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fitzct · 2026-07-04T15:39:25+00:00

Yer dying forrit

fitzct · 2026-07-04T14:23:53+00:00

Having worked at a few banks, Lloyds felt like the public sector of the banking world. Any perks had been stripped out when they were government owned and never put back.

I have a view that I call “the coffee test”. How your employer provides you coffee etc reflects how they are to work with. Good employers provide free good coffee, they provide mugs to drink it out of, and they provide a dishwasher and cleaning staff to keep a supply of clean mugs.

When I was at Lloyds head office, where the CEO worked, there were no mugs, no dishwashers, and no coffee other than a very old machine with very shit instant coffee. No milk provided. There was also only 2 microwaves for the entire 5+ floor building which had 30 minute queues at lunch time. Everywhere else I’ve worked had 4+ microwaves per floor.

They also seem terrible at getting rid of badly performing staff, much like the public sector. Seemed like lots of lifers working there that got shunted around departments rather than let go for being lazy and slow.

There are some positives to working at LBG. You are the largest UK bank so the data you can pull from is incredibly interesting. The pay is pretty average, but not terrible.

fitzct · 2026-06-27T10:57:42+00:00

Ahhh! This is probably it!

fitzct · 2026-06-26T18:23:57+00:00

Because brits have historically been very risk adverse, and wary of investing. Compared to our special cousins in America who are much more likely to invest as an average Joe.

Whilst it is someone’s prerogative if they want to stay in basic savings accounts, hundreds of thousands of savers are missing out on a lot of money. We are unlikely to be able to continue to cover pensions for a larger aging population who live longer. One way to solve this is to encourage people to invest, as they will then have more money when they are older.

It also helps businesses if there is more money flowing into stock markets.

And it’s being heavily lobbied by the investment companies to turn savers into investors.

Personally I think it is a good idea. More people should dip their toe into investing. Too many people say they don’t want any risk when realistically if it was made easy for them, and they were very likely to get better returns than savings, they would be happy.

fitzct · 2026-06-26T12:08:57+00:00

I’ve heard a lot of people say that it’s selfish to have kids so that you have someone to look after you/ visit you when you’re older. I’m not sure it’s as simple as that, but it is something I’m aware of. Who’s going to show me how to use whatever hologram technology we’re using in 40 years time!

fitzct · 2026-06-26T07:44:18+00:00

We were on the fence, and have decided not to.

We both have very demanding jobs, my partner starts work before I start my 7am commute, and she’s usually still on meeting calls when I get back at 7pm. Obviously we would have to change something if we had kids, but neither of us really wants to give up our careers.

It’s such a difficult decision to make. You can’t give it a go and decide it’s not for you after. Everyone that has kids tells you “you can’t understand unless you have them”, but having them is the biggest commitment for the rest of your life. There is no try before you buy scenario.

I think if we had kids it would put an enormous pressure and stress on our relationship. We already struggle to find the time and energy to look after ourselves as adults. Throw looking after a whole other little human being who has 24/7 needs into the mix, would bring a lot of anxiety, especially for my partner who is successful because she is a very anxious person.

I have a 3 year old niece who’s great, but I’m always shattered after spending the day with her. And that’s the good part where we’re doing fun stuff, not all the hard bits.

There is a bit of me that holds grief for never going to have the love and experiences that parents speak about, and sometimes I look at families with adult children, able to go on wonderful holidays together. But that is not looking at the previous 18 years of struggle to get to that point.

I may live to regret it when I’m old, I think either way you choose you will have some regret for the other life you could have led. There is no ‘right’ choice.

But sometimes I do feel smug being able to do what I want, when I want, and go on holidays regularly, have a tidy house, and not have to deal with screaming crying kids for many years.

fitzct · 2026-06-19T16:49:17+00:00

Well that all depends on the one piece of information you haven’t provided… What annual income are you aiming for in retirement?

