We started November in Vietnam on the holiday of a lifetime.  It was also interesting because we went just before the now infamous budget was announced, and before the US election.  We would return to a potentially different world.  

In the event, the budget had no impact on me personally (according to The Times’ calculator at least) but I’m sure the impact will be felt collectively through protests or whatever.  I’m convinced that the media is over hyping everything about this as it will affect the wealthy owners of these publications and their friends. Accordingly, they are sending out the message that we, the plebs, should object to it.  I’m not convinced either way that we should reject the budget or support it and I remain sceptical.  Only time will tell if this budget will work for the country. I do believe the country was left in a dire state by the previous government so have sympathy that what has been done is needed.

I get that Reeves is targeting pretend farmers who are sheltering from inheritance tax by purchasing farms and in principle I don’t have an issue with that.  If there is an impact on the genuine generational family farms then perhaps things need to be re-examined.  

In California, it is said by friends of mine that the biggest farmer is Wells Fargo bank.  I think a similar thing happening in the UK would be a disaster.  So yes, I don’t think it’s fair that non-farmers  pay inheritance tax where a farmer would not, but I don’t want to see farms sold up to hedge funds.  

Otherwise, I’m fine with the budget. I never thought that pensions should be used as inheritance tax shelters. Clearly they are intended to provide an income for retirement, not the inheritance tax shelter that they were becoming.

As for the US election, although it seems like the lunatics are taking over, it has been very good for our investments.  We are up £31k in one month as a result.  

Following all the uproar with Trump winning and Russian sabotage in Europe, I have decided that I need to become more “private” with respect to my online presence.  I have been looking for a more private email than Gmail and settled on signing up for Proton mail.  It’s a service that is based in Switzerland and is fully encrypted (as far as email can be at least).  I don’t use my email that often for sending personal stuff anymore and am reliant on Whatsapp and Messenger these days.  So I’m not sure what benefit this will give me entirely but it’s been good to get a fresh start and unsubscribe to many emails that arrive as spam.  I want to reduce my reliance on big tech even if it costs me some money.  This cost £23 for the year which I think is fine.  

I have also unsubscribed from The Times online.  All the news around the election and the budget was really getting to me.  I also feel like the paper is pandering more to the Reform UK reader which is not something I enjoy paying £26 a month to read.  It’s sad as it does provide some excellent news coverage which I am missing now.  I have also massively cut down my time on X as Elon Musk and the platform has become insufferable.   I had to do this too as I found it all very depressing and it was negatively impacting my mental health and wasting my time.  For now I have subscribed to the I newspaper.  I’m not really enjoying it that much but will stick it out a bit longer as change can be difficult.

Holiday

Returning to more fun things, our trip to Vietnam started in Ho Chi Minh city, formerly and still called by the locals, Saigon.  We explored the Cuchi tunnels which was where thousands of Vietnamese lived for around 20 years whilst fighting the French and Americans (and other Vietnamese).  We also went to the Mekong delta and toured some of the islands where the locals lived and farmed. They seemed to supplement their income with tourism more than farming now which is good for them.  

The War remnants museum in Ho Chi Minh City was also very moving and reminded us how much war sucks for everyone.  The aftermath of the Vietnam war is still felt amongst the population who were poisoned by Agent Orange.  It is still causing birth defects to this day.  

I personally really enjoyed Ho Chi Minh City and found it to be astonishingly modern. Some of there restaurants and coffee houses we visited could have been an establishment in Islington or New York (some were nicer to be honest). This was a huge surprise to me as the image I had of Vietnam was very outdated.

After Saigon, we flew to Hoi An which is an ancient trading city and former capital city of Vietnam.  The historic centre is a beautiful place with tiny streets which at night are lit by lanterns.  You can walk along the river and enjoy the large numbers of boats with lanterns glowing.  We also had some amazing food at a restaurant called Morning Glory, which is not what it sounds like.  

We visited the My Son ruins which were fascinating temples which were sadly bombed during the war but were being restored. The city also boasts a clothing market where you can get custom made clothes for not a lot of money. So I got some shoes made! They were so good that I bought a second pair.

After Hoi An we flew to Hanoi where we stayed in the Old Quarter, a crazy busy and bustling part of the city with narrow streets and a high density of shops, mopeds and people.  We were able to enjoy “Train Street” which a street lined with bars on an active rail line.  The street is barely wider than the train so everyone must squeeze up to the edges.  We also enjoyed “Bun Cha” which was at a supposed Michelin starred street food place.  It was delicious soupy noodle dish served with loads of herbs and spring rolls.  

Following this busy evening we went to Ha Long bay where we joined a 2 day cruise on a lovely boat.  This was quite touristic but also very relaxing and fun.  We went kayaking and swimming in the bay and also visited one of the islands.  It was bliss.  

All in all it was a fantastic trip and I’d highly recommend a visit to Vietnam.

Further to the Vietnam trip, I rather over extended myself by also having committed to a lads trip to Barcelona to visit our mutual friend there. It was a great little out on Friday night after work and back on Sunday night type trop. Proves that it’s all vary doable and cheap to do. Following that I had a trip to Ireland for work. So it was quite an exhausting month!

Investments

Again, another stonking month for our investments.  We are up £31k in the month.  It’s really nearly a record increase for us and kind of mind blowing that we are at this point. Long may it continue.

Networth is now £756k and our FI fund is £523k.  

We did cross the £1,000,000 total assets barrier.  That is something to be celebrated. 

This is due to strong growth in the S&P500 and the NASDAQ which I hold a lot of in my investments. 

Getting some FOMO about bitcoin this month but my policy was to leave it alone.  It’s hard to stick to that but I’ve been burnt in the past.  

I guess the Trump bounce in stocks one plus point of the US election result. 

Meanwhile I am continuing to rebuild my emergency fund which is now at £7k. I think I need to get it to £12K to feel comfortable and have 3 month’s expenses going so it will be a few more months of not investing.

Spending

Spending was OK this month despite the holiday.  Vietnam was incredibly cheap and as we had paid for most of our hotels and tours upfround several months ago, this felt like a free trip.  I did over do it on the clothing markets in Saigon where I purchased many “real in Vietnam” goods.  I figured that I was saving money by purchasing something I needed at a cut price. So I bought a lot of Nike and Arcteryx gear. I also had some shoes custom made for me. They are very comfortable indeed.

Going to Barcelona wasn’t too bad as I wasn’t drinking, unlike my friends. The flight was cheap because it’s November.

In total, this month’s spend was about £4k and I had £2700 left over.

That’s all for now.