously a possible drawback with Kuflink and similar platforms is that your money is tied up in bricks and mortar, so not as easily accessible as cash savings or even (to some extent) shares. They do, however, have a secondary market on which you can offer any loan part for sale (as long as the loan in question is performing and not in arrears). Clearly that does depend on someone else wanting to buy it, but my experience has been that any loan parts offered are typically snapped up very quickly. So if an urgent need arises, withdrawing your money (or part of it) is unlikely to be an issue.

You can read my full Kuflink review here. They offer a variety of investment options, including a tax-free IFISA paying up to 7% interest per year with built-in automatic diversification. Alternatively you can now build your own IFISA, with most loans on the platform (including the one shown above) being IFISA-eligible.

You may like to know that until 31 May 2023 Kuflink are offering enhanced promotional rates of up to 9.73% (gross annual interest equivalent rate) for their Auto-Invest products (IFISA-eligible). There is limited availability for this offer and it may be withdrawn any time before 31 May 2023 if the limit is reached. For more information, click here [affiliate link].

Last year I set up an account with investment and trading platform eToro, using their popular ‘copy trader’ facility. I chose to invest $500 (then about £412) copying an experienced eToro trader called Aukie2008 (real name Mike Moest).

In January I added to this with another $500 investment in one of their thematic portfolios. I also invested a small amount I had left over in Tesla shares. My original investment of $1,022.26 is today worth $1,102.18, an increase of $79.92 or 9.43%. in these turbulent times I am very happy with that.

As you can see, my big success has been investing in Tesla at the right time, as their share price has risen by over 85%. If only I had put more than $19 into this!

My copy trading portfolio with Aukie2008 is still well in profit, though it has fallen a bit in the last week or two. My most recent investment in Oil Worldwide, having started well, is now down fractionally. But I’m certainly not going to worry about that at the moment.

You can read my full review of eToro here. You may also like to check out my more in-depth look at eToro copy trading. I also discussed thematic investing with eToro using Smart Portfolios in this recent post. The latter also reveals why I took the somewhat contrarian step of choosing the oil industry for my first thematic investment.

eToro also recently introduced the eToro Money app. This allows you to deposit money to your eToro account without paying any currency conversion fees, saving you up to £5 for every £1,000 you deposit. You can also use the app to withdraw funds from your eToro account instantly to your bank account. I tried this myself recently and was impressed with how quickly and seamlessly it worked. You can read my blog post about eToro Money here.

I had two more articles published in February on the always-excellent Mouthy Money website. One is Make Extra Money Renting a Room. This is an ‘old school’ method for making some extra cash, but none the worse for that. If you have a spare room (or rooms) in your home that you don’t mind letting out, you can generate a steady income by doing this. And under the government’s Rent a Room Scheme, you can make up to £7,500 a year tax-free.

My other piece was How to Become a TV or Movie Extra. This opportunity won’t make you rich but can certainly generate a useful sideline income and provide a lot of fun into the bargain (as I can testify from personal experience!).

My other Pounds and Sense blog posts from February include How to Make More Money From National Grid Powersaving Events. This opportunity is only open to you if you have a smart meter – but if so, you definitely need to see this 🙂

I also recommend reading (if you haven’t already) Are You Making the Most of Your Annual ISA Allowance? With the 2022/23 tax year ending in just a few weeks, it really is a case of ‘Use it or lose it’ now for your £20,000 tax-free ISA allowance. With other tax-free allowances already set to be slashed in the years ahead, it’s more important than ever to make the most of this one while you can.

Also in February I revealed how you can Get Your Will Written Free of Charge in March. And finally, do see as well Keep in Touch With Pounds and Sense, as this explains how to ensure you never miss another PAS blog post in future!

That’s all for today. I hope you and your family are coping in these challenging times. Don’t forget to check out the government’s Help for Households website, which sets out various types of financial assistance you may be entitled to and is regularly updated.

As always, if you have any comments or queries, feel free to leave them below. I am always delighted to hear from PAS readers

Disclaimer: I am not a qualified financial adviser and nothing in this blog post should be construed as personal financial advice. Everyone should do their own ‘due diligence’ before investing and seek professional advice if in any doubt how best to proceed. All investing carries a risk of loss.

Note also that posts may include affiliate links. If you click through and perform a qualifying transaction, I may receive a commission for introducing you. This will not affect the product or service you receive or the terms you are offered, but it does help support me in publishing PAS and paying my bills. Thank you!

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February 9, 2023

What Are Smart Portfolios on eToro?

Nick Investing reviews 2 Comments

In my post today I’m focusing on the trading and investment platform eToro. I originally reviewed eToro in this post.

eToro is a Israeli fintech company based in Cyprus. The company also has registered offices in the UK, US and Australia. It is a hugely popular platform with 25 million customers from over 140 countries across the world.

eToro is regulated and authorised in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and is covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). That means if eToro were to go bust any deposits with them up to £85,000 would be protected. Of course, the FSCS doesn’t protect you if you lose money simply due to your investments performing poorly.

eToro offers a wide range of investment products, from individual shares to cryptocurrencies, commodities to ETFs, currency pairs to copy trading. Today, though, I’m focusing on investing in thematic portfolios (referred to on eToro as Smart Portfolios). I recently invested in one of these myself and will talk more about this later. But before that, let’s start by answering the most basic question…

What Is Thematic Investing?

Thematic investing is a term you are likely to hear a lot more in the coming months. I know for a fact that at least one other major investment platform is planning to roll out this option soon.

There is no generally accepted official definition of thematic investing. It has some similarities with sector investing, but is more wide-ranging. To quote Wikipedia, ‘Thematic investing is a form of investment which aims to identify macro-level trends, and the underlying investments that stand to benefit from the materialisation of those trends.’ Thematic funds and portfolios tend to span a variety of sectors and pick companies within those sectors that are relevant to the chosen theme.

Thus, a healthcare-themed fund might invest in pharmaceutical companies, hospital companies, health insurance companies, nursing homes, surgical equipment manufacturers and other high-tech and information technology companies operating in the healthcare field.

