Summer 2021 Update – Freedom & Self Isolation, Crypto Punt & More

Hey everyone. Hope you are all doing well as we now start to emerge into so called Freedom in the UK or England at least. It’s certainly a good time now for me to give you an update on what I have been up to the last couple of months 😀 from fun away and isolation 😮, to some crypto FOMO…

Let’s start with a good old summary review of my finances.

Finance Review

Financial Update – End of July

The below figures are taken from 25th July.

  • Monthly investment (May 21 to July 21) – £1500 each month 
  • Savings rate (May 21 – July 21)– 55% average each month
  • Investment portfolio – £220,351.52
  • Cash is king fund – £6500
  • Crypto Punt – £2005
  • Emergency fund – £1151.64
  • Big expenses / holiday fund – £1331.16

Total Liquid Funds = £231,334.32

My finances are still moving nicely in the right direction. I have maintained my £1500 monthly investments whilst still spending a good amount of money on living life well, which is the most important balance I focus trying to maintain – living for both now and the future. 

I still feel that now my portfolio is over £225k and is often above £230k. It feels so close to a quarter of a million that I often now tell myself when focusing on gratitude for what I have, that I have a quarter of a million in liquid investments as it’s so close to that now. It feels great psychologically as I don’t think it would feel that much different now at all even if I were to hit it exactly.

For those eagle eyed out there that have noticed a crypto financial figure in these numbers, I will now discuss this with a tail between my legs so to speak 😅…

Crypto Punt

What can I say? I’m now a billionaire! I didn’t think it would ever happen if I am honest but I now have over a billion….magic coins. Yes that’s right, I hope you are envious of this fact. I finally succumb even myself to FOMO and got involved in crypto.

I really don’t like crypto if I am honest, I have talked about it before on this blog. I certainly don’t believe in it long term, I don’t think it’s better than fiat currency as I think there’s so many negatives around it which I won’t go into now. Needless to say, I am not a fan. I have however been following crypto for a long time on and off and I have to be honest, there’s been lots of shadenfreude when it’s been tanking and then slight annoyance when it’s been rising.

A couple months ago I had the chance to invest in DOGE when it was 0.04cents and I was tempted on a few separate occasions to take a punt but decided against it in the end. I did partially regret missing this afterwards but when this was combined with the massive cryptomarket bull where Bitcoin reached $60k, an epic FOMO storm was created within me when the possible next DOGE was put forward, I won’t name it for now… I didn’t want to miss out on another opportunity, I felt the need to scratch the itch I’ve had with cryptocurrency and having read somewhere where it was suggested sin simple terms – would you be more annoyed having not taken a punt with an amount you can afford to lose versus annoyed with missing the chance of a large gain. I thought yeah why not, take a punt with less than 1% of your portfolio that would then still give you a nice risk reward ratio but would not change your life in anyway were you to lose it all. I would then have a small bit of skin in the game as it were and maybe this was the best compromise for me. I wanted to ride the wave of hype and collective FOMO and be able to get off before it came crashing down, easier done than said yeh?

Well fast forward to now, I got in about 3 days before crypto went on a downward spiral to where it is now. Superb timing no doubt on my part. I am now 43% down but I will not sell because of course I would risk missing out on a future rise which is certainly possible and that would be too annoying plus in a strange way it’s been pretty exciting along the way I have to admit. I did the old thing of checking the balance daily, reading Reddit, watching YouTube videos etc to now having graduated to only having some price alerts set on my phone and checking once a week or so manually. Will I lose it all or will it 10x, 100x? Who knows. All I can say is to people who have done similar to this, see you on the ******* Moon! – A cold desolate wasteland that doesn’t support life and that costs a lot of money to get to.

Liverpool weekend trip

Me and my partner really love going to Liverpool and we now almost make it a legal yearly requirement to at least go twice. We like to go once in the spring/summer and once in November/December for the Christmas winter market. I originally had booked Liverpool when Boris announced when Phase 4 freedoms would come into effect so if there hadn’t been a month delay (which I fully support) we would have been there during minimal to no restrictions and at a time what I thought would be with very low COVID numbers like last summer especially now that we have so many vaccinated, I certainly was wrong on that one!

