Superb Diamond Range Podcast Superb

#52
Disclaimer:
We are not financial advisors. The content on this podcast and YouTube videos are for educational purposes only and merely cite our own personal opinions. In order to make the best financial decision that suits your own needs, you must conduct your own research and seek the advice of a licensed financial advisor if necessary. Know that all investments involve some form of risk and there is no guarantee that you will be successful in making, saving, or investing money; nor is there any guarantee that you won't experience any loss when investing. Always remember to make smart decisions and do your own research!
This podcast features returning guest and legend of the financial indepence world J.L Collins.

1. Firstly, since the last time you were on the show you've released a new book 'Pathfinders' please tell my listeners a little about it and what inspired you to write it?
2. Jumping straight into investments, what are your thoughts on bonds these days? In the UK and no doubt around the world we've experienced allot of inflation and the central banks have responded by increasing interest rates do you still think some percentage of bonds are worth holding particularly during the preservation stage?
3. What are your thoughts on life styling portfolios or as Vanguard calls them target date funds or even the life strategy funds by Vanguard Vs DIY investing?
4. What is your opinion on annuities?
 5. Are you still very much a believer of investing exclusively in the USA total market equity or would you consider adding some international equity for further diversification?
 6. As a UK investor I am always tempted to buy an S&P 500 fund/ETF as the cost is very low at 0.07% Vs an international all world fund costing 0.22%. The international fund is 3x more expensive but I'm more diversified and the fund is slightly less volatile and returns are very good. How important are fund fees and keeping them as low as possible?
7. How important is diversification in investing?
8. Obviously I realise you can only speak from the US perspective of tax as you are not living in the UK but In the UK are two main tax shelters for investing are our pensions/SIPP's (in US 401k's/IRA's) or a stocks and shares ISA (in US Roth IRA) what is your preferred tax vehicle/shelter in the US and why? 
9. Do you have any preferred strategies for drawing down a portfolio in retirement? Examples of this could be switching from accumulation funds to income funds to pay out a dividend quarterly. Timing of withdrawals? Keeping some cash for day to day expenses.
10. One thing I learnt from you is the importance of debt free living yet there are still allot of people out there who want to invest as much as they can before getting their debt cleared. Please explain why it makes so much more sense to get rid of debt before investing?
11. Talking about debt what are your thoughts on home ownership especially now with the high interest rate mortgages available? I call home ownership the main religion of UK and Ireland as it's very hard to stop people thinking of or following the script to buying a home when sometimes it may make more sense to rent. We have sayings like an English mans home is his castle and tons of property shows on the TV.
12. You wrote your blog the stock series to educate your daughter on investing who earlier in life had no real interest in it. There are not many people really into investing most don't even know they are an investor even if it's only through their workplace pension (401K) and couldn't tell you what they are invested in ie the fund. As the time has gone by has you daughter since taken up more of an interest in investing?
13. Any exciting future plans you'd like to share with the audience? Where is the best place my listeners can find you online.
Please check out JL Collins blog/website here: https://jlcollinsnh.com
Books:
The simple path to wealth:
https://amzn.to/4bh2enq
Pathfinders: Extraordin

#51
* This is not phone advice please seek professional advice from a salesperson at your local O2, Vodafone or EE store. Although I personally use GiffGaff Pay As You Go.
My previous phone usage.
The good old days.
People are addicted. 
Gaining your time back.
Being happier.
Scheduling time on the computer. 
Try to live 7 days without smartphone to start.
Music: Sappheiros - Fragments https://youtu.be/z_BjjubkdBo (Much Respect)
Inspiration: Vishuddha Das https://youtu.be/GczvaLz-cCA (Great Video)

