Investment Journal & Guides
Expert insights on investing, trading strategies, and financial planning to help you make better investment decisions.
Investing
investingMintos Alternatives 2026: 12 P2P Platforms by Licence
Looking beyond Mintos? Twelve European P2P lending platforms grouped by the licence each actually holds, with the regulator named. Capital at risk.
investingInvesting From Norway in 2026: ASK, IPS and Fund Tax
Investing from Norway in 2026: ASK share savings accounts, IPS, how funds are taxed, the shield deduction and where international platforms fit.
investingS&P 500 Concentration Risk: Is Your Index Fund Diversified?
S&P 500 concentration risk: how cap-weighting concentrates an index, how to measure it in your own fund, what it does to risk, and four honest responses.
investingWhat Is ESG Investing? A Sceptic's Guide to ESG Funds
What ESG investing is: how ESG screening works, why ratings disagree, the test that beats marketing pages, what it costs, and how to choose a sustainable fund.
Covered Calls vs Cash-Secured Puts: How Each Really Works
Covered calls vs cash-secured puts: what each obliges you to do, how assignment works, what the premium pays for, and the tax catch. Capital at risk.
Fractional Shares: What You Own vs a Whole Share
Fractional shares explained: why a fraction is not a whole share, what that changes, where fractions genuinely help, and what to check before relying on them.
Investor Compensation Schemes: What They Actually Cover
What investor compensation schemes actually cover: broker failure vs investment losses, why it is not deposit protection, and the products outside all of it.
10-Year Investment Plan: The Lazy Income Portfolio (Part 3)
Money you won't touch for 10 years: what a decade buys you, three income engines, a lazy portfolio in plain terms, a property-backed sleeve and pitfalls.
Is P2P Lending Safe? A Sceptic's Guide to 13% Returns
Is P2P lending safe? Where 13% returns come from, what a licence does and does not do, why buyback guarantees fail, and eight questions to ask first.
Best Ways to Earn Yield in 2026, Ranked by Risk
Six ways to earn yield in 2026 ranked from lowest to highest risk: insured cash, Treasury bills, dividends, REITs, P2P lending and crypto staking.
Best P2P Lending Platforms in Europe 2026: Who Is Licensed
15 European P2P lending platforms grouped by the licence they hold (ECSPR, MiFID, AML-only or none), with operator, regulator and source. Capital at risk.
EstateGuru vs LANDE (2026): Property vs Farmland Lending
EstateGuru vs LANDE compared: mortgage-backed property loans vs farmland, machinery and grain collateral — licences, LTV, minimums and risks. Capital at risk.
P2P Consumer Loans Compared: Nectaro, robo.cash and Loanch
Three P2P consumer-loan marketplaces compared — Nectaro, robo.cash and Loanch — on automation, buyback cover, originator structure and liquidity.
Flexible Savings Alternatives: Lonvest, Monefit and Nectaro
Higher-yield alternatives to a flexible savings account — Monefit SmartSaver, Lonvest and Nectaro — and what 'flexible access' really means on each.
Real-Estate Crowdfunding 2026: InRento vs EstateGuru & More
Real-estate crowdfunding compared: InRento's mortgage-secured rental loans vs EstateGuru's property loans, plus Crowdpear, Modena and FinForta.
Debitum and Lendermarket Reviewed, Plus a Maclear Warning
Debitum's Latvian investment-brokerage licence, Lendermarket's Irish crowdfunding licence, and why Spain's CNMV warned about Maclear. Capital at risk.
EstateGuru Review 2026: Licence, LTV, Fees and Real Risks
EstateGuru review: how its property-backed loans work, the Estonian licence, LTV, investor fees, recoveries and how it compares with InRento. Capital at risk.
TWINO Review 2026: FLEXI, Buyback Guarantee, Fees and Risks
TWINO review: how its P2P consumer loans and FLEXI work, what the 60-day buyback covers, fees, licence and the risks. Capital at risk, no deposit protection.
Robocash Review 2026: Licence, Buyback, Fees and Risks
Robocash review: no financial licence, four in-group originators, the 30-day buyback worked through, zero fees, who can invest, and the group risk.
Lendermarket Review 2026: Regulation, Buyback, Fees, Risks
Lendermarket review: what its Central Bank of Ireland licence does and does not cover, the 60-day buyback, fees, exit costs and the risks. Capital at risk.
Nectaro Review 2026: Licence, Buyback, Rates and Risks
Nectaro review: its Bank of Latvia investment-firm licence, the 61st-day buyback, 9–14% advertised rates, no secondary market and one group behind every loan.