We really had a great time as to be fair since the restrictions loosened on May 17th in England and you could once again go in doors in pubs/museums and restaurants etc, things felt normal enough minus the lack of being able to dance perhaps. We did lots of walking, shopping around, drinking & eating and saw some live music once again which was lovely.

Self Isolation 

We had a great time in Liverpool but it did come at a cost. After being home for 3 days we both got a message from the NHS app saying to isolate as we had come into contact with someone who went onto get COVID on the Sunday whilst away. This could have been from when we were queuing to get into a few pubs on the Saturday night (technically Sunday early hours) or maybe the train journey on the way back but who knows for sure. Up until this time, we had only had to isolate for one day previously when waiting for a test result of another member of the household but this time around we would need to isolate for 6 full days. 

I went back home to my house to reduce the risk in case I had got COVID but she hadn’t as I didn’t want to affect anyone else. I must say this was very strange at first to be truly under house arrest fully on my own, well I did have my cat but he isn’t the most talkative to be fair. I quickly ordered in some food shopping and a friend dropped a few odd bits around and then it was just me on my lonesome. 

This self isolation was to be put to good use though. I finally had absolutely no excuse to declutter my home once again and this time more thoroughly than I had ever done before. I planned to go through every draw, every wardrobe and all cupboards. I wanted to act as though I was moving home and even made up some cardboard moving boxes where I would put valuables of my own that were sentimental, a box for my late moms sentimental items and also boxes of other things that I would not be leaving in their final home so to speak. Everything else was to be put in my garage ready to be taken to the tip! This was the clean out of all clean outs. 

I am thrilled to report that I fully succeeded in this. It was a very mixed experience as I found many things from my childhood, many things belonging to my mother such as diary’s, pictures I had never seen, things she had kept from her youth and valentines cards my dad had sent to her, cards that I had wrote to her when I was very very young. It was half upsetting, half fascinating but was so rewarding. I felt a huge weight had lifted as I had been needing to do it for such a long time but would always find it hard to start. It was very heart warming to see my mother as being a teenager, a young woman in love and someone now my age. I found the whole thing put me in a deep reflective mood that lasted a good few days. I am so so grateful for the self isolation as strange as that sounds as it finally allowed me to get this done.

Otherwise during this isolation, my work carried on as normal as I could of course do this from home. I had to cook more for myself that I’ve been used to in the last year which was interesting too, I felt like a student again- beans on toast 🤣. I also got to play a little bit more of my PlayStation 5 so it can’t be bad can it…and most importantly, neither of us actually had COVID in the end.

Manchester weekend trip

When I booked the Liverpool trip a couple months previously, I also booked a weekend away in Manchester 2 weeks after Liverpool. Thankfully, our isolation ended before this so we could still go. We had only been once before on a day trip and we wanted to give it a proper visit by staying overnight and for a whole weekend. 

I must say, we really enjoyed it far more than we thought we would. The night life was really good and we went to an Irish bar and saw some quality live music, there was loads to do around Piccadilly gardens and with the tram so close to our hotel, Wetherspoons so close and the train station – it was all so effortless. Apart from just drinking and eating, we went to the Manchester museum and the saw that lovely T-Rex fellow in the picture who was called Stan. We also really liked the amount of shops and especially liked the Arndale centre. My only regret is not arranging to meet up with weenie who I have no doubt wasn’t all that far away ☺️. This time around, we did not get any pings to isolate when we got home thankfully.

Freedom and Dancing

So as I write this it’s almost been a week since freedom day in England. This of course has been fear day in equal measure for many people. My own thoughts on this is that I do get the argument of ‘If not now, then when?’ And that it would be worse if we did this going into the winter but I just think personally that we should have still mandated masks in supermarkets, public transport and public buildings and perhaps still limited very large events to reduced capacities. I think this would of been very important psychologically at the least in making people not forget that we are not through this yet and also to help make many people feel safer and to still reduce some risks to people no doubt without much inconvenience felt.