Thematic investing involves assembling a collection of companies in an area you predict will generate above-average returns over the long term. Themes can be based on a concept such as ageing populations or the switch to renewables, or a narrower sub-sector such as robotics or driverless cars. Obviously, if the trend in question continues, a fund or portfolio based on it is likely to do well.

Thematic Investing on eToro

eToro offers a growing range of thematic portfolios you can invest in. As mentioned above, they are referred to on the platform as Smart Portfolios.

Most Smart Portfolios are created and managed by experts on the eToro investment team, taking into account factors such as balance, exposure, potential yield, risk and so on. In addition, there are some created and managed by eToro’s partners, including specialist investment firms and high-profile investors such as Warren Buffet.

An important question for investors is whether these portfolios are actively managed or passive. In fact, eToro say it’s a mixture of both. On the one hand, Smart Portfolios are not generally updated on a daily basis. However, they are regularly rebalanced and fine-tuned by the eToro investment team. Rebalancing is a means of ensuring that each portfolio is regularly realigned to match the original asset allocation plan and optimized for best results. Rebalancing periods differ from portfolio to portfolio, with details about this on each portfolio’s info page.

Some examples of eToro Smart Portfolios are listed below:

Cloud Computing
Crypto Portfolio
Renewable Energy
Dividend Growth – high-dividend-yielding companies
Cannabis Care – medical marijuana
Metaverse Life – virtual worlds
China Tech – technology leaders in China
Diabetes-Med – diabetes care stocks
Oil World Wide – long oil industry
Travel Kit – travel and leisure

The minimum investment in an eToro Smart Portfolio is $500 (about £416 at the time of writing). The reason for this is that when you invest in a Smart Portfolio, eToro automatically duplicates all trades in proportion to the size of your investment. eToro has a minimum investment size of $1 and if a trade would work out less than that pro rata it will not be executed. Setting a minimum investment of $500 therefore ensures that there are enough funds to open all the positions needed for the investment.

When assets that are eligible for dividend payments are held via a Smart Portfolio, these dividends are added to the portfolio’s cash balance. When the portfolio is rebalanced, these sums are then reinvested in the portfolio’s holdings.

How to Invest in an eToro Smart Portfolio

Before you can start investing, you will of course need to register for an account with eToro and deposit some funds with them. I talked about this in my original eToro review. I also recommend opening an eToro Money account (as discussed in this blog post), as this will speed up the process and ensure any costs are kept to a minimum).

Once you have done this, you can check out eToro’s range of Smart Portfolios by clicking on Discover in the left-hand menu of your dashboard when logged on. When you do this and scroll down a bit, you should see a section like the one below…

Click on View All and you will be taken to a page listing Smart Portfolios in various categories. The top one is Most Popular. When I tried this today, the section concerned looked like this…

Again, you can see all the portfolios in this category by clicking on View All. Further down the page are sections for other categories, including Tech Focused, Crypto Based and Created by Partners. There is also a filter tool allowing you to search for Smart Portfolios covering particular interests – from utilities to medical technology, cryptocurrencies to media services.

Once you have found a Smart Portfolio you want to invest in, all you need to do is go to the page for the SP in question and click on Invest in the top-right-hand corner. A pop-up box should then appear…

You can of course change the amount in the top box if you want to invest more than the minimum $500.

One other choice you have to make here concerns the Stop Loss figure. If the value of your portfolio falls below this, the Stop Loss will automatically close your investment and return the remaining money to your eToro balance. You can set this figure anywhere between 5% and 95%. My top tip is not to set this figure too high, as even a brief ‘wobble’ will then trigger the stop loss and crystallize your losses. Personally I wouldn’t set this figure any higher than 70% ($350 with a $500 investment). But it’s your decision, of course, based on your tolerance for risk.

Once you are happy with the settings, click on Deposit Now and your investment in the Smart Portfolio in question will be made.

If any of the above sounds at all daunting, don’t forget that everyone on eToro also gets a $100,000 virtual portfolio to practise with. You can invest using this virtual money to see how the process works and what returns you make.

My Experience with eToro Smart Portfolios

On 4th January this year (2023) I invested $500 in the Oil Worldwide smart portfolio. This SP focuses on the world’s leading oil-related companies, oil-related ETFs (exchange traded funds) and direct oil price derivatives.

I know this might seem rather a contrarian choice in these eco-aware times, but it seems to me that oil will still have a vital role to play in the world economy for many years to come. Plus the big oil companies are making huge profits at the moment, so I figured I might as well grab a share of that!

In addition, with oil companies currently out of favour with (some) investors, I thought there might be value to be found investing in this sector. These are large, successful companies, and they are increasingly diversifying from ‘black gold’ to renewables as well. And finally, this particular SP has a good recent profit record on eToro (much better than most crypto portfolios, for instance).

Obviously I have only been invested for just over a month to date. Even so, the value of my SP has risen to $513.62 at the time of writing, an increase of 2.66 percent. I am quite happy with that. In any event, I’m looking on this as a long-term investment so won’t be judging it yet.

Closing Thoughts

If you are looking for an interesting – and rather different – investment opportunity, thematic investing with eToro Smart Portfolios is certainly worth considering. They allow you to back your opinions on probable trends in the years ahead, and profit if the trends in question do indeed come to pass.

Of course, as with all investing, there is never any guarantee you will make money. And you could lose money if trends falter or go into reverse. In addition, unexpected events can torpedo any trend – just look what happened to the leisure and tourism industry in 2020 when the pandemic struck. It’s therefore essential to diversify your investments as much as possible and avoid the cardinal sin of putting all your investment eggs in one basket.

Remember, also, that investing is (or should be) a long-term exercise. The value of your investments can go down as well as up, and in the short- to medium-term at least you could end up getting back less than you put in. Ideally you should have a time-frame of five years or longer for any equity-based investment. In any event, you should avoid investing money you may need at short notice in the next year or two.

