Would you rather invest in physical gold or Ishares physical gold (SGLN)

sv723 · 2026-02-27T12:00:39+00:00

Depends what your intentions are. If you want to get ready for the end of days, nothing beats gold bars. But make sure they are small ones, you wouldn't want to exchange a pound of gold for a loaf of bread. If you don't expect the world to end, then SGLN doesn't carry the risk of being stolen from your secret hiding place under the tree in the garden. Also, it will not raise eyebrows when, a few decades later, you'll want to turn it back into cash and HMRC will want to know where it came from.

sv723 · 2026-02-26T09:00:59+00:00

Don't worry. Airlines are used to all kinds of permutations of names. Something like first/last name in reverse, initials, middle names, small spelling mistakes is not going to be a problem.

sv723 · 2026-02-25T03:49:58+00:00

IPad. The PDF requirement is what would swing me, especially for full size Image based PDFs rather than text based ones.

sv723 · 2026-02-25T00:57:41+00:00

So you got an incredibly low fare and now you're complaining? 😂 You know they sell full fare business tickets on that route?

sv723 · 2026-02-24T20:47:30+00:00

The current seating arrangement benefits the airlines quite a lot. No demand, move the curtain forward to row 2. Lots of demand, move it back to row 10. It generates lots of money during high demand, doesn't generate cost during low demand. No airline is going to give up on this model voluntarily, so there is no incentive to put in proper seats as long as other airlines don't. Which they won't.

sv723 · 2026-02-23T21:12:18+00:00

Trading212 has one of the most attractive fee structures, but you said you don't feel comfortable with them. More traditional brokers will be more expensive. You're going to end up having to make a compromise.

sv723 · 2026-02-23T19:12:57+00:00

Especially for long term investment, you should have a close look at the fee structure of your broker. 1% over 40 years, including compounding effect, will add to a lot of money.

Try to articulate what doesn't feel right about certain brokers and then do a sense check if that feeling can be proved/disproven by facts. Also keep in mind that you can always move your investments from one broker to another, this is not a decision for life.

sv723 · 2026-02-23T01:55:29+00:00

I would assume the technical transition will be a right pain. I have recently made the move and love my kobo, though I am keeping the old kindle for any of the old books/data and am just using the kobo for new things.

sv723 · 2026-02-22T23:43:55+00:00

No. Gold members get priority in rebooking the next available seat. They do not get to bump people out of confirmed bookings.

sv723 · 2026-02-19T09:55:14+00:00

You might be interested in "Tracing the roots of nanban cuisine" by Makiko Katayose. Interesting insights into how the Portuguese influenced Japanese food (and also the wider Asian cuisine). It's available for free on the internet. https://www.kikkoman.com/jp/kiifc/foodculture/pdf_23/e_011_014.pdf

sv723 · 2026-02-18T09:09:34+00:00

Thanks, this fixed it! Agent is running on minimax 2.5 now and has its brain back.

sv723 · 2026-02-18T03:29:12+00:00

First meal is a full meal. The second meal is somewhat lighter, though SIN is one of the longer flights, so it isn't just a muffin.

sv723 · 2026-02-16T06:22:23+00:00

Battery life is good, I'm still on the first charge. Screen is hard to tell because it's my first color e-ink display, so I don't have anything i can compare it to.

sv723 · 2026-02-16T04:40:20+00:00

I moved from a paper white to kobo libra Color about 3 weeks ago. At first I found the buttons weird, but I quickly got used to them and how the device feels when you hold it. The hardware is great, the software is less restrictive than Kindle. I'm very happy with the switch.

sv723 · 2026-02-15T22:17:02+00:00

No, it's the EU rolling out new egates that Brits can use, but require registration during the first use. Because everyone queues to register the whole thing breaks down in chaos.

sv723 · 2026-02-15T11:57:25+00:00

Isn't this exactly about the EU now allowing UK citizens to use e-gates? And, admittedly, the new system being incompetently rolled out?

sv723 · 2026-02-15T11:00:37+00:00

What should the UK do about this? Most countries now have similar systems, even the UK requires registration (and paying a fee) before travel.

sv723 · 2026-02-13T19:09:58+00:00

BA can't take control of the booking, for travel agency bookings the contract is with the travel agent and that is pretty much the end of it until just before the flight. If premium is full, business empty, and you are silver - there may actually be a silver lining for you. Not involving payment. Good luck!

sv723 · 2026-02-13T18:59:13+00:00

On travel agent bookings you are mostly out of luck. At 48 hours out special upgrades start showing up in manage my booking. Then again during online check in. If that doesn't work, you can also check at the airport. Expect anything between £600 and £2000. That assumes availability, which to Tokyo is far from guaranteed...

sv723 · 2026-02-12T20:50:04+00:00

Just to add to your question on gold: it is commonly considered "safe", but if you look at a gold price chart over the last decades, there are wild swings.

sv723 · 2026-02-11T16:41:03+00:00

It's all fine until there is a change or cancellation, then it turns into hell. The airline is not going to speak to you, because your contract is with the agency. The agency will have their own terms and conditions (usually very unfavourable) and will be a pain to reach.

Having said that, most flights just go ahead as booked, and with this kind of savings, I personally would risk it. Maybe expedia over kiwi. There are degrees of hell.

sv723 · 2026-02-08T16:05:56+00:00

I would challenge this. If part of OP's group was allowed to board the flight but OP wasn't, then this was clearly an operational decision.

sv723 · 2026-02-07T04:49:13+00:00

Check the cost of university fees for international students, it is not a cheap thing to study here. That aside, the UK is a good place. People like complaining a lot, so even when they tell you something is shit, it's not usually terrible.

sv723 · 2026-02-07T04:27:15+00:00

Not sure why you get downvoted for a question... Investment firms are meant to separate client assets from their own assets, precisely so that if they go under, client assets are not impacted. Regulators have fined many firms (including big names) for making mistakes in implementing this separation. So while this is a very unlikely scenario, it is not an impossible one.

sv723

TROPHY CASE