These days, I'm becoming increasingly uncomfortable with holding large chunks of individual company shares, preferring instead to spread the perceived risk by using funds and trusts that invest across many companies. I must be getting old ...
Within my combined portfolio, Centrica (CNA.L), GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.L) and Royal Dutch Shell (RDSB.L) may each be a relatively small piece of the whole, but if considered together they'd become my largest equity holding and be quite significant in actual cash terms.
And there's good reason to link them together. These three shares are amongst the largest contributors to my passive income stream, and in combination produced 18% of last year's total income despite comprising just 6.5% of the total portfolio valuation at the year end. Understandably therefore, I'm very reluctant to ditch them altogether.
So instead, a few days ago I created my own high-yield 'fund' by actually increasing the number of individual shares within the portfolio but using much smaller holdings.
27 January 2019
01 January 2019
Investment Review - December 2018
And so this is Christmas, and how have we done ?
Firstly, the combined portfolio spreadsheet updated on Monday 31 December 2018.
Firstly, the combined portfolio spreadsheet updated on Monday 31 December 2018.
30 December 2018
Annual Spending Review - 2018
So where did all the money go in 2018 ? Here's our regular end-of-year review.
click on the graphic for a larger image ...
click on the graphic for a larger image ...
01 December 2018
Pergolas - Phases 2 & 3 Works (the Summerhouse)
Following on from my post in September about building the pergolas, for a while afterwards I was thinking that the larger one to the side of the house seemed a little lost and disconnected with the rest of the garden.
Not wanting to sound like a pretentious tosser, but what it needed was anchoring within the landscape.
So Phase 2 was implemented, which involved connecting this pergola with the one at the side of the house extension by extending the outer beams of both structures until they met each other. This also meant reducing the height of the semi-goliath pergola slightly so that the extended beams were both at the same elevation.
The longest extension beam needed another vertical post to support it, but by this time I already had the summerhouse in mind (the Phase 3 works) so this new post was positioned where it would also form one of the new building corners.
Not wanting to sound like a pretentious tosser, but what it needed was anchoring within the landscape.
So Phase 2 was implemented, which involved connecting this pergola with the one at the side of the house extension by extending the outer beams of both structures until they met each other. This also meant reducing the height of the semi-goliath pergola slightly so that the extended beams were both at the same elevation.
The longest extension beam needed another vertical post to support it, but by this time I already had the summerhouse in mind (the Phase 3 works) so this new post was positioned where it would also form one of the new building corners.
24 November 2018
A personal Rate of Inflation ...
I mentioned this subject in a post a few years back, but inspired (!) by the recent decision by NS&I to tie future index-linked certificate renewal returns to CPI instead of RPI, CPI being typically around 1% lower than RPI, I decided to have a go at calculating a personal inflation rate to see how it compares with the UK government's own 'official' figures.
At the time of writing, CPI is running at 2.4% per annum and RPI at 3.3%.
My results are tabulated below with a few following notes on the methodology and values used etc. I've hidden the columns with the actual sums spent, and am just displaying the percentage changes from 2017 to 2018.
a) our long winter break was used as a proxy for all the 'Holidays & Travel' category, and its costs were multiplied by 2 to represent the other holidays we also take throughout the year. Because our 2018 early break was actually paid for in late 2017, I calculated the costs which would be incurred today of taking an identical trip in early 2019, using exactly the same flights, accommodation & duration etc.
At the time of writing, CPI is running at 2.4% per annum and RPI at 3.3%.
My results are tabulated below with a few following notes on the methodology and values used etc. I've hidden the columns with the actual sums spent, and am just displaying the percentage changes from 2017 to 2018.
 |
| including holidays & travel |
a) our long winter break was used as a proxy for all the 'Holidays & Travel' category, and its costs were multiplied by 2 to represent the other holidays we also take throughout the year. Because our 2018 early break was actually paid for in late 2017, I calculated the costs which would be incurred today of taking an identical trip in early 2019, using exactly the same flights, accommodation & duration etc.
