Sadly I have to report that, while I am making progress on my own burped challenge, the weight curve is going the wrong direction. I had to note down an all time high of 107.6 kg the other day!
Since I am convinced that "running" (more like elephant jogging) anything over 3 km would ruin my knees at this weight, I did some mountainbiking this weekend, burning almost 2000 kcal over two sessions. The key to weight reduction is not exercise, but rather changing the food intake and there I still have plenty of room for improvement. I just like to eat. A lot.
The exercise does however reduce work related stress levels and also makes me feel more fit than I otherwise would, so I will not be giving up on this. I should get back on the rowing machine, as this is also suitable when overweight and provides both aerobic and muscular training for the whole body. For some reason I am hesitating to get back on the machine, as I know it will be painful to realize how unfit I am when comparing to my previous times, but one has to (re)start from somewhere.
This week I will therefore commit to doing at least two 30 minute sessions on the rowing machine.
Tuesday, December 6, 2016
Sunday, December 4, 2016
Index investing should be the basis of your equity investment
Via an article in The Economist (link) we are once again reminded of some old truths when it comes to investing and funds. That the mutual fund industry continues to provide funds with relatively high expense ratios (in my anything over 1% is excessively high) means that there is a demand for them.
Of course I am not suggesting we should forbid them, but for the average rookie investor (like myself) it can be valuable to be reminded of a few "truths":
- then bank is seldom your advisor and more often interested in selling something to you
- running a fund handling 10 million or 1000 million does not generate a lot of additional cost for the bank, so the more people they can convince to invest in their "unique" (read high cost) funds, the more profit they will make at a diminishing cost-effort
- the basis of all investment portfolios (at least if you have decided to go into equities) should be low cost (less than 0.2% annual fee) index funds
- it is impossible to determine which funds will over time outperform index - even for those who have done so in the past
- time in the market is more important than exactly which funds you choose
- what seems like a small difference in fees, will over time make a large difference in what you end up with
So, if you are into investing, think for yourself, take advice from people who do not have a vested interest. There are plenty of bloggers out there and also many good forums, e.g. the Bogleheads forum.
While I do own some stocks and mutual funds, I generally avoid high cost funds and instead opt for the cheaper index like ones as basis of my investments.
How do you invest?
Of course I am not suggesting we should forbid them, but for the average rookie investor (like myself) it can be valuable to be reminded of a few "truths":
- then bank is seldom your advisor and more often interested in selling something to you
- running a fund handling 10 million or 1000 million does not generate a lot of additional cost for the bank, so the more people they can convince to invest in their "unique" (read high cost) funds, the more profit they will make at a diminishing cost-effort
- the basis of all investment portfolios (at least if you have decided to go into equities) should be low cost (less than 0.2% annual fee) index funds
- it is impossible to determine which funds will over time outperform index - even for those who have done so in the past
- time in the market is more important than exactly which funds you choose
- what seems like a small difference in fees, will over time make a large difference in what you end up with
So, if you are into investing, think for yourself, take advice from people who do not have a vested interest. There are plenty of bloggers out there and also many good forums, e.g. the Bogleheads forum.
While I do own some stocks and mutual funds, I generally avoid high cost funds and instead opt for the cheaper index like ones as basis of my investments.
How do you invest?
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