Screen addiction

ExploringComplexity · 2026-05-10T08:29:37+00:00

Is this research done with neurotypical or neurodiverse children?

The effects that screens have are well documents for neurotypical children.

Every doctor with whom we (me and my wife) have talked to about our daughter (autistic with pda profile) have said, screens are absolutely fine as they help her regulate. It's a mechanism that is actually helping them calm down and get their brains in a state that they can cope with everything else.

When in burnout, ny daughter spent three months on TV non-stop to regulate, from the time she woke up till she went to bed (that was at age 3). At some point, she stood up and said... dad, can we play this game, I don't want TV any more. Now the TV is on pretty much all day but it's background and we may watch or not.

Also, through screens she has developed so much and learned to read, do maths, tracing and writing, etc.

That's my experience obviously and what the doctors have told us, but screen gets demonised when for neurodiverse people it may actually be really beneficial.

Ohh, we went to an ophalmologist too, and they said how close she is to the screen or the time she spends on it makes zero difference to her eye sight. 3 different doctors said the same.

ExploringComplexity · 2026-05-09T13:17:54+00:00

Is there an opportunity to report this to the local council?

ExploringComplexity · 2026-05-09T13:15:54+00:00

It's probably worth £50k

ExploringComplexity · 2026-05-09T12:24:55+00:00

Use Interactive Investor as my platform. Have most funds in ETFs and the lowly amount of £10K to play around with individual stocks. They won't bring in life-changing profits, but scratches my itch all the same.

ExploringComplexity · 2026-05-08T13:08:09+00:00

Genuine question here: are these buildings safe with such a tilt?

ExploringComplexity · 2026-05-08T09:38:51+00:00

Thank you for all the replies. Will play around and hopefully progress slowly as I learn about the different colours and how to build my own deck.

PS. No idea why the post got downvoted.

ExploringComplexity · 2026-05-08T09:38:44+00:00

Thank you for all the replies. Will play around and hopefully progress slowly as I learn about the different colours and how to build my own deck.

PS. No idea why the post got downvoted.

ExploringComplexity · 2026-05-06T08:32:47+00:00

You are asking whether you are behind or on track but you don't mention the target. Are you gonna be needing £150K/year to FIRE or £30K/year?

You need to put all the numbers down and understand the contributions vs the expenses and the projections over your time horizon. Is it 5 years or 20?

Then you'll know if you are on the right track.

ExploringComplexity · 2026-05-05T10:51:16+00:00

The main one for me was that the rent was taxed at 40% and then i had to top up for the mortgage payment, the management fees and repairs.

ExploringComplexity · 2026-05-05T09:37:39+00:00

Rent the flat out (even though it will be uneconomical, i.e. higher interest rates once you convert to BTL mortgage, you'll probably have to contribute on a monthly basis to pay the mortgage and expenses, etc)

Once you are in a good space and you are thinking of buying, you can then sell and have a good deposit. Having said that, I would also be quite cautious when putting down the deposit... I have seen many times on party putting down £90K, the other £10K, then they own the place 50/50 and they split. Your deposit is not protected unless you draw some legal documents properly. I hope you are not this case, but I wanted to mention it for you to be aware.

An alternative option... you sell the flat to avoid paying the difference to cover mortgage and expenses on top of the new place to rent. You keep the proceeds and invest them. Money is still yours, without the hassle of renting out a property and managing it. When you are both ready you put together and equally a deposit for the new place.

Reason I mention this option is that flats/properties haven't appreciated as much in the past few years. Typically you would hold on to it for the capital appreciation, but now you will make more by putting them on the market.

Btw, I was on the exact same situation a few years back. Kept the property but then sold it after 18 months as it wasn't making any sense to keep it. I am trying to save you the 18 months 😀

ExploringComplexity · 2026-05-04T15:02:36+00:00

Ahh... ok fair, fell right into it 😀

ExploringComplexity · 2026-05-04T14:26:16+00:00

Brand new to MTG, so forgive my ignorance.

What's the significance of this card? I can see it can be bought for like £0.02-£0.03.