Monefit SmartSaver Review 2026: Rates, Access and Risks
Monefit SmartSaver review: expected 7.5% flexible vs 9.42–10.52% locked Vaults, withdrawal limits, Creditstar exposure, no deposit guarantee. Capital at risk.
LANDE Review 2026: Farm-Backed P2P Loans, Returns and Risks
LANDE review: farm loans secured on land, machinery or grain, the Bank of Latvia licence, the 11.2% headline rate, current default and late figures, and risks.
InRento Review 2026: Rental Loans, Returns, Fees and Risks
InRento review: mortgage-secured rental-property loans from €500, fixed interest plus a capital-gain share, Bank of Lithuania licence, fees and risks.
High-Yield Savings vs Money Market Account or Fund (2026)
High-yield savings account vs money market account vs money market fund: FDIC vs SIPC protection, access, tax, and which suits your emergency fund.
How to Build a Dividend Portfolio: Screens, DRIPs and Tax
How to build a dividend portfolio: the yield, payout and cash-cover checks, income growth worked through, DRIP mechanics and US dividend tax rules.
P2P Lending Explained: How It Works, Risks and Returns
Peer-to-peer lending explained: how it works, borrower rates vs investor returns, defaults, platform risk, diversification, tax and who it suits.
Personal Finance
personal-financeCash Sweep Accounts Explained: Where Your Broker Cash Goes
What a brokerage cash sweep is: the three places idle cash goes, how that changes your protection, why the rate is often low, and what to ask your broker.
personal-financeWhere to Keep Money You Need Within a Year: Yield Ladder 1
Where to keep money you need within 12 months: savings vs money market funds vs Treasury bills, deposit-guarantee limits, what eats the rate, and rate cuts.
personal-financeHigh-Yield Products vs Inflation: 9 Compared After Tax
Nine high-yield products compared against inflation after tax: the reference rate to beat, which three survive, what they cost you, and the biggest leakages.
personal-financeHow Much Do You Need Invested to Live Off Dividends? (2026)
How much you need invested to live off dividends: the one-line formula, worked examples at three yields, dividends vs the 4% rule, and the yield-trap warning.
Foreign Dividend Withholding Tax: Rates, W-8BEN and Refunds
Withholding tax on foreign dividends explained: why 15% treaty rates are common, the W-8BEN form, reclaiming tax, account and fund traps, and currency costs.
Savvy App Review 2026 — Is It Worth Using?
An honest review of the Savvy money management app. We cover features, pricing, pros, cons, and how it compares to Freecash and other alternatives.
401(k), IRA, Roth and HSA: Maximising Retirement Accounts
How to use US retirement accounts well: 401(k) vs IRA, Traditional vs Roth, backdoor Roth, catch-up contributions, RMDs, HSAs and the order to fill them.
How to Build an Emergency Fund From Zero: A 6-Step Plan
A step-by-step plan to build an emergency fund from zero: staged targets, transfer arithmetic, automation, and deposit protection limits by country.
9 Passive Income Ideas That Actually Work
Nine passive income ideas that actually work, split into capital-based and labour-based streams, with the arithmetic, the risks and what to check first.
Roth IRA vs Traditional IRA: Which Is Better in 2026?
Roth IRA vs Traditional IRA compared: when you pay tax, when each one wins, the 2026 income and contribution limits, and the backdoor Roth for high earners.
How Much Emergency Fund Do You Need, and Where to Keep It?
How much emergency fund you need: a formula, months of cover by situation, three worked examples, and how to split it across savings, funds and T-bills.
Tax-Efficient Investing Strategies and After-Tax Returns
Tax-efficient investing strategies: asset location, qualified vs ordinary dividends, capital gains rates, tax-loss harvesting and after-tax returns.
High-Yield Savings Accounts: How to Find the Best Rate
What a high-yield savings account is, how much it can earn, what to look for, when to use one (and when not), how to open one and saving across currencies.
FIRE Explained: How Much You Need to Retire Early
FIRE explained: your number at 4%, 3.5% and 3%, years to retire by savings rate, Lean, Fat, Barista and Coast FIRE worked through, and the risks.