Nonetheless, eToro Smart Portfolios are a welcome addition to the platform’s range of investment products. And with eToro’s low fees, easy-to-use website and good social investing features, it’s a site all investors should at least check out.

For more information about eToro, please see my original eToro review and also my posts about copy trading on eToro and the eToro Money app. You can also if you wish sign up directly on the eToro website via this link [affiliate].

I will continue to update Pounds and Sense readers about the performance of my eToro investments in my monthly updates (such as this one).

As always, if you have any questions or comments about this post or eToro more generally, please do post them below.

Disclaimer: I am not a qualified financial adviser and nothing in this blog post should be construed as personal financial advice. Everyone should do their own ‘due diligence’ before investing and seek professional advice if in any doubt how best to proceed. All investing carries a risk of loss.

Note also that this post includes affiliate links. If you click through and perform a qualifying transaction, I may receive a commission for introducing you. This will not affect the product or service you receive or the terms you are offered.

If you enjoyed this post, please link to it on your own blog or social media:

February 1, 2023

My Investments Update – February 2023

Nick Investing events, reviews, property, pensions 6 Comments

Here is my latest monthly update about my investments. You can read my January 2023 Investments Update here if you like

I’ll begin as usual with my Nutmeg Stocks and Shares ISA. This is the largest investment I hold other than my Bestinvest SIPP (personal pension), from which I recently started withdrawing again.

As the screenshot below of performance over the last year shows, my main Nutmeg portfolio is currently valued at £20,817. Last month it stood at £19,898 so that is a rise of £919.

Apart from my main portfolio, I also have a second, smaller pot using Nutmeg’s Smart Alpha option. This is now worth £3,175 compared with £3,023 a month ago, a rise of £152.

Here is a screen capture showing performance over the last year. As you can see from the ochre line, I topped up this account in February 2022.

Clearly 2023 has started well, with the total value of my Nutmeg investments increasing by over £1,000. The strong start for equities in general in 2023 is due to various factors, including inflation rates world-wide starting to fall, the ending of most Covid restrictions in China, and a growing belief that any post-pandemic recession may not be as severe as was once thought. Of course, the war in Ukraine is still a major concern, but if that is resolved in the coming year it should give markets a further boost.

2023 is still likely to be an uncertain year for investors, with more ups and downs very much on the cards. Nonetheless, with share prices generally still below where they were a year ago, there are likely to be opportunities for investors to capitalize in the months ahead. I shall definitely be looking to invest more in Nutmeg and other equity-based platforms in the coming year.

It’s not just me thinking this way, incidentally. See, for example, this article on the popular Motley Fool website Three Reasons to Start Investing in 2023.

Of course, all investing is (or should be) a long-term endeavour. Over a period of years stock market investments such as those used by Nutmeg typically produce better returns than cash accounts, often by substantial margins. But there are never any guarantees, and in in the short to medium term at least, losses are always possible.

You can read my full Nutmeg review here (including a special offer at the end for PAS readers). If you are looking for a home for your annual ISA allowance, based on my overall experience over the last six years, they are certainly worth considering. They offer self-invested personal pensions (SIPPs) as well.

Moving on, my Assetz Exchange investments continue to generate steady returns. Regular readers will know that this is a P2P property investment platform focusing on lower-risk properties (e.g. sheltered housing). I put an initial £100 into this in mid-February 2021 and another £400 in April. In June 2021 I added another £500, bringing my total investment up to £1,000.

Since I opened my account, my AE portfolio has generated a very respectable £96.79 in revenue from rental income. As I said in last month’s update, capital growth has slowed, though, in line with UK property values generally. Even so, it’s not all bad news. At the time of writing 16 of ‘my’ properties are showing gains, 7 are showing losses, and two are breaking even. My portfolio is currently showing a small net increase in value of £13.36, meaning that overall (rental income plus capital gains) I am up by £110.15. That is still a very decent rate of return on my £1,000 and does illustrate the value of P2P property investments for diversifying your portfolio. And it doesn’t hurt that with Assetz Exchange most projects are socially beneficial as well.

To control risk with all my property crowdfunding investments nowadays, I invest relatively modest amounts in individual projects. This is a particular attraction of AE as far as i am concerned. You can actually invest from as little as 80p per property if you really want to proceed cautiously.

My investment on Assetz Exchange is in the form of an IFISA so there won’t be any tax to pay on profits, dividends or capital gains. I’ve been impressed by my experiences with Assetz Exchange and the returns generated so far, and intend to continue investing with them. You can read my full review of Assetz Exchange here. You can also sign up for an account on Assetz Exchange directly via this link [affiliate].

Another property platform I have investments with is Kuflink. They continue to do well, with new projects launching almost every day. I currently have around £2,400 invested with them in 18 different projects (I withdrew £200 in December to help pay for Christmas). To date I have never lost any money with Kuflink, though some loan terms have been extended once or twice. On the plus side, when this happens additional interest is paid for the period in question.

My loans with Kuflink pay annual interest rates of 6 to 7.5 percent. These days I invest no more than £200 per loan (and often less). That is not because of any issues with Kuflink but more to do with losses of larger amounts on other P2P property platforms in the past. My days of putting four-figure sums into any single property investment are behind me now!

Nowadays I mainly opt to reinvest the monthly repayments I receive from Kuflink, which has the effect of boosting the percentage rate of return on the projects in question

Obviously a possible drawback with Kuflink and similar platforms is that your money is tied up in bricks and mortar, so not as easily accessible as cash savings or even (to some extent) shares. They do, however, have a secondary market on which you can offer any loan part for sale (as long as the loan in question is performing and not in arrears). Clearly that does depend on someone else wanting to buy it, but my experience has been that any loan parts offered are typically snapped up very quickly. So if an urgent need arises, withdrawing your money (or part of it) is unlikely to be an issue.

You can read my full Kuflink review here. They offer a variety of investment options, including a tax-free IFISA paying up to 7% interest per year with built-in automatic diversification. Alternatively you can now build your own IFISA, with most loans on the platform (including the one shown above) being IFISA-eligible.