I could not resist however myself going out on the freedom Friday to Birmingham so that we could finally get to have a dance and some normality if just for a few hours. We stopped over night and danced for almost 3 hours straight in a cocktail bar. It was absolutely brilliant but did feel a bit strange and perhaps invoked some nervousness or Feelings of – is it right to do this? We wore masks on the trains and in other pubs until we got to the table but in the dance club, it wasn’t practical to wear masks whilst dancing so we had a few hours where it felt again like 2019. We won’t be doing it again for a while but it was great and thankfully no pings yet and for now our lateral flow tests are negative still!

Work

There really is no change on the work front. The rules haven’t changed for the NHS which I think is the right thing so we still have to have the 2 metre rule and masks whilst in the office. I still go into work on a rota 2 or 3 times max a week which continues to be a great balance.

I am very conscious now though for our hospital that the next couple of months may be very delicate and difficult for our staff. With the numbers rising and expecting to rise higher and higher we will see more patients hit our hospital which we are already seeing now. I can only hope the gamble pays off and we manage to cope until we reach the peak and then it gets better from then. Here’s to hoping for all our sakes!

Well, I hope you have enjoyed reading my update, let me know your thoughts and what you have been up to, Any dancing or is it just me that’s a bit mad?

TFJ

November Update – £200,000 Milestone Reached! + Post 2235 Musings

Well… the content of my last post was all about life returning to some form of a new normal. How quickly things change. Since writing that last post we have been put into a national lockdown and as I am writing this, the area I live in has been announced as being a Tier 3 area until at least the 16th December when the current lockdown ends. Let’s be honest, I knew this was probably going to happen but still, it’s certainly a big change.  I must say up front though that I think it’s all been necessary. As I work for the NHS I have seen the impact directly with the increasing numbers and how it threatens all normal functions we take for granted from still being operational, it’s not just about COVID deaths in isolation. No one wants the NHS to have a closed sign up on the front door. 

I really hope everyone is keeping safe and is doing as best as they can. Now follows a quick update on a couple of things FI Journey related.

£200,000 Portfolio Milestone Reached!!!!!

I think five exclamation marks should be enough… I have reached a milestone I never thought possible prior to getting into the FIRE lark 6 years ago. It really does feel amazing to have hit that amount and even more amazing at this particular moment given that 6 months ago with the COVID crash, I was close to £150k. I am not sure if I will be dipping back well below £200k with any soon to come decline but whilst it lasts, I can and will enjoy the feeling of being above £200k :D.

I think it feels so good because it helps me feel so much closer to my base £250,000 Project 2235 goal which is now 1 year in with 2 years to go this month. I really can taste that quarter of a million portfolio target and it tastes dam fine the closer I get…You might wonder if I celebrated hitting this target and well yes I did do. I certainly didn’t splurge and buy a new car, book a trip to New York (not that you can right now) or buy a Rolex watch. No, I simply had a lovely Indian meal at home and got completely drunk on Hop House 13 beer with my partner. We even threw in a tub of magnum white chocolate ice cream no less… go us!

Don’t get me wrong though, life goes on and you get a bit used to where you are quite quickly but despite that, it really has left a feeling of being all so close to base FI, closer than I have ever felt before. Let’s see how long that feeling lasts. Onward to £250,000 I now March!

Financial Update – Nov 2020

The below figures are taken from 27th November.

  • Monthly investment (Sep – Nov) – £1500 each month 
  • Savings rate (April – Aug)– 55% each month
  • Investment portfolio – £192,525.21
  • Cash is king fund – £10,000
  • Emergency fund – £1046.41
  • Big expenses / holiday fund – £2971.93

Total Liquid Funds = £206,543.55

Post Project 2235 thoughts

Because of my £200,000 milestone achievement and my reaching the end of year 1 of 3 of Project 2235. I have been reflecting on what comes next after I achieve that base FI of £250,000. I have known for a long time now that there’s no chance I would retire and live on £833 a month (no mortgage) at 35 years old. This is a wonderful position to be in and would likely cover my most essential basic needs perhaps indefinitely however I just couldn’t do it for the following reasons;