Education
educationStock Market for Beginners: How to Start Investing
Stock market for beginners: what a share is, why people invest, how to open a broker account, a simple first portfolio and the mistakes to avoid.
educationCrypto for Traditional Investors: Risk, Allocation, Custody
Crypto for stock and bond investors: how it works, its risk, how much to allocate, custody, tax and where to start. Highly volatile; capital at risk.
education5 Behavioural Biases That Hurt Investment Returns
Loss aversion, recency bias, overconfidence, herding and anchoring: how five behavioural biases hurt investment returns, and one system that counters all five.
educationHow to Choose a Broker: A 5-Point Checklist With Costs
How to choose a broker: check regulation and protection, price your own trades (worked example), fund range, how assets are held, and withdrawals.
Crypto Investing for Beginners: What to Know Before Buying
Crypto investing for beginners: what blockchain is, bitcoin vs altcoins, how crypto differs from stocks, position sizing, custody and tax. Capital at risk.
10 Investing Mistakes to Avoid (and How to Fix Each One)
The 10 most costly investing mistakes — timing, panic selling, fees, poor diversification, waiting to start — with the cost of each worked out and a fix.
How to Invest in ETFs: Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners
How to invest in ETFs as a beginner in five steps: open a brokerage account, fund it, choose ETFs, place an order and automate, plus costs and mistakes.
How to Buy Bonds Online: Individual Bonds vs Bond Funds
How to buy bonds online three ways — TreasuryDirect, individual bonds via a broker, or a bond fund — with costs, markups and rate risk worked out.
Compound Interest: What It Is, How It Works, and Traps
The arithmetic that makes long-term investing work, the five traps that make compounding charts misleading, and the levers that actually decide your outcome.
Strategy
strategyTarget Date Funds Explained: How They Work, Pros and Cons
How target date funds work: one fund with an automatic glide path, the 'to' vs 'through' question, costs, pros and cons, and when to build your own.
strategyHome Bias in Investing: The Hidden Risk of Staying Local
Home bias in investing: why investors everywhere overweight their own country, what it costs, the good defences, and how to decide your own number.
strategyAsset Location Strategy: Which Account Should Hold What
Asset location strategy: which investments belong in taxable vs tax-advantaged accounts, what makes a holding tax-inefficient, withholding tax and rebalancing.
strategyThe Three-Fund Portfolio Explained: Funds, Split and Limits
The three-fund portfolio explained: what the domestic, international and bond funds each do, choosing your split, where it falls short and how to run it.
Sequence of Returns Risk Explained, With Examples
Sequence of returns risk explained: why the order of returns matters once you withdraw, the danger zone around retirement, and what actually helps.
Where to Invest Money for 1–5 Years: Yield Ladder Part 2
Where to put money you need in one to five years: start with the date, bond ladders, term deposits, short-duration credit and P2P, and a 3-year example.
Best Robo-Advisors 2026: Fees, Minimums and Human Access
Best robo-advisors 2026 compared: Vanguard Digital Advisor, Fidelity Go, Betterment, Wealthfront and Schwab on fees, minimums and human access. Not pay-to-play.
ETF vs Stocks: Key Differences and Which to Choose (2026)
ETF vs stocks explained: diversification, costs, the SPIVA evidence on stock-picking, tax and risk, and a simple core-and-satellite way to decide.
Bond Investing Strategies: Income, Duration and Laddering
Bond investing explained: how bonds work, why prices fall when rates rise, duration, laddering and how much of a portfolio to hold in bonds.
Dividend Investing Strategy: Passive Income From Stocks
A dividend investing strategy for passive income: how dividends work, stocks vs funds, dividend traps, dividend growth, tax and what happens in a downturn.
Tax-Efficient Investing: How to Keep More of Your Returns
Tax-efficient investing: use tax-advantaged accounts first, asset location, tax-loss harvesting, holding periods, dividend tax, wash-sale rules and more.
Automatic Investing: How to Set It Up and Why Plans Break
How to set up automatic investing in six steps, the seven ways regular plans quietly break, and the fee arithmetic behind weekly vs monthly buys.
Index Funds vs Actively Managed Funds: Costs and Evidence
Index vs active funds: what the 2025 SPIVA scorecard shows by category, the 0.05% vs 0.64% fee gap worked through, and when active management can fit.
How Often to Rebalance Your Portfolio: Calendar vs Threshold
How often to rebalance your portfolio: calendar vs threshold rebalancing, doing it tax-efficiently, when not to rebalance, and a step-by-step how-to.
Bond Ladder Strategy: How to Build One With Treasuries
How a bond ladder works: building one with US Treasuries, spreading maturities, rolling rungs as bonds mature, how it handles rate changes, and its limits.