Last year I set up an account with investment and trading platform eToro, using their popular ‘copy trader’ facility. I chose to invest $500 (then about £412) copying an experienced eToro trader called Aukie2008 (real name Mike Moest).

In January I added to this with another $500 investment in one of their thematic portfolios. I also invested a small amount I had left over in Tesla shares. My original investment of $1,022.26 is today worth $1,118.62, an increase of $96.36 or 9.63%. in these turbulent times I am very happy with that.

In any event, I’m looking on this as a long-term investment so won’t be judging it yet. You can read my full review of eToro here. You may also like to check out my recent more in-depth look at eToro copy trading. I shall be publishing a post about my latest investment in an eToro thematic portfolio soon.

eToro also recently introduced the eToro Money app. This allows you to deposit money to your eToro account without paying any currency conversion fees, saving you up to £5 for every £1,000 you deposit. You can also use the app to withdraw funds from your eToro account instantly to your bank account. I tried this myself recently and was impressed with how quickly and seamlessly it worked. You can read my blog post about eToro Money here.

I had two more articles published in January on the always-excellent Mouthy Money website. One is A Three-Step Plan to Help Boost Your Finances in 2023. This article actually came out of an online presentation I did a few months ago to a club for older people. I hope you will find the ideas and advice it contains useful.

My other piece was Switch to Profit – How to Make Money Moving Your Bank Account. With the banks now starting to offer switching bonuses again to attract new customers, there are hundreds of pounds to be made by doing this. The article quotes my sister Annie, who is a serial switcher and shares some top tips based on her experiences. Many thanks, Annie!

My other blog posts from January include Planning a UK Holiday This Year? Here Are Some Ideas for You! and Ways to Prevent Scams From Reducing Your Savings. Another is How Well Do British People Understand Home Insurance, published in association with my friends at HSBC Life. And finally, while I obviously hope it won’t apply to you personally, this expert guest post by a senior divorce lawyer is also well worth a read: Silver Splitters – How to Navigate Divorce at a Later Stage in Life.

That’s all for today. I hope you and your family are coping in these undoubtedly challenging times. Don’t forget to check out the government’s Help for Households website, which sets out various types of financial assistance you may be entitled to and is regularly updated.

As always, if you have any comments or queries, feel free to leave them below. I am always delighted to hear from PAS readers

Disclaimer: I am not a qualified financial adviser and nothing in this blog post should be construed as personal financial advice. Everyone should do their own ‘due diligence’ before investing and seek professional advice if in any doubt how best to proceed. All investing carries a risk of loss.

Note also that posts may include affiliate links. If you click through and perform a qualifying transaction, I may receive a commission for introducing you. This will not affect the product or service you receive or the terms you are offered, but it does help support me in publishing PAS and paying my bills. Thank you!

If you enjoyed this post, please link to it on your own blog or social media:

January 9, 2023

What is an eToro Money Account and How Can it Save You Money?

Nick Saving Money, Investing reviews 0 Comments

Regular readers will know that I joined the online trading and investment platform eToro earlier this year and have become a fan of it.

You can purchase a wide range of investment products on eToro, including individual company shares, ETFs, commodities, cryptocurrencies, thematic portfolios, and so on. You can also avail yourself of their popular copy trading facility, where you sign up to automatically copy the trades of an experienced (and hopefully successful!) eToro investor.

My own investments on eToro now comprise a thematic portfolio, a copy-trading portfolio, and a few shares in Tesla (basically because I had a spare $20 burning a hole in my account!). I will write more about thematic portfolios in a future post. Today, though, I want to talk about eToro Money.

What is eToro Money?

eToro Money is a recently-launched e-money account for eToro investors. It can be managed via a mobile phone app. It is free to set up and there are no ongoing charges.

The key attraction of eToro Money is that it allows you to deposit to your eToro investment account without paying the usual currency conversion fee. This can save you up to £5 per £1,000 compared with depositing directly to eToro using a bank debit card.

Essentially what happens is that you deposit to your eToro Money account with your bank debit card using the account details provided. This money then appears instantly in your eToro Money account and you can use it to invest on anything on eToro when you are ready.

When I tried this myself, I was impressed by how straightforward the process was, and in particular the speed with which the money showed up in my account (it really did seem to appear instantly). Using it to invest on the eToro platform was then straightforward. Of course, eToro operates in US Dollars, so I worked out in advance roughly how much I would need to deposit in GB pounds to get the $500 I was aiming to invest (I transferred £430 in total to be on the safe side). The money was then converted at a fair rate with no fees or charges. You can see these transactions listed in the screen capture of the app on my phone below. I have redacted my account name for security reasons.

You can also use eToro Money to withdraw funds from your eToro account. I haven’t tried this yet, but again eToro promise that the process is instant and I have no reason to doubt that. There are modest fees for withdrawing from eToro and you will still have to pay them, but having an eToro Money account keeps costs as low as possible. As I noted in my original review, eToro’s fees are very reasonable and they don’t generally impose any transaction charges.

Other Features

As well as managing your main (‘fiat’) currency in eToro Money, you can also securely store, send and receive most popular cryptocurrencies. eToro Money incorporates the functionality of the previous eToro Wallet app for cryptocurrencies, while offering additional features as well.

You can also use your eToro Money account to send money to and receive money from friends and family, set up direct debits, manage your household expenses, and so forth.

The eToro Money Debit Card

This is a further benefit of eToro Money some may wish to take advantage of. It is a debit card linked to your eToro Money account which you can use in the same way as a bank debit card to fund purchases, exchange currencies, and so on. They claim to offer market leading exchange rates across the globe.

To qualify for an eToro Money debit card, you must be a member of the eToro Club. Anyone with over $5,000 in realised equity on eToro is eligible for this. Realised equity in this context means the combined value of the available funds in your eToro account plus the original amount invested in all your holdings. So if you have $1,000 in cash in your account and have invested $4,000 in shares and other investments on the platform, you will have $5,000 in realised equity and qualify for a free eToro Money debit card if you want one.

