19 Jun The Weekend Starts Here...
Photo by me
Summer is back. Here in France, June has been pretty grim. Wet, which is not that unusual, but also cold, which definitely is. The end of glowering grey days, FINALLY getting a proper haircut later today (no more being reliant on my husband and the horse clippers 😉), and Premier League football returning to our screens – what more could I ask for?
I was reading a piece in the FT this morning about why the response to the pandemic by some European countries was so slow given what was happening in Asia. One of the reasons suggested was that Europe hung on to the idea for far too long that this was something taking place too far away to ever find its way to us and then that somehow the lessons already learned by Asian countries couldn’t be used in Europe. Plausible and yet, perhaps with the benefit of hindsight, still astonishing. We will have learned many lessons by the time this is all over; it seems one of these needs to be being a bit humbler.
One country which did a remarkable job was Vietnam. 95 million people, only 334 infections and ZERO deaths. How did they do it? [2 min read]
And what about the rest of us? We seem to fall into two distinct camps. Is the world making progress against the pandemic? [Charts]
Daniel Crosby sat down with Michael & Ben to discuss behavioural psychology and what it can teach us to help us make better financial decisions [28 min podcast]
Is the post-pandemic world going to be radically different (in ways it wouldn’t have been without the pandemic having happened)? I’m in the ‘No’ camp. [ Barry Ritholtz 4 min read]
“Things that never change are the most important things to pay attention to.” [ Morgan Housel 10 min read]
Huge congratulations to Bob Seawright who celebrated the birth of his eighth(!) grandchild this week. He penned her (and the other seven) a special letter [5 min read]
“I didn’t spend any time yesterday worrying about being eaten by a grizzly bear.” [1 min read]
Do Fund Investors Prefer Lower Fees or Strong Past Performance? [ Joe Wiggins 4 min read]
This is a terribly sad story. The democratization of investing is a must, but not at any price. [ Doug Boneparth 4 min read]
Some ‘life rules’ that can be applied to planning your finances [ Tim Mullooly 4 min read]
What a financial planner does [ Robin Powell 3 min read]
Continuous small wins make a difference [ Justin Castelli 3 min read]
And finally. On the event of his 70th birthday, a teacher sent a letter to Neil Armstrong. It’s a frightening thought that the education of children is/was this person’s responsibility [2 min read]
Whatever you’re up to this weekend, I hope it’s a good one. I plan to make the most of the good weather. Oh, and I’ve got an important date with the sofa on Sunday evening 😉
Carolyn