I have found some new features on my broker’s website and this is among the most cheering.
It’s interesting to see returns over more than twenty-two years. It is extraordinary that it looks like I have increased value by more than 1,000% while always withdrawing income. Furthermore I have withdrawn substantial amounts of capital to fund an ISA, pay tax bills and fund building projects at home. The 2008 crash was a bit hairy and there have been other smaller setbacks but the big picture confirms the importance of exposure to equities and not fiddling around too much. I am grateful for Capital Gains Tax. It stops me taking profits too early. Also worth noting, the greatest gains have come since I stopped working in 2015. It seems idle hands make money.
I gaze at this graph to cheer myself up after looking at the Babcock International price. So far I would have done better to stick with sickly Marks and Spencer but it’s early days. And my ISA, in which all income is re-invested and is topped up each year is pathetic, so I am no stock market genius.
How to spend it? Drink better, trying to replace quantity with quality; be generous to deserving charities; shun all get-rich-quick schemes; not behave like a bookmaker on holiday. On the other hand, you only live once – or maybe not.