28 October 2018
Yucca Gloriosa in flower ....
We have three variegated 'Spanish Dagger' plants (Yucca Gloriosa) in the garden, two of which we bought quite small and planted in the ground five or so years ago, and a third that self-spawned from one of those two originals.
This third plant just appeared above ground one day next to its parent, around three years ago, and after a while we lifted it and potted it on (where it's doing well, and it actually seems to be giving birth to a fourth plant judging from a small side shoot forming at the edge of its pot).
From the growth rate of this third plant, and the size it is now compared to the originals at the time we bought them, I'd say the big two must be around 8 years old.
The mature plants issue many new leaves from their centres each year, and as the lower leaves fold outwards and trail below the horizontal I usually first cut them with a sharp knife and then pull them off the plant completely, which forms an ever increasing height of 'trunk' on the plant as it grows into a more tree-like form.
The broad leaf edges are very sharp, and there's also a needle point on the end, so their common name is very apt - they can be quite dangerous to be near and to handle, so they're maybe not suitable plants if you've young children.
Anyway, this year, and obviously spurred on by a warmer summer, one of them has flowered !
We've seen it's quite a slow process for the yucca to come into flower. We first noticed a spike rising from the centre around the beginning of August, which gradually lengthened and thickened while developing large red buds which remained tightly folded against the stem.
This third plant just appeared above ground one day next to its parent, around three years ago, and after a while we lifted it and potted it on (where it's doing well, and it actually seems to be giving birth to a fourth plant judging from a small side shoot forming at the edge of its pot).
From the growth rate of this third plant, and the size it is now compared to the originals at the time we bought them, I'd say the big two must be around 8 years old.
The mature plants issue many new leaves from their centres each year, and as the lower leaves fold outwards and trail below the horizontal I usually first cut them with a sharp knife and then pull them off the plant completely, which forms an ever increasing height of 'trunk' on the plant as it grows into a more tree-like form.
The broad leaf edges are very sharp, and there's also a needle point on the end, so their common name is very apt - they can be quite dangerous to be near and to handle, so they're maybe not suitable plants if you've young children.
Anyway, this year, and obviously spurred on by a warmer summer, one of them has flowered !
We've seen it's quite a slow process for the yucca to come into flower. We first noticed a spike rising from the centre around the beginning of August, which gradually lengthened and thickened while developing large red buds which remained tightly folded against the stem.
 |
| 25-Aug-18, flower spike clearly visible |
27 October 2018
Madeira ...
We've just returned from a holiday on the island of Madeira, which is a place we'd never visited before.
As keen gardeners, we'd heard about its ideal conditions for growing just about anything, and so we came here to see for ourselves and also maybe to identify another potential location for our longer winter breaks in the future.
Madeira's quite upmarket compared to some of the holiday destinations we've visited. There's not much in the way of sandy beaches, and access to the sea can be difficult to find since there are high cliffs around much of the coastline. And there's a lot of steep hills to negotiate if you're on foot, so some form of motorised transport is a must if you want to explore places off the beaten track.
There's an extensive modern road system linking the major settlements via dual-carriageways with long tunnels and bridges to cut through the mountains and cross the deep valleys between, although we generally travelled more leisurely on the older roads which wind around the mountains with spectacular views but greatly extended journey times.
As keen gardeners, we'd heard about its ideal conditions for growing just about anything, and so we came here to see for ourselves and also maybe to identify another potential location for our longer winter breaks in the future.
Madeira's quite upmarket compared to some of the holiday destinations we've visited. There's not much in the way of sandy beaches, and access to the sea can be difficult to find since there are high cliffs around much of the coastline. And there's a lot of steep hills to negotiate if you're on foot, so some form of motorised transport is a must if you want to explore places off the beaten track.
There's an extensive modern road system linking the major settlements via dual-carriageways with long tunnels and bridges to cut through the mountains and cross the deep valleys between, although we generally travelled more leisurely on the older roads which wind around the mountains with spectacular views but greatly extended journey times.
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| the Via Rapide from the Funchal botanical gardens |
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