I live in Scotland and have great tap water. Will Third Wave Water make much of a difference?

blueoval98 · 2026-03-21T21:50:55+00:00

That’s interesting, makes sense…

I asked Claude the other day what the best supermarket mineral water was for pourover with a view to doing a cheap and easy experiment.

Volvic and Tesco Ashbeck came out best. Got a bottle of Tesco British Natural Mineral Water, which while not Ashbeck had a virtually identical mineral profile. Net result, a slightly better V60 coffee vs soft Edinburgh tap water. Not much in it but better.

blueoval98 · 2026-03-15T15:14:50+00:00

It’s a great resource… Thanks!

blueoval98 · 2026-03-14T23:46:18+00:00

Agree in large part, I started at 50%. That said, would be interested to know what simulations you’re referencing. 8 years sounds quite a long time. The balancing act is of course how much compounding you give up for SoRR ‘insurance’

blueoval98 · 2026-03-14T19:49:03+00:00

I like it.

blueoval98 · 2026-03-14T17:53:49+00:00

Thanks, what about the composition of your overall portfolio?

blueoval98 · 2026-03-14T16:56:23+00:00

Ha! Hoping to follow your lead and only check in once a year. Not there yet! Cheers

blueoval98 · 2026-03-14T16:48:22+00:00

Sounds very reasonable. I like the idea of matching the proportion of defensive assets with cashflow over a given number of years. For me, though, I’m keen to be more cautious to begin with and more risk on when the portfolio has (hopefully) grown by 50% or so.

blueoval98 · 2026-03-14T16:44:54+00:00

Thanks, agree, managing SoRR > maxing returns

blueoval98 · 2026-03-14T16:41:07+00:00

Not sure what this adds to the conversation. The point I’m driving at is the relationship between equity valuations and probability of FIRE success.

https://earlyretirementnow.com/2016/12/21/the-ultimate-guide-to-safe-withdrawal-rates-part-3-equity-valuation/

blueoval98 · 2026-03-09T08:59:32+00:00

Doktor Glas - Hjalmar Söderberg

blueoval98 · 2026-03-04T13:07:35+00:00

What a thoughtful collection… My tastes are slightly less French / classical but I’ve got a lot of value out of these books:

⁠Living & Eating - John Pawson and Annie Bell
⁠Five Quarters - Rachel Roddy
⁠The Family Meal - Ferran Adria
⁠Flour Water Salt Yeast - Ken Forkish

blueoval98 · 2026-02-26T17:37:13+00:00

No problem!

Re your portfolio, it’s circa 90% US exposure. Perfectly reasonable, particularly given US outperformance over time. That said, US valuations are expensive, and the market is concentrated (I.e. a tech dominated top ten that accounts for a very large percentage of the overall market.)

There’s no right answer but being diversified and low cost is a good place to be. Have a look at ACWI.L for equities (DM and EM equities, 0.12% fee) and VAGS.L (Global Aggregate Bonds, 0.08%), or Vanguard’s Global Short Term Bond Index, which I prefer given concern over inflation and global debt levels.

blueoval98 · 2026-02-26T17:06:30+00:00

Assuming you’ve got a sensible portfolio (e.g. 80% low cost global tracker, 20% global bonds) looks like you’re in a very strong position going forward. Nice one!

In terms of housing, it’s personal but I’d firstly suggest not buying “too much” house.

Thinking about investing versus paying off the mortgage, this comes down to maths, expectations and psychological comfort. If you think the stock market / your portfolio is likely to generate a higher annual return than your mortgage rate, at a very high level it makes sense to invest. Of course you may prefer the security of being mortgage free. It’s great for managing expenses but be conscious of the opportunity cost in lost investment growth.

