StarsEnd

Hard to work out what that actually all means but I would take that as meaning they trouser 37% of any dividends. Think I'd rather buy the shares.

Interesting. I'm very sceptical of all things financial, everything is rigged to buggery and the one time when you might really want/need to sell you find they have some special conditions that prevent you from doing so. For this reason I try to limit my exposure to complex instruments. I do need some ETFs but rather than buy an oil ETF I'd rather buy shares in Shell, much harder for TPTB to mess with them. Wasn't that volatility thing that blew up the other an ETF or an ETC. The bank trousered all the money because it fell by 80%. Harder for them to steal your money if you hold simple shares.

I've just had another look and it look like it may have been ETCs I was holding: http://citywire.co.uk/wealth-manager/news/the-crucial-difference-between-etfs-and-etcs/a315053 The problem was AIG, a gigantic US insurer threatening to go bust. They got bailed by the Government otherwise maybe I'd have lost the lot. Until the problem happened I had no idea that my money was held by a third party. Reading the link above it looks like ETCs may be riskier than ETFs but the devil is in the detail. Think you've got to really read the documentation carefully to try and ascertain how many third parties are involved. Reckon if we have a big crash then a lot of people may end up losing money on this kind of stuff. The inflows into ETCs/ETFs has been huge since 2008 and the likes of AIG may not get bailed next time.

I've never been a big fan of passive trackers as I prefer to pick my own stocks which I've had some success with over the years. I believe Buffet got rich by finding an outstanding company and then putting most of his money in. Prob not gonna work for me though as it seems pretty tricky finding outstanding companies these days I've just had a brief look at ETCs and it looks like it may be ETCs that I was holding when AIG went t1ts up. Not an expect on the differences but a brief read looks like ETCs may be riskier than ETFs although God knows what could be hidden away in the details. http://citywire.co.uk/wealth-manager/news/the-crucial-difference-between-etfs-and-etcs/a315053

I held quite a few commodity ETFs at that time. I was unable to sell any of them for weeks. When I was finally able to sell again the price was down by 40%. I'm much more careful about what I buy now.

I thought Lidl's potato salad was a choice between creme fraiche or yoghurt. Ok, if you like that sort of foreign muck I guess

Waitrose is a strange one. Some stuff is priced the same as other supermarkets and some stuff is massively more expensive. I think it's all a cunning plan to fool you. Have to say their potato salad is the only one from any of the supermarkets that's actually edible (and it's very cheap), damn, making myself hungry now.

Agreed. Meant to say that I reckon my earnings had dropped 60% in real terms before I jacked it in and stuck to the tax threshold. I was working the same hours, doing the same work for I reckon 60% less in real terms, that's what made me jack it in. See the same story for most people I know regardless of job. They're gonna end up with most the country paying no tax at this rate.

I thought it was £85k?

It's my three children I feel sorry for. Despite what much of the older generation say about the younger generation, they are not afraid of hard work and want to get on. Problem is, hard work is a waste of time now and buys you nothing worth having. I guess more and more will start to see this. When I started my career the money I earned bought me a very good standard of living - thank God I had my kids young before it got as bleak as it has now. I estimate in real terms my earnings have probably dropped some 60% in 15 years. Found myself taking three hours to get to work (on what should be a one hour journey) on a regular basis because they have stuffed the roads up so much with mass immigration. On top of that a two year old £20k BMW farked up quite spectacularly and I realised it just wasn't worth the hassle anymore (Oh, + increases in divi taxes + more Goverment annoyances). I had the option to scale right back and pay no tax. Sadly, a lot of people don't though which is what the scum at top rely on. Still, I reckon more and more people who can, are. I'm much happier and healthier now. Don't ever intend to pay another penny in tax if I can avoid it. It's how to help my kids have some sort of life that's the issue... Agree about Blair and Brown. Something evil about Blair whereas Brown is just a moron in my opinion. Cameron and Osbourne carried right on tough so no better in my books.

You're right, bring back the rack!

House prices have been the bane of my life for 15 years. I have been forced to waste a ridiculous amount of my life trying to figure out what is going on, how and when to buy a simple roof over my head to keep the rain off and planning how to stop thieving politicians and bankers stealing the money I have worked years and years for. I'm a pretty law abiding person but if they helped themselves to my money. I might well turn criminal. That's one thing I never really understood about Cyprus, a lot of people had a lot of money stolen. Amazes me that not one of them went after the people responsible. Will this last for them though, that's the question. I've already opted out of the system now by keeping my earnings below the tax threshold, no point killing yourself on overly crowded roads so you can pay a huge amount in tax for the Government to give away to half the world and his dog. I think our politicians are so out of control now and are blatantly on a rampage where they are stealing everything in sight. If only we could have a French revolution in this country, they all deserve it so much. I know I'd be cheering them on as they bought out the guillotines. My girlfriend thinks I'm too harsh, I think she doesn't see clearly what's going on around her.

I've tried Nandos twice, in different towns a couple of years apart. Both times absolute sh1te. First time my vege-burger was all sweaty and disgusting as was my girlfriend's chicken. Second time we were served burgers with frozen cobs and undercooked chips. All the peri-peri sauces appeared to me to be the same. I could detect no difference between the hottest and the others. BK and McDonalds are far better and far cheaper IMO.

Thanks CrashMonitor, very useful.

Hi crashmonitor, can you give any further detail on some of these please?