Closing Thoughts

For most users the primary benefit of an eToro Money account will be to eliminate the currency conversion fee when depositing on eToro. It also speeds up the process of depositing to the platform and withdrawing from it.

While eToro Money is not a fully-fledged online banking service, you can also use it to send payments and/or set up direct debits. In that respect, it is a bit like PayPal. Though you will need to know the sort code and account number of the person or business you want to pay. An email address alone (as with PayPal) won’t cut it!

As mentioned above, if you have $5,000 or more in realised equity on eToro you are also entitled to an Etoro Money debit card if you wish. You can read more about this on the eToro Money website.

Overall, I think anyone who plans to invest via eToro should seriously consider opening an eToro Money account to reduce costs and speed up depositing and withdrawing. They will obviously then have the opportunity to take advantage of the other benefits too.

To set up an eToro Money account, the best option is to download the eToro Money app from Google Play (Android) or the App Store (Apple) and follow the instructions in the app. Obviously you should have an account on eToro already in order to use eToro Money.

Don’t forget, you can also read my in-depth review of eToro here and my post about copy trading on eToro here.

If you have any questions or comments about this post, as always, please do leave them below.

Disclaimer: I am not a qualified financial adviser and nothing in this blog post should be construed as personal financial advice. Everyone should do their own ‘due diligence’ before investing and seek professional advice if in any doubt how best to proceed. All investing carries a risk of loss.

Note also that posts on Pounds and Sense may include affiliate links. If you click through and perform a qualifying transaction, I may receive a commission for introducing you. This will not affect the product or service you receive or the terms you are offered.

If you enjoyed this post, please link to it on your own blog or social media:

January 2, 2023

My Investments Update – January 2023

Nick Investing events, reviews, property, crowdfunding 4 Comments

Happy New Year! Here is my latest monthly update about my investments. You can read my December 2022 Investments Update here if you like

I’ll begin as usual with my Nutmeg Stocks and Shares ISA. This is the largest investment I hold other than my Bestinvest SIPP (personal pension), from which I recently started withdrawing again.

As the screenshot below of performance over the last year shows, my main Nutmeg portfolio is currently valued at £19,898. Last month it stood at £20,391 so that is a fall of £493.

Apart from my main portfolio, I also have a second, smaller pot using Nutmeg’s Smart Alpha option. This is now worth £3,023 compared with £3,114 a month ago, a decrease of £91.

Here is a screen capture showing performance over the last year. As you can see from the ochre line, I topped up this account in February 2022.

That is a net month-on-month decrease of £584. That is obviously disappointing, but needs to be set against an increase of £785 the month before.

As the charts above clearly illustrate, 2022 was a volatile year for stock market investments generally. The outlook is still uncertain, but according to this article in the Financial Times the majority view is that stock markets overall will remain flat or see a very modest recovery in 2023. But obviously a lot depends on world events. If the war in Ukraine ends and/or China makes a reasonably smooth recovery from the pandemic, things could improve faster. Probably the best strategy, as this article from Forbes puts it, is to hope for the best but be prepared for the worst!

Overall, my Nutmeg investments are down £2,191 or about 8.7% since the start of 2022. To put this in context, though, in 2021 they rose in value by £3,552. And I am still more than £5,600 ahead since I started investing with Nutmeg in 2016. For my main portfolio that represents a return on capital of 39.01% or 57.13% time-weighted. My Smart Alpha portfolio hasn’t been going as long, but it is at least showing a small profit on the total I have put into it 🙂

Of course, the main lesson from all this is that investing is (or should be) a long-term endeavour. Over a period of years stock market investments such as those used by Nutmeg typically produce better returns than cash accounts, often by substantial margins. But there are never any guarantees, and in in the short to medium term at least, losses are always possible.

You can read my full Nutmeg review here (including a special offer at the end for PAS readers). If you are looking for a home for your annual ISA allowance, based on my overall experience over the last six years, they are certainly worth considering.

Moving on, my Assetz Exchange investments continue to generate good returns. Regular readers will know that this is a P2P property investment platform focusing on lower-risk properties (e.g. sheltered housing). I put an initial £100 into this in mid-February 2021 and another £400 in April. In June 2021 I added another £500, bringing my total investment up to £1,000.

Since I opened my account, my AE portfolio has generated a very respectable £91.61 in revenue from rental income. Capital growth has stalled, though, in line with what is happening in housing markets more generally. While some of ‘my’ properties are still showing gains, others are showing losses on capital. Overall my portfolio is currently showing a small net decrease in value of £7.88.

The latter is obviously a little disappointing, although of course capital values are largely academic unless and until you want to sell. The rental income is still coming in steadily without any issues or dramas. As I’ve said before, £91.61 is a decent rate of return on my £1,000 and does illustrate the value of P2P property investments for diversifying your portfolio when equity markets are volatile. And it doesn’t hurt that with Assetz Exchange most projects are socially beneficial as well.

To control risk with all my property crowdfunding investments nowadays, I invest relatively modest amounts in individual projects. This is a particular attraction of AE as far as i am concerned. You can actually invest from as little as 80p per property if you really want to proceed cautiously.

My investment on Assetz Exchange is in the form of an IFISA so there won’t be any tax to pay on profits, dividends or capital gains. I’ve been impressed by my experiences with Assetz Exchange and the returns generated so far, and intend to continue investing with them. You can read my full review of Assetz Exchange here. You can also sign up for an account on Assetz Exchange directly via this link [affiliate].

Another property platform I have investments with is Kuflink. They continue to do well, with new projects launching almost every day. I currently have around £2,400 invested with them in 18 different projects (I withdrew £200 in December to help pay for Christmas). To date I have never lost any money with Kuflink, though some loan terms have been extended once or twice. On the plus side, when this happens additional interest is paid for the period in question.

My loans with Kuflink pay annual interest rates of 6 to 7.5 percent. These days I invest no more than £200 per loan (and often less). That is not because of any issues with Kuflink but more to do with losses of larger amounts on other P2P property platforms in the past. My days of putting four-figure sums into any single property investment are behind me now!

