London life – FIRE v London

September ’26: Income rush

2026-10-12 FIRE v LondonLeave a comment

Last month saw “La rentree” – the return to the real world, after an enjoyable summer. Very much so for me, as it happens – but with plenty of enjoyment still to be found.

A stylized portrait of a woman with dark hair and traditional attire, adorned with jewelry, set against a backdrop featuring illustrated playing cards with Spanish labels.

I’ve taken in Frida Kahlo at the Tate Modern, a spot of luxury in the south of France, a City ritual in one of its ancient livery companies, some politics both in Liverpool and Downing Street, and the outdoor beauty around Dorset’s Lyme Regis as well as Hampstead’s own heath. Not to mention some sailing, fine dining, and wine tasting, It’s a wonder I find any time to write this blog.

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Nov ’25: Coastal Folly loan repaid

2025-12-142025-12-14 FIRE v London6 Comments

Trump dominated the headlines again. This time partly due to some very biased editing by the BBC of a Panorama show about Trump before the US election.

There was also the omnipresent UK Budget. Which has had more than enough coverage. I did a ‘damage assessment‘ at the time and haven’t revised/updated my view since.

Back at home, the Christmas season started early. I found myself dining at two of London’s impressive skyscraper restaurants in one week.

I also managed a trip up to Oxford, where the Christmas lights were out in force.

Other London highlights included a performance of the Crucible in South London, and a dinner at George’s club in Mayfair.

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The stocks & shares ‘property’ portfolio, one year on

2025-10-19 FIRE v London4 Comments

A year ago this week I sold my Modern Flat. And shortly afterwards, I reinvested £500k into a liquid stocks/shares portfolio with a property-like mandate. One year on, here’s a short review of the performance.

The portfolio has been set up to spit out £2000 pcm, which I take into general household expenses. This amounts to a 4.8% withdrawal yield on the £500k initial portfolio value.

What’s happened?

I ran out of money once, by about £100. As it happened, when that happened I ended up receiving a dividend on the 31st of the month which meant I had *not* in fact ran out of money, but by then I had already lent the portfolio the money to cover. I charged the portfolio £50 of interest costs for the trouble.

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