The Manual #13 - How I Grow My Money
What I wish I started at 18
There’s one thing I wish I had started at 18 and that was investing any cash I had into stocks and shares. As I’ve become more interested in business and finance I’ve realised that leaving cash in my account is a bad idea.
The biggest issue with leaving cash in the bank is that over time it loses value due to inflation. As an example £50 today isn’t going to buy me as much food as it might have 10 years ago, because the cost of things naturally goes up over time.
To combat inflation some people may put their money into savings accounts but with interest rates so low right now, it makes more sense to put it into stocks and shares, which is what I do. Remember there's more risk with investing than leaving it in cash.
Many people see investing in property as a good way to make money which can definitely be done. But with house prices higher than ever, you need to have a large chunk of money to put down a deposit and then there are legal fees and taxes. That’s before you even start making any money. It’s much easier to get started in the stock market, with smaller amounts of cash.
Compound Interest
The most powerful aspect of investing is how it can compound over time.
Here is an example of how compound interest works from Freetrade.
You can see how powerful this is with only £10,000. Now imagine if over time you kept adding money to your portfolio. Let’s say you added £10,000 every year. With compounding interest, at year 40 you would have £1.3m!
Freetrade App
My current app of choice is Freetrade. They’re also sponsoring this newsletter. All they want is to raise more awareness of their app and how easy it is to get started. For long-time followers, you will already know I recommended Freetrade before they even knew of me. So I’m very pleased they reached out.
There are a few main features of Freetrade which is why I recommend it to most:
Commission-free investing. You don't pay any commissions when buying stocks and ETFs. Some brokers charge you a one-off fee or a percentage for every trade. Freetrade doesn't. Other charges may apply though such as foreign exchange fees, but that will apply with any broker.
It's super simple and you don't need a lot of money to get started. You can start with as little as £2. And Freetrade offers fractional shares. So for example one share of Amazon is currently around $3400. You may not have $3400 to drop on one share so you can actually buy a fractional share. Letting you invest any amount you want.
Fair and transparent. Freetrade has a transparent pricing model which you can see on their website and when you place an order, so you always know what you're paying.
For me, the most important part of Freetrade is the interface and user experience, being an interface designer myself, Freetrade has nailed the design of the app. Everything is very clear when it comes to seeing portfolio performance and they always show you upfront what fees you pay before any transactions.
If you're interested in Freetrade, go to freetrade.io/oliur, download the app, make an account, fund your account and you'll get a free share worth anywhere between £3-£200. Just remember, you have to use my link to get the free share.
Disclaimer: Remember as with all investments, your capital is at risk - the value of your portfolio can go down as well as up and you may get back less than what you invested.
How I Choose My Stocks
When it comes to choosing my own stocks, I have my own set of guidelines that I follow. These are my own and don’t feel pressured you have to follow along.
Invest long-term — I choose stocks that I think will perform well over 5 years. I’m not looking to make some quick money and trade every day. I don’t have time to keep an eye on my stocks everyday and most others don’t either. I want to live my life.
Invest in companies I use everyday — I like to invest in companies which make products and services that I use myself. Apple is a great example. I use an iPhone, a Mac, an iPad and other Apple products. If I’m willing to buy these products then it only makes sense to invest in the company too. I’ve seen elsewhere that whenever someone purchases a product from Apple, they put the same amount they’ve spent into Apple shares — pretty good idea!
Only invest money that I can afford not to have right now — I usually like to have a 6-12 month cash emergency fund. This fund is used for all of my bills and important expenses. Any money after that is put into my portfolio.
Don’t listen to what other people are telling you to invest in — This is one I see come up a lot, other people telling you what companies to invest in. Don’t ever feel pressured into buying shares of a company. I think an important part of investing is buying into companies you believe in. Companies you know a lot about. It can be otherwise risky. If you don’t know much about companies, then ETFs like the S&P 500 are much safer bets.
AMG GTS - 2 Years Later
I finally made another video on the AMG GTS. My two year review. At the end of the video I mentioned I was going to be selling the car and a viewer got in touch and bought it within 2 weeks! So I no longer own the car. I don’t plan to get replacement until next year as the used market right now is insane.
Tamron 28-200mm Lens
My new favourite lens for the Sony a7c. Check out my blog post where I share a quick review of the lens and pictures taken with it. Read it here ->
Link Lowdown
A collection of links to stuff I think are worth sharing.
How to say I’m not doing that for free — Don’t do stuff for free.
MacYTDL — A GUI for downloading videos from YouTube.
TickTick — An awesome to-do list app that can sit in the Mac toolbar.
The State of Indepedence 2021 — Very nicely designed report on the freelance industry.
The Art and Science of getting to the very top of creator markets — Insightful Reddit post sharing how so many people quit too easily. 90% of podcasts don’t get past episode 3. 8% of bloggers make a full time living. 8% of YouTubers make a full time living.
How the wealthiest avoid income tax — In depth article on how the wealthiest people in America avoid income tax, completely legally.
Tella — Screen recording app with voiceover. Great way to demonstrate something.
Q&A
I want to add a new section to my newsletter where I answer some of your questions, so please ask them in the comments or on Twitter - @ultralinx
Q: If you didn’t pick designing, what would you have done instead?
A: I think I would have ended up in accounting. I’m glad my design career worked out as it has led to me building lots of other income streams.
Q: Three materials things you can’t live without?
A: My computer, phone and camera. I depend on all of these to make a living and enjoy my life. They are three tools that fundamentally enable me to live comfortably.
Q: What’s your top headline font?
A: Inter right now but it changes regularly as styles come in and out of trend.
Q: Have you ever worked at a company?
A: Technically no. I did contract full-time for a company called Plasso in 2016-2017. But that was an American-based company and I didn’t have an employment contract.