Understanding investment approaches: DIY, DIWM, and DIFM explained
Introduction In today’s digital age, investment platforms have become a cornersto...
Introducing Mark on the Clapham Omnibus
Welcome to my first blog, the first of many I hope.
This blog will chronicle my journey as a DIY investor and DIY consumer navigating complex or time-consuming issues and markets. My aim is to get a good deal and make the best decisions possible, while avoiding being ripped off and not letting this kind of ‘boring’ stuff dominate my life. Isn’t that what everyone wants?
About me
I’m Mark on the Clapham Omnibus because this blog is essentially about the ordinary person on the bus. But I’m also called Mark and I live in Clapham, though I’m half Scottish and grew up in Yorkshire, so I’m not a real Londoner. I’m at that stage of life where I’m dealing with both ends of life – children and elderly parents – and all the complications that can bring (renting and selling property, from student loans to probate, and so on).
But I’m probably not the completely typical ‘man on the Clapham Omnibus’ either as I worked for Which? the consumer magazine for nine years and learnt that the DIY consumer approach can work with a bit of effort. In this blog I’ll be discussing my experiences tackling certain issues or my approach to certain markets, but without giving legal or investment advice which I’m not regulated to do.
About the blog
So what will this blog cover? An eclectic mix of Issues from the big ones that matter most though people may not realise it, like my take on investment and pension decisions, to the little ones that actually affect your everyday life more, like does your wifi work properly? I’ll cover things like crowd funding, savings accounts, buying shares, switching energy provider, applying for student loans, renting property, selling property, extended warranties, avoiding online ticket touts, self-insurance, doing probate and power of attorney, holiday money, using your consumer legal rights, and more. As the blog develops, I’d welcome your thoughts on topics to cover too and your views on where I have gone wrong.
Next time: I’ll look at the People’s Trust in which I invested a four-figure sum (and why it’s coming back to me). And maybe what I’ll do about my useless broadband service.