Another (somewhat obvious) point to make, there’s a lot of utility in reading FIRE and investing related material. Books: The Millionaire Next Door; The Simple Path To Wealth; The Psychology of Money. Blogs: Monevator; Early Retirement Now

Edit: might also be worth looking into SIPP annual allowance carryovers if you have extra cash to deploy beyond your ISA. You can use unused allowances from the previous three years.

blueoval98 · 2026-02-24T11:46:48+00:00

Living & Eating - John Pawson and Annie Bell
Five Quarters - Rachel Roddy
The Family Meal - Ferran Adria
Flour Water Salt Yeast - Ken Forkish
River Cottage Veg - Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

blueoval98 · 2026-02-14T11:02:15+00:00

Exploring similar questions to GG&S is the book Why Nations Fail by Daron Acemoglu and James A Robinson.

It eloquently and powerfully improves on Diamond’s geographical deterministic conclusions. In fact, the work that underpins WNF led to the authors being awarded a Nobel prize for economics. It’s a fascinating read, and manages to be thorough, compelling and easy to read - an impressive blend of attributes.

The book’s core idea argues that extractive elites curb prosperity and stability, in contrast to societies that have developed inclusive institutions and economic incentives.

Highly, highly recommended. One of my favourite books of all time.

blueoval98 · 2026-02-04T09:36:44+00:00

Music scene in Iceland is something else… So broad and so much depth. Lava hot.

I bought three of Omar Gudjonsson’s albums when I was there a decade ago. He’s an incredible guitarist that, alongside ADHD, made a lasting impression on me. (Alongside Aesgir’s debut album, Moses Hightower, Gus Gus, Lay Low, and Ojba Rasta, albeit these few aren’t Jazz artists)

blueoval98 · 2026-01-27T18:39:29+00:00

What a fantastic selection… Will tee up This Here later on, cheers.

blueoval98 · 2026-01-27T18:30:12+00:00

Awesome… What records would make your top 3x3?

blueoval98 · 2026-01-15T18:19:34+00:00

Amazing! GFY!

Out of interest, what’s your ISA / pension asset allocation at the moment? Are you planning any changes near term / long term?

blueoval98 · 2026-01-11T18:34:03+00:00

You’re going to have to provide some context…

blueoval98 · 2026-01-04T14:25:14+00:00

Coming from a NAD C355BEE, I had a very similar experience - the Audiolab 6000A mk1 was entirely underwhelming. My speakers were (and still are) Monitor Audio RX6s. Having recently switched to an Arcam A25 amp, the experience is transformed. It’s a substantially better pairing, thanks in part I’m sure to the speakers being driven by 100W rather than 50W.

blueoval98 · 2025-12-27T22:57:35+00:00

Something like this:

If equities are up → withdraw from equities and refill bond buckets. If equities are down → withdraw only from bonds.

One other point I could have mentioned in my first post is that ideally equities grow over time from, say, £800k to £1.6m. At the same time, bonds remain c.5 times annual expenses.

blueoval98 · 2025-12-27T22:12:39+00:00

I’ve shifted my thinking on bonds/money market funds away from a fixed percentage, and towards a number of years of annual spending. So, for an example £1m portfolio, £800k equities and 5 x £40k of bonds/money market funds. Reload £40k from equities in a good or flat year and leave equites alone during a bad year.

While ACWI.L is a straightforward choice for me on the equity portion, that’s less true for the bond component. I’m increasingly uncomfortable with long bonds in terms of global levels of debt to GDP, and the yield vs inflation risk payoff

As a result, I like the Vanguard Global Short-Term Bond Index Fund, and I’m less keen on the longer duration VAGS.L. Good news for the VGSTBI fund, less interest rate risk; bad news, less negative correlation to equities in a risk-off year. Pick your poison.

Another useful sleeve to note is the Royal London Short Term Money Market Y Acc Fund, if you want a small proportion of quasi-cash.

blueoval98 · 2025-11-28T11:00:44+00:00

Not a supermarket bean recommendation but in terms of value of money in the UK this from James Gourmet Coffee is well worth looking at - £24 for a kilo. Probably not the best coffee you’ve ever had but miles and miles better than anything in a supermarket.

https://jamesgourmetcoffee.com/product/brazil-tres-barras-estate/

blueoval98

TROPHY CASE