Nowadays I mainly opt to reinvest the monthly repayments I receive from Kuflink, which has the effect of boosting the percentage rate of return on the projects in question

Obviously a possible drawback with Kuflink and similar platforms is that your money is tied up in bricks and mortar, so not as easily accessible as cash savings or even (to some extent) shares. They do, however, have a secondary market on which you can offer any loan part for sale (as long as the loan in question is performing and not in arrears). Clearly that does depend on someone else wanting to buy it, but my experience has been that any loan parts offered are typically snapped up very quickly. So if an urgent need arises, withdrawing your money (or part of it) is unlikely to be an issue.

You can read my full Kuflink review here. They offer a variety of investment options, including a tax-free IFISA paying up to 7% interest per year with built-in automatic diversification. Alternatively you can now build your own IFISA, with most loans on the platform (including the one shown above) being IFISA-eligible.

Last year I set up an account with investment and trading platform eToro, using their popular ‘copy trader’ facility. I chose to invest $500 (then about £412) copying an experienced eToro trader called Aukie2008 (real name Mike Moest). My investment has been up and down in the last few months, but it is currently $33 (about £27) in profit. In these turbulent times I am quite happy with that.

In any event, I’m looking on this as a long-term investment so won’t be judging it yet. I am also considering a further investment with eToro, probably in one of their themed portfolios. You can read my full review of eToro here. You may also like to check out my recent more in-depth look at eToro copy trading.

You might also like to know that eToro recently introduced the eToro Money app. This allows you to deposit money to your eToro account without paying any currency conversion fees, saving you up to £5 for every £1,000 you deposit. You can also use the app to withdraw funds from your eToro account instantly to your bank account. I tried this myself recently and was impressed with how quickly and seamlessly it worked. You can read my more in-depth article about eToro Money here.

I had two more articles published in December on the always-excellent Mouthy Money website. One addressed the question of whether you can Save Money by Cancelling Your TV Licence. I looked at what this entails and what TV you are still permitted to watch without a licence. I also set out some ways you may be able to save money on your TV licence if cancelling altogether is a bridge too far for you.

My other piece was Why We All Need to Be a Bit More Branson! The title is obviously tongue-in-cheek. But the article sets out my strongly held view that – in these challenging times especially – we can all benefit from being a bit more entrepreneurial. I really enjoyed writing this one, I must admit!

Last month I updated my post about the Warm Home Discount, which this year is being increased from £140 to £150. The eligibility rules are changing somewhat, and I shall probably be one of the people who misses out, which is clearly disappointing. But on the plus side, most people won’t now have to apply for this benefit – if you are eligible, the grant should be applied automatically to your bill by your energy company.

The government’s Help for Households website has a helpful summary of all the financial assistance currently available and is regularly updated.

My other posts from December included What Are The Best Video Calling Tools for Older People? and an expert guest post on the subject Why a Passion Investment Could be the Way Forward in Times of Economic Uncertainty. I found the latter quite an eye-opener, as it includes important info about Capital Gains Tax (CGT) I wasn’t previously aware of. The article also sets out some reasons to consider ‘passion investments’ such as fine wines or vintage cars, due to the tax advantages they can confer.

Finally, I published My Top 20 Posts of 2022, which I hope you will check out as well!

That’s all for today. I hope you and your family are coping in these undoubtedly challenging times, and wish you a happy, healthy and prosperous 2023.

As always, if you have any comments or queries, feel free to leave them below. I am always delighted to hear from PAS readers

Disclaimer: I am not a qualified financial adviser and nothing in this blog post should be construed as personal financial advice. Everyone should do their own ‘due diligence’ before investing and seek professional advice if in any doubt how best to proceed. All investing carries a risk of loss.

Note also that posts may include affiliate links. If you click through and perform a qualifying transaction, I may receive a commission for introducing you. This will not affect the product or service you receive or the terms you are offered, but it does help support me in publishing PAS and paying my bills. Thank you!

If you enjoyed this post, please link to it on your own blog or social media:

December 22, 2022

My Top 20 Posts of 2022

Nick Making Money, Saving Money, Investing events, reviews 2 Comments

As is customary for bloggers at this time of year, here are the top twenty posts on Pounds and Sense in 2022, based on comments, page-views and social media shares. They are in no particular order. I have excluded any posts that are no longer relevant.

I hope you will enjoy revisiting these posts, or seeing them for the first time if you are new to PAS.

All posts in the list below should open in a new tab/window when you click on the link concerned.

I’ll be taking a break from blogging over the festive period (though I’ll still be around on Twitter and Facebook). I’ll therefore close by wishing you a Very Merry Christmas (strikes and cost-of-living crisis permitting) and for all of us a much better new year 🍾

If you have any comments or questions, of course, feel free to leave them below as usual.

If you enjoyed this post, please link to it on your own blog or social media:

December 5, 2022

My Investments Update – December 2022

Nick Saving Money, Investing events, reviews, benefits 4 Comments

Here is my latest monthly update about my investments. You can read my November 2022 Investments Update here if you like

I’ll begin as usual with my Nutmeg Stocks and Shares ISA. This is the largest investment I hold other than my Bestinvest SIPP (personal pension). I will discuss the latter a bit further down.

As the screenshot below of performance last month shows, my main Nutmeg portfolio is currently valued at £20,391. Last month it stood at £19,733 so that is a rise of £658.

Apart from my main portfolio, I also have a second, smaller pot using Nutmeg’s Smart Alpha option. This is now worth £3,114 compared with £2,987 a month ago, an increase of £127.

Here is a screen capture showing performance since January 2022. As you can see, I topped up this account in February this year.

That is an overall month-on-month increase of £785. Furthermore since mid-October the total value of my Nutmeg investments has risen by £2,007 or around 8%. Anyone who was brave enough to invest in Nutmeg around the middle of October will therefore be looking at a substantial profit now. Of course, it’s always easy to spot an investment opportunity with 20/20 hindsight!

