Welcome to the third iteration in my ‘Reel Freedom’ FIRE-related film series. It’s been a while since my previous ones but I'm back with a corker! Previously I explored consumerism in Fight Club and money vs meaning in A Christmas Carol. This time round I'm looking at what is probably the most obvious of FIRE-related films... ' Office Space'. This is a 90s cult classic that strangely I acutally only got round to seeing a few years ago. If you've not seen the movie I've no doubt that will have at least seen a few memes based on the film. This film tackles a number of topics associated with the FIRE movement, most notably: what would you do if you didn’t have to work for money? Peter, the main protagonist, is the relatable everyman, wrestling with that age-old exchange of time for money, especially when the money comes from a job he hates! As before, disclaimer here is that this will probably contain spoilers. All set? Let’s have a look! "It's not...
Person on phone: Of course sir, and what day would you like the direct debit to be set up for?
Me: Errrrrr............not really fussed, maybe the 1st?
Is this a common question you've had asked to you? If you're not living hand to mouth then it shouldn't make much difference what day a payment leaves your bank account right?
Right??
Wrong!
If you're like me and follow the "pay yourself first" approach, then you have set up a regular direct debit into a Stocks and Shares ISA. But what day of the month is the best to plonk your money into the market?
I've grabbed daily data from 4 major stock market indexes since 1984, and analysed the average for each day of the month over that period.
Here are the results:
I've taken this analysis one step further and used these percentage returns to simulate what a £10k payment into the market would look like over 30 days (recycling percentages earlier on in the month).
Me: Errrrrr............not really fussed, maybe the 1st?
Is this a common question you've had asked to you? If you're not living hand to mouth then it shouldn't make much difference what day a payment leaves your bank account right?
Right??
Wrong!
If you're like me and follow the "pay yourself first" approach, then you have set up a regular direct debit into a Stocks and Shares ISA. But what day of the month is the best to plonk your money into the market?
I've grabbed daily data from 4 major stock market indexes since 1984, and analysed the average for each day of the month over that period.
Here are the results:
Assessment:
- It is no surprise that the 1st of the month is the day that has the consistently best returns (0.1958% to be precise)
- The 20th is consistently the worst performing day
- Looking at the chart, the best day to put money into the stock market would be the period of time with the longest run of days with a positive return. Which looks like 25th of each month, with a run of 13 days!
Day breakdown:
| Day | Average of Up/down |
| 01 | 0.20% |
| 02 | 0.11% |
| 03 | 0.03% |
| 04 | 0.03% |
| 05 | 0.06% |
| 06 | 0.02% |
| 07 | -0.04% |
| 08 | 0.03% |
| 09 | -0.08% |
| 10 | -0.04% |
| 11 | 0.02% |
| 12 | 0.02% |
| 13 | 0.06% |
| 14 | -0.01% |
| 15 | -0.01% |
| 16 | 0.14% |
| 17 | 0.02% |
| 18 | 0.09% |
| 19 | -0.07% |
| 20 | -0.11% |
| 21 | 0.01% |
| 22 | -0.04% |
| 23 | -0.04% |
| 24 | -0.02% |
| 25 | 0.03% |
| 26 | 0.07% |
| 27 | 0.00% |
| 28 | 0.07% |
| 29 | 0.10% |
| 30 | 0.02% |
| 31 | 0.10% |
I've taken this analysis one step further and used these percentage returns to simulate what a £10k payment into the market would look like over 30 days (recycling percentages earlier on in the month).
30 day simulation:
- Inadvertently this looks spirograph-tastic!
- Also surprisingly, it also suggests that the 21st of each month is the winner!
- The reason behind this is that it starts at the lowest point of the month, and then goes on compounding day after day. Yes, it suffers losses but these come after the money has compounded up already.
Year long simulation:
My brain hurts now, I might do this later after a lie down!
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