Hey friends,

After nearly two years of avoiding the dreaded covid, it finally got me 🦠.

First Abi, then the kiddo, and then in spite of my best efforts to keep my distance, I succumbed. The fever came on rapidly and ferociously and though the worst of it only lasted a day or so it's still lingering on. I wouldn't recommend it though I am sort of glad I've had it and got it over and done with...hopefully.

So with nothing to write about but my own self pity, here's a roundup of my favourite newsletters I put out this year.

💌 Favourite Newsletters

🏠 My First Newsletter: The Housing Market - So far so good on this prediction which at the time wasn't the consensus among the experts. I think the eventual cause of the pop in house prices will be down to inflation. If it continues to remain high, interest rates will have to increase to combat it making large mortgages unaffordable and bringing down prices. However, many economists believe that the deflationary pressures (e.g. technology, economies of scale) will turn out to be stronger than the inflationary ones (e.g. money printing, China moving away from manufacturing) so this won't be a problem. However since central banks try to avoid deflation at all costs they may pull too hard the other way, cause hyper inflation, raise rates in response and cause a crash. It's a delicate balance.

🔨 This Projects Update newsletter is a great reminder of how much DIY I can get done in a week when I set my mind to it. I need to remind myself of that these next couple of months as things ramp up. I also write about the Laffer Curve which cuts through the whole 'lower taxes!' vs 'tax the rich!' debate.

📈 A Complete Guide To Investing In The Stock Market and Retiring Early - Often we need more than one touch point before we take action so consider this another nudge. While we're not focussing on the short term fluctuations of the market, the fund I mention in this piece has increased 7.2% since I wrote it which goes to show the sooner you start, the better. New Years resolution perhaps? I followed it up with How To Save For Your Child's Future.

💭 Stoicism - Dabbling in philosophy, in this one I take a look at whether a larger house would bring me more joy. Spoiler: no I don't think so though I do wish we didn't share our fourth wall 😒.

A huge huge thank you for reading and staying subscribed through my musings, it's been lots of fun putting it out each week and I thoroughly enjoy reading and learning from all your responses. I appreciate it. Have a super new year and I'll catch you on the other side.

👋

Most of the podcasts I listen to are about business or self-development but recently I've been tuning into Uncanny - a weekly dose of true (according to those telling them) ghost stories. These are then dissected by a believer and a sceptic to try to get at the truth. I don't believe in ghosts and I'm the type to swiftly drift off to sleep directly after watching a horror flic but these feel believable and therefore rather unsettling. Give it a go if you're brave enough.

Hit "reply" if you've got any comments on this week's newsletter – otherwise I'll see you next time. Have an epic week :)

P.s. If you think a friend will enjoy this newsletter, feel free to send them this link where they can sign up.

P.p.s. You can find all previous newsletters here.