In my case, while the recent rises are very welcome, my Nutmeg investments are still down £1,607 or about 6.5% since the start of the year. To put this in context, though, in 2021 they rose by £3,552 (over 21%). And overall, I am still over £6,000 ahead since I started investing with Nutmeg in 2016. For my main portfolio that represents a return on capital of 42% or 51.03% time-weighted.

Of course, the real point of this is that investing is (or should be) a long-term endeavour. Over a period of years stock market investments such as those used by Nutmeg typically produce better returns than cash accounts, often by substantial margins. But there are never any guarantees, and in in the short to medium term at least, losses are always possible.

You can read my full Nutmeg review here (including a special offer at the end for PAS readers). If you are looking for a home for your annual ISA allowance, based on my experience over the last six years, they are certainly worth considering.

Moving on, my Assetz Exchange investments continue to perform well. Regular readers will know that this is a P2P property investment platform focusing on lower-risk properties (e.g. sheltered housing). I put an initial £100 into this in mid-February 2021 and another £400 in April. In June 2021 I added another £500, bringing my total investment up to £1,000.

Since I opened my account, my AE portfolio has generated £88.30 in revenue from rental and £17.59 in capital growth, a total of £105.89. That’s a decent rate of return on my £1,000 investment and does illustrate the value of P2P property investment for diversifying your portfolio when equity markets are volatile.

I now have investments in 23 different projects and all are performing as expected, generating rental income and in most cases showing a profit on capital as well. So I am very happy with how this investment has been doing. And it doesn’t hurt that most projects are socially beneficial as well.

To control risk with all my property crowdfunding investments nowadays, I invest relatively modest amounts in individual projects. This is a particular attraction of AE as far as i am concerned. You can actually invest from as little as 80p per property if you really want to proceed cautiously.

My investment on Assetz Exchange is in the form of an IFISA so there won’t be any tax to pay on profits, dividends or capital gains. I’ve been impressed by my experiences with Assetz Exchange and the returns generated so far, and intend to continue investing with them. You can read my full review of Assetz Exchange here. You can also sign up for an account on Assetz Exchange directly via this link [affiliate].

Another property platform I have investments with is Kuflink. They continue to do well, with new projects launching almost every day. I currently have around £2,600 invested with them in 14 different projects. To date I have never lost any money with Kuflink, though some loan terms have been extended once or twice. On the plus side, when this happens additional interest is paid for the period in question. At present most of my Kuflink loans are performing to schedule, though two recently had their repayment dates put back by three months.

My loans with Kuflink pay annual interest rates of 6 to 7.5 percent. These days I invest no more than £200 per loan (and often less). That is not because of any issues with Kuflink but more to do with losses of larger amounts on other P2P property platforms in the past. My days of putting four-figure sums into any single property investment are behind me now!

Nowadays I mainly opt to reinvest the monthly repayments I receive from Kuflink, which has the effect of boosting the percentage rate of return on the projects in question

Obviously a possible drawback with Kuflink and similar platforms is that your money is tied up in bricks and mortar, so not as easily accessible as cash savings or even (to some extent) shares. They do, however, have a secondary market on which you can offer any loan part for sale (as long as the loan in question is performing and not in arrears). Clearly that does depend on someone else wanting to buy it, but my experience has been that any loan parts offered are typically snapped up very quickly. So if an urgent need arises, withdrawing your money (or part of it) is unlikely to be an issue.

You can read my full Kuflink review here. They offer a variety of investment options, including a tax-free IFISA paying up to 7% interest per year with built-in automatic diversification. Alternatively you can now build your own IFISA, with most loans on the platform (including the one shown above) being IFISA-eligible.

My investment in European crowdlending platform Nibble continues to perform as advertised. My latest investment was in their Legal Strategy. These are loans that are in default and facing legal action. Nibble buy these loans at a heavily discounted rate and then seek to recover as much as possible of the money owed. The minimum investment is 10 euros and the minimum period is six months. I invested 100 euros for 12 months initially at a target annual interest rate of 12.5%.

The Legal Strategy comes with a deposit-back guarantee. This is a guarantee to return the full investment amount at the end of the investment period and a minimum yield of 9% per year. The actual yield depends on how successful recovery efforts prove, so in practice you may end up with a return of anywhere between 9% and 14.5%. All has gone to plan so far, but I will obviously continue to report on this in the months ahead.

You can read my updated review of Nibble here if you like. You can also sign up directly on the Nibble website [affiliate link].

Earlier this year I set up an account with investment and trading platform eToro, using their popular ‘copy trader’ facility. I chose to invest $500 (then about £412) copying an experienced eToro trader called Aukie2008 (real name Mike Moest). My investment has been up and down in the last few months, but it is currently $38 (about £31) in profit. In these turbulent times I am quite happy with that.

In any event, I’m looking on this as a long-term investment so won’t be judging it yet. I am also considering a further investment with eToro, possibly in one of their themed portfolios. You can read my full review of eToro here. You may also like to check out my recent more in-depth look at eToro copy trading.

Moving on, earlier I mentioned my Bestinvest SIPP (personal pension). This is now in drawdown, but regular readers will know that I suspended withdrawals from it in May this year to reduce the risk of pound-cost ravaging. I was able to do this because since December 2021 I have been receiving the state pension. And in association with my other income streams this has given me enough to live on (though by no means in luxury).

Anyway, with the cost of living crisis starting to bite, and energy bills shooting up at an alarming rate, I decided the time had come to resume taking payments from my SIPP. Plus, with the markets seemingly on an upward trajectory, the risk of pound-cost ravaging appeared to have receded.

I therefore asked Bestinvest to reinstate my payments from this month, though at a lower rate of £100 a month. One of the attractions of flexible drawdown pensions such as those from Bestinvest is that you can increase or decrease withdrawals at any time or even (as I did) suspend them completely. Obviously if you draw an excessive amount there is a risk of depleting your fund too quickly, so it runs out before you do. But Bestinvest sent me some reassuring projections that in any feasible scenario this was unlikely to happen in my case even if I live to the age of 99 (as I fully intend to 😀 ).