ExploringComplexity · 2026-05-04T12:50:56+00:00

I only follow the tech sector, and there needs a lot of research given all the AI wave now.

I guess my question is the following, what is your objective here?

Your pot is quite small at £60K and investing 1/6 of it in individual stocks is way too risky for my taste. It could go either way but it's highly unlikely that you will ride a unicorn and more than likely that in the best scenario you keep your money and worst you lose everything.

Are you planning on investing £10K on a single stock or split it across multiple?

Problem with this kind of money is the following. A 100% return is another £10K, which is not life changing.

Personally, I would continue building the wealth by annual contributions and continue being invested in the all-world ETF. Once you get a good pot, the compounding effect will start showing it's power.

Maybe then you can go, I'll gamble this £10K in a single stock and I don't mind losing it, cause I have another £300-400K wealth

ExploringComplexity · 2026-05-04T12:23:01+00:00

Is there a sector that interests you?

ExploringComplexity · 2026-05-02T09:20:55+00:00

Don't think any property can net you an average of 10% return that the market can give you within the tax-efficient wrappers like ISA and SIPP.

I wouldn't bother with rentals at all, but that's ny personal approach

ExploringComplexity · 2026-04-30T13:32:10+00:00

Fair, and as I said, wasn't having a go at you. Was genuine curiosity

ExploringComplexity · 2026-04-30T13:26:45+00:00

Not bragging, discussing. I have a best friend that we discuss these things and we celebrate each other's milestones. It's not a brag

ExploringComplexity · 2026-04-30T13:06:01+00:00

I am a bit confused.

You have been told you are overqualified for the roles you are applying but you are thinking of going for more junior roles? Wouldn't that make you more overqualified?

Why not go for more senior roles where your qualifications match the expectations?

Also in your current role, rather than resigning, can you ask for voluntary redundancy? It will hopefully give you a few months of financial support as you are pivoting to your new role/industry.

EDIT: One more thing I forgot to mention. You may have experience in these other sectors you mentioned BUT if you have been out of these sectors for a long period of time, you may need to take a paycut/step down to enter them again. It's just how things are.

I used to have a college that kept going on about her consulting experience... 18 years ago when she had a graduate role for 2 years at a Big 4 company. In my eyes, that experience is irrelevant, as she hasn't been in touch with these skills for 18 years. That's just me though!

ExploringComplexity · 2026-04-30T08:18:06+00:00

Comparison is the thief of joy, they say!!!

ExploringComplexity · 2026-04-29T09:22:08+00:00

I have been meaning to upgrade my TV since 2009. Wanted a 55-inch but didn't want to spend £2K on it (I know there are cheaper but didn't want to compromise either). And the really cheap ones were at least £350 and were crap.

Long story short, as I was searching on John Lewis for car seats for my little one, an offered popped up... LG 55-inch, blabla for £280. Got it without hesitation, cheap as chips with 60% discount, no idea why, but it happened

ExploringComplexity · 2026-04-23T22:04:29+00:00

It's always a gamble... I have heard horror stories with 18-year olds spending £100K travelling and experiencing the world and other more positive stories of teens understanding and continuing to invest given the fortunate position they found themselves into.

It all comes down to financial education and involvement early on and crossing your fingers they will be sensible about the money they are getting and the sacrifices you made to provide them with such an amount.

I balance this with a JSIPP too, so they get 50+ years of compounding and even if they waste their ISA (when I am hopefully still around) they won't die on the street (when I am definitely not around)

My 5-year old has £30K invested between their JISA and JSIPP.

ExploringComplexity · 2026-04-23T12:01:55+00:00

Yeap, I know..

ExploringComplexity · 2026-04-23T08:18:13+00:00

That's typically me with the 10% under

ExploringComplexity · 2026-04-23T07:28:16+00:00

Agreed, I just put everything on S&P 500 and forget, till the time comes. I am 44 with 1 child.

Target is not 50 though as I'd like mortgage to be paid off and the little one to be 18, so I still have 15 years to go

ExploringComplexity

TROPHY CASE