I suppose I should introduce myself a bit better.
For reasons I'm sure you understand, Greta is not my real name: spreading out my financial lingerie for all world to see would require a bit more courage than I have! I currently have a modestly paid day job, but due to living
arrangements and frugal lifestyle am able to save a reasonable chunk of
my salary. It helps that my employer offers a generous pension contribution as a part of my pay package and in addition to that I invest in both cash and Stocks and Shares ISA's.
I have always been reasonably frugal and was lucky enough not to have to take out a student loan to fund my education. This I suppose is the attitude I was brought up to: the early 90's recession hit also our family, although luckily not as heavily as some of my friends'. I hadn't seriously considered investing in stocks or shares until some years ago, when I moved to UK. It seems that investing and saving here is more preferentially treated than in the country where I was born and bred, so it seemed like a natural step after just bog-standard savings accounts. After doing a little bit of reading, I dived in head first, and took out a S&S ISA from Hargreaves Lansdown. After they changed their fee structure for index funds, I moved my portfolio over to Cavendish Online with whom I've been ever since.
My investment philosophy is mainly passive, with all of my Cavendish portfolio in index tracking funds at the moment. I have been considering also looking into individual shares, but this is something that will require a bit more research and thinking.
You probably already guessed, but English is not my first language so my texts may have a few spelling and grammatical mistakes. I apologise in advance for this. As so many other financial bloggers I am also childfree, a choice which will surely help on this journey.
I had never noticed before that many financial bloggers do not have children, but on reflection you are quite right.
ReplyDeleteYour English is lovely and the metaphor of why you use an alias brought a smile. Looks like you are off to a good start with the index funds. A few years ago was a good time to start, too!
Hello 'Greta',
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the world of personal finance blogging. I look forward to following your progress and thanks for adding my blog to your sidebar.
Good luck!
John
Ermine, thank you for your kinf words! I suppose the lack of children goes well with some of the other slightly unusual life choices - especially when taking into account the calculations that pop up regularly in mainstream media about the total cost of bringing up a child. Well, you should know having written about it as well!
ReplyDeleteHi John, and thanks for the visit and your kind words! I've been following also your blog for a while now, although I think I haven't de-lurked there yet... Sorry! Your D-I-Y Pensions book is also on my to read -list, so it will probably appear on the side bar eventually :)