Are Robo-Advisors Worth It in 2026? Fees, Pros and Cons
Are robo-advisors worth the fee? What they do, what 0.25% a year costs over 30 years, when tax-loss harvesting helps, and when a DIY index portfolio wins.
Best Stock Brokers: Fees, Features & Our Top Picks
We compare the top stock brokers on fees, tools, account minimums, and customer support to help you find the best fit.
Robo-Advisor vs Financial Advisor: Fees, Pros and Cons 2026
Robo-advisor vs financial advisor or planner: typical fees (around 0.25% vs around 1%), where each wins, the hybrid option and a checklist to decide.
How Much Crypto Should Be in Your Portfolio?
How much crypto to hold: size it by the loss you can accept, what BlackRock's 1–2% bitcoin research says, where to hold it, and rebalancing worked through.
REITs Explained: Real Estate Income Without Owning Property
REITs explained: how they work, four ways to own them, how US REIT dividends are taxed (worked example), and REITs vs real-estate crowdfunding.
Dollar-Cost Averaging vs Lump Sum: Which Should You Choose?
Dollar-cost averaging vs lump sum: what Vanguard's 1976–2022 data show, a worked 60,000 example both ways, and when spreading it out makes sense.
Crypto
cryptoStablecoin Yield in 2026: Where to Earn on USDC and USDT
Stablecoin yield in 2026: three ways to earn on USDC and USDT, current rates, the de-peg and platform risks worked through, and what MiCA means in the EEA.
cryptoBybit Earn 2026: How It Works, Licensing and the Real Risks
Bybit Earn explained: the licensing point most reviews miss, what happens when you deposit, how to read a headline APR, its security record and the risks.
cryptoNexo Review 2026: How It Works, Safety, Fees and Risks
Nexo review 2026: how the crypto lending platform works, how its tiered rates are set, security and regulation, fees, pros and cons. Crypto is high risk.
cryptoHow to Earn Yield on Crypto in 2026: 5 Ways, Ranked by Risk
Five ways to earn yield on crypto in 2026 — CeFi lending, staking, liquidity provision, yield farming and crypto savings accounts — with a risk framework.
Business Finance
business-financeMelio vs Airwallex (2026): Fees, FX and Which to Choose
Melio vs Airwallex: US bill pay vs a multi-currency account. Plan fees, FX margins and licences from each provider's own pages, and which fits your business.
business-financeAirwallex Review 2026: Features, Pricing, Pros and Cons
Airwallex review 2026: the multi-currency business account's features, pricing, best use cases, pros and cons, and who it suits.
business-financeHow to Build a Revenue-Generating Shopify Store in 2026
Start a Shopify store in 2026: current plans, the short free trial and low-cost intro months, AI tools, revenue models and the costs to plan for.
Investment Tools
investment-toolsBest Retirement Planning Tools for Self-Directed Investors
Six retirement planning tools for DIY investors — ProjectionLab, Boldin, Pralana, FI Calc, cFIREsim and Wise for retiring abroad — with prices read at source.
investment-toolsHow Investors Use PopAI to Track Portfolios in 2026
PopAI Pro Sheets turns plain English questions into portfolio analysis. 5 investor use cases for AI-powered spreadsheet analytics.
investment-tools8 Best Investment Tools for Self-Directed Investors in 2026
8 tools for self-directed investors covering portfolio analysis, planning, documents, crypto yield, payments and skills, with prices checked at source.
Financial Education
financial-educationPreply Business English for Finance: Costs and Tutors
Preply Business English for finance professionals: tutor filters, what lessons cost per month (worked out), a finance phrase glossary, pros and cons.
financial-educationAI Personal Finance Tools in 2026: Uses and Limits
AI personal finance tools in 2026: five jobs they do well, how to check their numbers with simple formulas, what they cannot replace, and privacy limits.
Etfs Index Investing
etfs-index-investingTER vs Tracking Difference: What an ETF Really Costs You
What a fund really costs: TER vs tracking difference, the bid-ask spread, the costs your broker adds, and why the headline fee misleads.
etfs-index-investingHedged vs Unhedged Share Classes: Currency Risk Explained
Hedged vs unhedged share classes: the three currencies in a fund, what a hedged class really does, why bonds and equities differ, and how to check yours.
etfs-index-investingCovered Call ETFs Explained: JEPI, QYLD, JEPQ Pros and Cons
Covered call ETFs explained: how they pay high distributions, JEPI vs QYLD vs JEPQ, the structural difference, the trade-offs and how they fit a portfolio.