The power of alchemy

Episode notes In his first episode of 2026 Allan reviews a book on magic (of the economic and business kind), then moves on to look at why we don't invest, what the Government is doing to try and encourage us to do so, and what else we can do to ensure that our finances are in order for the coming year. Allan's thought for the week In the first podcast following his most recent portfolio review Allan reflects on his performance. Book of the week This week's book recommendation is 'Alchemy', by Rory Sutherland. Our modern world is built on scientific theories, big data, and rationality and it is easy to forget the importance that a touch of magic still plays. Read this book and be reminded. Article of the week This week's article looks at why we brits are such hesitant investors. It comes from the Financial Times's Lex column and is: What will it take to get nervous British savers to ride the equities bull? Podcast of the week This week's podcast recommendation is a reminder to make sure your finances are in order. It comes from the Merryn Talks Money podcast, and is titled 'Your 2026 Money Reset: Practical Steps to Be Better Off by Year-End'. You can find it on Apple Podcasts here or search for it on your podcast player of choice. Support the show If you want to support the podcast you can: Leave a review on Apple Podcasts or your platform of choice Buy me a coffee Help us both by trying out one of my discount codes: Host your podcast with PineCast using my referral code r-b2ac67 Keep in touch Email the show Visit the website over at smallinvestortoolbox.com Follow the show on Mastodon or Bluesky Music and sound effects Bossa Antigua Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Sound effects from https://quicksounds.com This podcast is powered by Pinecast.