Cunning Plan

To me, you need to be into crypto, but don’t remortgage the house or load up the credit card to do so!

10% of your total wealth should be invested here. Most of this needs to be in Bitcoin, say 90%, anything else is speculation or day-to-day spending. If you don’t own a minimum of 2 BTC yet, you need to get going! (There’s only 21 million for everyone!!) I know, only 10%, but crypto prices are all over the place, it’s just too risky IMHO in such a volatile space. Your 10% is liable to fluctuate wildly between 5-20% anyways! Also if your local government decides to outlaw crypto xyz ostensibly ’cause it’s a bastion of tax dodgers, drug dealers and terrorists, or some such baloney, you need to be ready. Don’t despair though, proper cryptos could face a world-wide ban, but as soon as a single ISP unblocks it, it springs back into life – and remember your offline wallets and/or private keys can be used anywhere in the world…and beyond!!

Bitcoin is a great storer of wealth, digital gold if you will, but not for every day. Your remaining 10% should be a mixture of speculation (Ethereum, Cardano, Monero or Zcash) and/or something for the future (we like Electroneum). You’ll need a good online exchange to easily move funds around, but limit your exposure to 5% – Your other 95% needs to be in offline wallets and/or secure wallets with private keys backed up very securely! Limit mobile phone wallets to a couple of week’s spending money. (Edit: In early 2021 the day-to-day crypto of choice still hasn’t emerged, so ‘sadly’ it has to be your local fiat). Mine only for fun and to support your chosen crypto(s). Risk: High/Very High

Keep 10% of your wealth in precious metals, mainly gold and silver,  a mixture of physical (coins/ingots), paper (proper – backed with physical, not CFDs!), and mining shares/ Specialist unit trusts. These are history’s storers of physical wealth, now sadly being manipulated by the big boys and their derivative products, but they’ve outlasted any fiat by thousands of years! Risk: Medium High

Keep 10% as cash, savings, ISAs, premium bonds, peer to peer lending, but spread it around. Boring fiat, but it makes today’s world go round, and your government loves it. The government protects your first £80,000 with each FCA registered institute (check!). Risk: Low

20-30% in shares and unit trusts, maximising ISAs and SIPP pensions as much as possible. The value of real assets. Make sure you have a truly diverse and globalised portfolio, to properly hedge your bets, but avoid sectors mentioned here like ore miners and property (and anything crypto, including the vastly over-hyped blockchain!). Invest in real assets, not derivatives. Risk: Medium

40-50% in property. Invest in one, live in it, tax-free! (Save the off-grid Motor Home for after!) Risk: Medium

Get yourself a Monzo or Revolut card and/or check-out Starling Bank if you travel or trade abroad and say goodbye to bank Forex scams. Fintech solutions for the smartphone generation.

What do you think? Comment here: Cunning Plan blog entry