One other consideration I had with my SIPP is that withdrawals from it are taxable, whereas withdrawals from some of my other investments (e.g. Nutmeg ISA) are not. With the state pension also being taxable, this means withdrawing larger amounts from my SIPP would result in a portion of the money being grabbed by the taxman, which seems a waste. While I do of course accept that taxes have to be paid, I prefer to minimize my liability as much as possible (which we are all perfectly entitled to do).

You can read my full review of Bestinvest here if you like.

I had two more articles published in November on the always-excellent Mouthy Money website. One of them was Win Fame and (Maybe) Fortune as a Quiz Show Contestant. This is something I have done myself in the past and enjoyed writing about again for MM. It can be a lot of fun, and any prizes you win are tax-free under UK law.

My other article was How to Cash in on Your Old Tech. Most of us have old technology we no longer use gathering dust in cupboards and drawers. This articles sets out ways you can make some much-needed cash out of this.

Obviously energy bills are a particular concern for many people at the moment, so I hope you are getting all the help you are entitled to. Everyone should be receiving a monthly rebate of £66 on their energy bill (going up to £67 in the new year). If you’re not, chase it up with your energy supplier.

I also recently updated my post about the Warm Home Discount, which this year is being increased from £140 to £150. The eligibility rules are changing somewhat, and I shall probably be one of the people who misses out, which is clearly disappointing. But on the plus side, most people won’t now have to apply for this benefit – if you are eligible, it should be applied automatically to your bill by your energy company.

The government’s Help for Households website has a helpful summary of all the financial assistance currently available and is regularly updated.

Please do check out as well some of the other posts on Pounds and Sense for advice and resources, especially in the Making Money and Saving Money categories.

Don’t forget, also, that there are currently two opportunities to claim a free share available. One is with Wealthyhood and the other with Trading 212 (the links will take you to the relevant blog posts). The current Trading 212 offer closes on 29 December 2022, so don’t delay if you want to take advantage of this one. As far as I know the Wealthyhood offer is open indefinitely, but that could always change, of course

That’s all for today. I hope you and your family are coping in these challenging times and wish you the happiest Christmas possible. I shall of course continue to update this blog over the coming weeks, and will return with a further update about my investments at the start of January.

As always, if you have any comments or queries, feel free to leave them below. I am always delighted to hear from PAS readers

Disclaimer: I am not a qualified financial adviser and nothing in this blog post should be construed as personal financial advice. Everyone should do their own ‘due diligence’ before investing and seek professional advice if in any doubt how best to proceed. All investing carries a risk of loss.

Note also that posts may include affiliate links. If you click through and perform a qualifying transaction, I may receive a commission for introducing you. This will not affect the product or service you receive or the terms you are offered, but it does help support me in publishing PAS and paying my bills. Thank you!

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November 10, 2022

Review: Extreme Frugality by Jane Berry

Nick Saving Money reviews 4 Comments

Today I’m reviewing a new book called Extreme Frugality by my blogging colleague Jane Berry, also known as Shoestring Jane.

Jane runs a popular blog called Shoestring Cottage which follows her journey towards making a creative, happy and sustainable life on much less. She also runs a YouTube channel as Shoestring Jane, where she shares her thrifty life and money-saving ideas. And she is also a writer for the estimable Mouthy Money site, to which I am a regular contributor myself.

The full title of the book is Extreme Frugality – Save Money Like Your Grandma: How to live a creative, happy and sustainable life on much less. The book is available from Amazon UK in both print and Kindle e-book form. It is quite a substantial volume, with 289 pages.

Extreme Frugality is divided into 13 main chapters, as follows:

Chapter 1: Frugal Foundations

Chapter 2: Stuff, Stuff and More Stuff

Chapter 3: Cooking and Eating Like Grandma

Chapter 4: Granny’s advice – ‘Make do & Mend’ and ‘Waste Not, Want Not’

Chapter 5: Buying Second-Hand and Getting Everything for Less

Chapter 6: Slashing Your Monthly Bills

Chapter 7: Making a Frugal Home

Chapter 8: The Frugal Cleaner

Chapter 9: The Frugal Garden

Chapter 10: Frugal Fashion: Dress for Less

Chapter 11: Frugal Fun and Travel

Chapter 12: A Frugal Christmas

Chapter 13: Health and Well-being on a Budget

There is also a section of references and resources at the end.

As you may gather, Extreme Frugality aims to show you how to develop thrifty habits (as our grandparents had to). The author says the purpose of doing this is to cushion you against hard times, be creative with what you have, buy just what you need, and eliminate waste from your home.

As a one-time professional writer and editor myself, I was impressed by the high standard to which Extreme Frugality has been produced. The style is clear and accessible, and the content neatly set out without any unnecessary typographical or design gimmicks.

Obviously in the current cost-of-living crisis we are all having to tighten our belts, so the advice in the book is very apposite at present. There are also plenty of suggestions for preventing waste, so the book should appeal to anyone concerned with their environmental impact as well.

It’s hard to pick out highlights as every chapter is packed with valuable tips and advice, but I especially enjoyed Chapter 6, which takes you through a wide range of methods for slashing monthly bills, including energy, water, Council Tax, broadband and so on. The advice in this chapter alone could easily save you thousands of pounds a year. But all the chapters contain useful advice, ideas and information. Even as a money blogger myself, I don’t mind admitting I learned a lot from it.

In summary, Extreme Frugality is a great guide for anyone looking to save money and reduce waste in these challenging times. It would also make an excellent gift for a friend or family member. I am happy to give it my highest recommendation.

As always, if you have any comments or questions about this post, please do leave them below.

Disclosure: I was sent a free copy of Extreme Frugality (in PDF form) to review. Please be aware also that this post (and others on PAS) includes affiliate links. If you click through one of these and make a purchase or perform some other defined action, I may receive a commission for introducing you. This will not affect in any way the price you pay or the product or service you receive.

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