#50
Disclaimer:
We are not financial advisors. The content on this podcast and YouTube videos are for educational purposes only and merely cite our own personal opinions. In order to make the best financial decision that suits your own needs, you must conduct your own research and seek the advice of a licensed financial advisor if necessary. Know that all investments involve some form of risk and there is no guarantee that you will be successful in making, saving, or investing money; nor is there any guarantee that you won't experience any loss when investing. Always remember to make smart decisions and do your own research!
Tell us a very brief little bit more about yourself and your early career up until today and how you got started investing?
I’ve heard mentioned in other podcasts that you picked individual company stocks in your early days before discovering index investing. Do you still like to pick individual companies these days? What would you say are the dangers investors should watch out for?
When did you realise you were financially independent? How did it feel?
I know you did an excellent video referencing a scene from remake of the movie The Gambler. My idea of how I’ll feel when I hit financial Independence is just like at the end of that movie where Mark Wahlberg puts everything on black on the roulette table, wins and pays off all his loan shark/debtors and goes for a never ending run around the block :) How did you come up with the idea to make this video?
What is your view on Active vs. Passive investing?
Your approach to investing has influenced, inspired so many people including myself how did you discover this approach this strategy?
What are your thoughts on international investing vs going all in on the American market using either the S&P 500 or VTSAX (Vanguards total US market)?
I know there is a Canadian approach to indexing possibly inspired by Bogle heads to invest and split 3 ways into Canada, USA and international, where as in the UK we just pick a global index fund that allocates and re-adjusts in the proportions of global GDP. Like I get being overweight in US if you’re a US resident who spends in US Dollars and with USA making up 55-60% of the global market but being say 33% in Canada seems like allot? Admittedly stock index from home countries are usually offered cheaper and may have tax advantages. Is being overweight in home market quite risky?
Lets talk market crashes. It feels a long time since 2008 and it has been. Admittedly there was a wee correction in March 2020 but market soon bounced back. How do you handle these emotionally and stay focused to continuing investing? Also realizing the opportunity to buy more shares cheaper!
On the subject of behavioural investing. Investing has gotten very popular with the youth of today. Many different investment apps available on peoples smart phones, where you can almost invest in anything any time. I’ve also picked up that people are now checking their portfolios regularly which can lead to making stupid mistakes like buying and selling at the worst times. What are you thoughts on this and how often do you check your own portfolio yourself?
I know your strategy of choice is generally 100% equities up until when you are close to retiring or reaching your FI number then switching to at least 20% bonds and say 80% equities. In the UK we don’t have a total bond market. The closest I’ve seen to mirroring this is something like a 60% allocation to UK government bonds (intermediate) & 40% allocation to UK investment grade bonds (corporate bonds). With bonds not paying much interest these days and inflation getting up do you think this is still a wise option, have you considered any alternatives?
Talking about inflation my wife is Venezuelan and you will be aware of how out of control the inflation is over there. I know stocks can be a good hedge for inflation can you explain why this is?
Reading through your book and stoc

#49
Disclaimer:
We are not financial advisors. The content on this podcast and YouTube videos are for educational purposes only and merely cite our own personal opinions.  In order to make the best financial decision that suits your own needs, you must conduct your own research and seek the advice of a licensed financial advisor if necessary.  Know that all investments involve some form of risk and there is no guarantee that you will be successful in making, saving, or investing money; nor is there any guarantee that you won't experience any loss when investing. Always remember to make smart decisions and do your own research!
1. Firstly, Tell us a bit about yourself and what got you into risk parity in investing?

2. When i first started getting interested in investing I read Harry Browns fail safe investing. What is your opinion on the Permanent portfolio strategy?

3. For someone young who is saving investing and in the accumulation phase it's typical for them to be 100% in global equities (typically in the UK) at what stage is a good time to think or take some action about switching a portion into other types of assets?

4. I notice that through different time periods certain assets perform better than others making the right choices is vital would you agree?

5. Being a citizen and resident in the USA do you mainly invest in USA index's or do you have some international exposure? Can this be of any help to diversify further?

6. What are your thoughts on currency risk? This can be an issue for UK investors as our home currency is the British Pound.

7. I note from your website and podcast that you have a few different test portfolios which has performed the best so far and why? Which has performed the worst so far and why?

8. Do you believe there is a certain percentage of each asset class say 10% minimum to make it matter to the overall impact it has in your portfolio?

9. A big focus is on asset allocation which is obviously important but what are your thoughts on asset location to protect from tax?

10. Can a simple traditional Stocks and Bonds (2 fund) portfolio be enough or is it important to diversify into more asset classes especially these days?

11. Am I right in thinking that the first 10 years in the preservation stage are the riskiest so investing diversified can help you get through that stage?

12. What are you thoughts on Gold, Crypto Currency and preferred stocks?

13. Any final words of wisdom or rules a DIY investor should consider following?
Please check out Frank Vasquez's website & podcast:
www.riskparityradio.com

