personal-finance – Page 3

Swapping a rental property for a share portfolio

2025-06-222025-06-27 FIRE v London11 Comments

Having sold my London rental flat, what was I to do next?

I’ve paid the £20k+ transaction fees. I have paid off the mortgage. I set aside the amount to pay my Capital Gains Tax, a liability which needs to be settled within 60 days. I moved some of the remaining equity into other investments and portfolios.

However, one thing is missing. The property rental income. I used to use my property rental income to help pay for household costs; rent was received into my joint household account and was swallowed up there by miscellaneous household bills, cleaning costs, gardening expenses etc. Until I sold the flat, the flat’s service charge and occasional running costs would have come out of that account too. These days, only my Dream Home in London is paid for out of this account – I have opened a different account for the Coastal Folly which I run separately (and is funded separately).

So, I decided to ringfence £500k of the equity that I released for a ‘property proxy’ portfolio. This portfolio will be a worked example of the argument that a stocks/bonds portfolio can be a valid, and better, alternative to a property investment. I will report on progress occasionally on this blog. The portfolio will essentially be an income portfolio, designed for somebody is used to having regular property rental income coming in, and wanting inflation protection.

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A stupid decision to sell my rental property

2025-04-202025-04-20 FIRE v London6 Comments

I sold my rental property last year, after owning it over 20 years. It’s a lovely property, worth around £1m, right in the heart of London – near the middle of the map below. I used to live in it, I travel past it regularly, I know its neighbourhood well. The Modern Flat has genuinely been part of my life – in a way I can’t say for most assets I own.

*Central London – roughly corresponding to the Circle Line area*

As most readers would I think agree, I am a pretty numerate, analytical person. Yet looking back on the sale of the Modern Flat, in my decision to sell I made two stupid mistakes. I got two of the big numbers wrong. Not just a bit wrong, but properly, materially wrong.

There are lessons here about investing, about selling, and about property vs stocks/shares. Let’s take a look.

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Mar ’25: Anticipating tariffs

2025-04-112025-04-16 FIRE v London5 Comments

What’s in the news?

Talking about the news in March, given what’s been happing on the tariff front over the last few weeks, seems a bit pointless.

We entered March with a lot of drama about Ukraine, and some notable ‘ceasefire’ activity on the diplomatic front.

We finished March waiting for ‘liberation day’, April 2nd, when Trump unleashed a basically bonkers cocktail of tariffs on every country in the world – except Russia, of course.

What’s going on with me?

In the meantime, life goes on.

I attended a funeral of a long time friend and neighbour in north London.

I visited a rather bizarre concert in the Royal Festival Hall.

And I visited hospital for my first MRI scan, participating in a clinical research programme at University College London Hospital. I was impressed, I have to say, and grateful that I live within relatively easy reach of this excellent hospital.

I also visited Dorset – Studland to be precise – and went yomping up to Old Harry Rocks, the start of the Jurassic Coast. It’s a beautiful part of the world, and less than 3 hours from London Waterloo.

Markets in March

Markets generally drooped in March, particularly the US’s S&P500. Enthusiasm/animal spirits from Trump’s election win are being replaced by trepidation / concern about Trump not being good for the US economy after all. The dollar, and the AUD, fell against the pound.

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