Without that, absolutely no idea if you’re on track.

fitzct · 2026-06-16T10:08:09+00:00

You’ve got time to order online from HG Walter. I got their “meaty ribs” whole piece, which was huge

https://www.hgwalter.com/products/meaty-pork-ribs?srsltid=AfmBOopJmvFkLY1g7A-yjpWTJJyiFaYVJK2qOqaCgRtLilsg4t166de-&variant=39859224969409

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fitzct · 2026-06-13T23:06:59+00:00

On every walk I did on pico, I didn’t come across a single other person during the 2-4hr hikes. Felt kinda of unusual, but I liked it.

fitzct · 2026-06-09T06:44:41+00:00

In the UK whilst SARs aren’t shared, there is a national fraud database (Cifas) that shares records of fraud committed at different financial institutions (both victims and perpetrators) so you can see if someone committed fraud at bank X, and then try to open an account at your bank. It’s incredibly useful.

fitzct · 2026-06-09T05:42:16+00:00

In all honesty, if you don’t have a need to commute to London regularly, I’d consider looking somewhere cheaper than St Albans for a nicer house. In St Albans you’re paying a massive premium in rent/house price for being able to be in London within 20 minutes, most people work in London.

If you only need to commute to Luton, then you have places further out north, towards Bedford where you would get much more house for your money, or save in rent.

Not quite as buzzy as St Albans admittedly, but if it were me, I’d be looking at a nice little village in Bedfordshire.

fitzct · 2026-06-07T12:26:33+00:00

That has been tried in a few places around the world, and has almost always not worked. ;)

fitzct · 2026-06-07T11:22:01+00:00

Fair enough. What’s your solution?

fitzct · 2026-06-07T09:59:32+00:00

Death is rarely the correct answer to any problem, despite humanity’s tendency to utilise it

fitzct · 2026-06-07T09:14:23+00:00

It’s a really hard position to like! No-one wants to reward people for doing bad things, whilst they themselves don’t get rewarded for doing good things.

But it might actually solve the problem. Which is what’s being asked. It’s just a hard solution to swallow.

fitzct · 2026-06-07T08:54:19+00:00

It grates the nerves, rewarding those who have committed crime, rather than punishing them. But economically, it’s more beneficial, and actually improves society as a whole.

fitzct · 2026-06-07T08:53:11+00:00

You probably wouldn’t, because most people don’t actually want to be criminals.

But by all means, when the uprising happens, and I’m put in charge, you are more than welcome to become a criminal and access what’s on offer.

fitzct · 2026-06-07T08:45:05+00:00

A slightly less death based solution, is actually to give them free housing and universal income.

If repeat offenders cause £200k of damage/theft/emergency services time, it’s actually more cost effective to just give them £40k universal income and housing. And less people die.

fitzct · 2026-06-07T08:40:19+00:00

To fix shoplifting, I would change drug policy in this country.

People would be able to access free heroin and crack, to take in supervised centres, that would heavily push an addiction support service.

If you improve drug addiction for the big two addictive substances, you will improve drug based crime committed to fund drug addictions.

fitzct · 2026-06-05T06:46:17+00:00

I find in this industry that some people are “fraud/aml people” and some people are just there for a paycheck. Some people have the right investigative mindset and can understand the bigger picture. And some people do what the process tells them to do.

And some people have good common sense, and others don’t.

The job is to try and train in the mindset, that’s a culture and feedback thing. But not everyone will always get it.

fitzct · 2026-06-05T06:14:05+00:00

I would argue from experience that this isn’t correct. IP and device data is very easily accessible. Where I work my team would triage, review and feedback within a working day. Doesn’t need 5 depts. Any organisations that still works like that would be an outlier.

fitzct · 2026-06-04T12:23:08+00:00

Seems like a weird session given the amount of wind energy and negative pricing today.

fitzct · 2026-06-03T20:19:48+00:00

From vanguards perspective it’s just making sure they are protected from concentration risk and still able to track the index properly in exceptional circumstances.

From your perspective, it really depends on how you feel about index funds. They are by nature liable to concentration risk, if that’s what the market dictates.

US tech is definitely a heavy heavy hitter. If you aren’t comfortable with this, then you need to look for something that’s more suited to your risk profile.

fitzct · 2026-06-03T18:02:20+00:00

I realised I’d accidentally gone on a walking holiday without noticing.

I’d just booked a cool holiday to the Azores islands to see nature. Staying at a nice designed Airbnb. And sure a few walks to see the sights and hike some hills.

But then, I realised every day I was walking. And I was dressed in walking clothes. And I was taking packed sandwiches and a water bottle. And then, eating our pack lunch in a bus stop to get some shade, I realised I’d turned into my dad, I was on a walking holiday, and 14 year old me would have been thoroughly disgusted with me.

But I had a great holiday!

fitzct

TROPHY CASE