#48
Disclaimer:
We are not financial advisors. The content on this podcast and YouTube videos are for educational purposes only and merely cite our own personal opinions.  In order to make the best financial decision that suits your own needs, you must conduct your own research and seek the advice of a licensed financial advisor if necessary.  Know that all investments involve some form of risk and there is no guarantee that you will be successful in making, saving, or investing money; nor is there any guarantee that you won't experience any loss when investing. Always remember to make smart decisions and do your own research!
1. Tell us a little about yourself, your background Etc.
2. On this particular show we are going to be focusing on Dividend Growth Investing which is an investment strategy Derek uses. Tell me how did you first discover this strategy and what attracted you to it?
3. On your website engineer my freedom.com I note you are currently investing in 40 companies. Companies like Coca-Cola, Cisco & Royal Dutch Shell.
How do you pick these companies?
4.Do you get concerned by being too heavy in one sector like say financial or Energy?
5. Does the geography of where the companies are based come into? Like obviously you live in Ireland and clearly wouldn’t want to invest only in Irish companies like say Ryanair but if you were living in USA it would be very tempting and easy to pick say 20-30 US based companies like Apple or Google.
6. I note from listening to some of your podcast’s that you are considering cutting the size of companies you hold in your portfolio from say 40 down to maybe 20 or 25. I personally would feel more diversified the more companies I hold shares in but admit it must be allot of effort and time focusing on having 40 companies to keep track of all of them and manage the portfolio. What is your main reason for building a more focused core portfolio and how do you plan to implement it?
7. You obviously will be receiving monthly or quarterly cash dividends which presumably you choose how they get reinvested and into which company to move them to. How do you decide on where to move the money. Like in a strategy I’m familiar with called the permanent portfolio you have Gold, Long Term Bonds, National Stocks and Cash which are all supposed to be 25% each asset so you would be aiming to keep everything in balance if it ever got out of whack. Is this the same in dividend growth investing: selling your winners and buying more of your losers?
8. How does tax work? I presume you pay tax on dividend’s payouts? I note you use a tax accountant/proffessional, how much of a difference has this made in saving on your taxes?
9. When you choose a company what are the key qualities you are looking for?
10. What are red flags for you? Could it be companies with allot of debt? Or industries that have been effected by new technologies or political changes in law etc.
11. I mentioned to you in a recent email that the only way I could convince my wife to start investing outside of her pension was that if she could invest in 2 companies one being Disney and the other being Starbucks. Since buying a share in both they’ve never quite recovered to more than we paid for the share but they keep getting close and going down again. My wife is determined to hold them forever and never sell. What are your thoughts on these companies and as a dividend growth investor would you personally drop them or just wait things out?



12. How easy in Ireland is it to get started investing in Dividend Growth investing? I know in the UK we have the likes of trading 212 and the like.
13. If dividend growth investing wasn’t an option, how would you invest? Ie in property (as I know in Ireland like UK this is very popular) or index funds? Crypto? Gold?
14. Is there any good websites or books you can recommend to get started?
15. Finally Derek been a pleasure having you on what would be the best way

#47
Disclaimer:
We are not financial advisors. The content on this podcast and YouTube videos are for educational purposes only and merely cite our own personal opinions.  In order to make the best financial decision that suits your own needs, you must conduct your own research and seek the advice of a licensed financial advisor if necessary.  Know that all investments involve some form of risk and there is no guarantee that you will be successful in making, saving, or investing money; nor is there any guarantee that you won't experience any loss when investing. Always remember to make smart decisions and do your own research!
This episode we have Meagan from the financial blog Mrs Moneyhacker originally from Canada but now living in Ireland. We will be discussing investing from the perspective of living in Ireland. Been wanting to do a show about investing within Ireland for a while so my research led me to Meagan's awesome blog that I highly recommend. 
1. Give us a little bit of your background, I can see you've moved all the way from rural Quebec to the Emerald Isle and what got you to start your blog Mrs. Money Hacker?
2. What first got you thinking about investing or the potential of financial independence?
3. I come across allot of blogs/podcasts mainly based in the USA about personal finance there are obviously a few in UK but not many about investing in Ireland curious to know how easy it is to invest in Ireland?
4. I note from your blog you follow an indexing ETF approach to investing (like myself) curious to know what you invest in these days?
5. With me being based in the UK and it being a small country I follow the global markets in using The Vanguard All World ETF and If I was to get bonds I would probably use UK Gov bonds/Gilts which would be sterling based potentially the currency I may well be spending in the future. Do you follow a similar approach I know you also have investments back in Canada as well as in Ireland so curious to know?
6. What are the typical investment vehicles available in Ireland that can be utilized? Typically in UK we use ISA's Tax Free Growth, Taxable Share Accounts, Tax deferred DC & DB Workplace Pensions and SIPP’s.
7. One of the things I picked up from your blog is that you don’t always follow what everyone else is doing. An example of this was when you were considering moving to Ireland your family in Canada were unsure it was the right thing to do as everything was going according to the script but it proved with time to be a great idea. You obviously make your own luck?
8. What is it you like so much about Ireland? because I can see you always had a plan to go back since first visiting.
8.1. I actually have an uncle who spent half his life living and working in Winnipeg, Canada and half his life in Ireland growing up there. He was always homesick for Ireland and only in recent years when his sons grew up and started their careers in Canada did he move back to live in Ireland. No place like home! Hey?
9. Along the same lines a common thing that is always recommended by financial gurus and Independent financial advisors is to make the most of your company pension or Self invested Personal Pension for my USA listeners the 401K plan. I am guilty of going along with this advice and I work in the pension industry. Was curious to know your thoughts on pensions? I do have my own doubts about losing control and governments changing rules, moving goal posts and future tax rates.
10. What are your thoughts on property investing? Ireland is a very expensive place to live having family over there or at least family in Kildare and Dublin and having made a few trips over the years I have noticed this.
11. Is there much of a community interested in personal finance in Ireland or within your immediate network? Like your work colleagues or circle of friends? I know Irish like Scottish enjoy having a good time
12. What are your views on consumer debt? Do you think it's OK