  • It’s far too risky for me to rely solely on the 4% rule working out for hopefully 50+ years with no wiggle room to lower expenses if needed
  • Even if the 4% rule held solidly, this simply doesn’t give me enough money to get the most out of life for me personally. I want more money to spend on big purchases, holidays and other such expenses
  • I need extra layers of protection when I will be in the drawdown phase to sleep at night soundly. I want a large buffer so I can take less money when things aren’t going so well. I want a back up plan where state and private pensions will still cover my basic needs in old age at the traditional retirement age. This would give me at minimum a base FI in itself although I will be aiming for higher than this.
  • I just feel strange and a bit weird about stopping working at 35, now that it’s getting closer to being possible. I really don’t think I could do this. 

So what exactly am I thinking? Well if you take a look at the below. This is what would happen depending on what I invest each month. I currently invest £1500 as of now.

Post Operation 2235£250,000 at Dec 2022 (35 going into 36)





Investment per month (5% growth)£0.00£250.00£500.00
40 Years Old (4y)£305,223.84£318,532.78£331,841.73
45 Years Old (9y)£391,711.66£425,864.17£460,016.68
50 Years Old (14y)£502,706.56£563,608.84£624,511.12
Investment per month (5% growth)£750.00£1000.00£1250.00
40 Years Old (4y)£345,150.67£358,459.62£371,768.56
45 Years Old (9y)£494,169.19£528,321.70£562,474.22
50 Years Old (14y)£685,413.41£746,315.69£807,217.97
Investment per month (5% growth)£1500.00£1750.00£2000.00
40 Years Old (4y)£385,077.51£398,386.45£411,695.40
45 Years Old (9y)£596,626.73£630,779.24£664,931.75
50 Years Old (14y)£868,120.25£929,022.53£989,924.81

My provisional thinking right now as I really enjoy my job is that if I were to work until I was 50 and that from during 36 until 50 I would invest say £500 a month on average, I would achieve the following:

  • Secure higher than Base FI in State and NHS Pension which is a safety net and pretty safe in itself, I would get this at traditional retirement age. This would be achieved as I would get enough years of national insurance contributions to qualify for the full state pension and my NHS pension would be decent by that time in itself.
  • I would still be investing £500 a month on average which would hopefully allow me to achieve £600,000+ which would give me £24,000 a year (£2,000 a month ISA Tax Free income) at 50
  • I would have an extra £12,000 a year from no longer investing £1500 a month to spend on doing my house up, going on holidays, enjoying life to the full on my own terms from 36 to 50
  • I would however not just spend the £12k for the sake of it but it would be available and if I ended up spending only 5k or 8k then I would invest the difference no doubt

This is just some of what I have been thinking about and of course I am not holding strong to any of these plans but it’s certainly nice to think a few strategies through. I’d love to know what you all think and also how you have all been getting on lately. How are you coping?

TFJ -TheFIJourney

My 3 Year £250,000 Target – Operation 2235

Intro

Hope everyone’s doing well. I have had a few busy months lately and have been focusing quite heavily on side hustles and then back to some career development by pursuing some new certifications in my field. I will do a general update discussing some of this as my next post during a Christmas review most likely :).

Operation 2235 – Intro

Back to Operation 2235… I had to give it a name like that to make it sound cool. It should be considered pretty cool on its own though I know but still there it is…

So there I was reviewing my finances a week or so ago and entering some costs as it were – I still track to the penny and record it against categories such as Going out, Gifts, Food etc. I updated my current portfolio total which I do once a month and it got me going yet again to an online compound interest calculator – oh boy have I visited that site a lot over the years. I put in 5 years in months and 5% as the interest (not 8% accounting for 5% real growth with inflation taken away) and I noticed that my current total was £161,000 and with my recently new monthly investment of £1500 (increase from £1160) I would be on track to hit £250,000 in 3 years time when counting the money I have in my Cash is King fund. This would coincide with me still being 35 years old at this point. 2022 – 35 years old (Operation 2235 :D)

Many years ago when I first started getting into FI, I dreamed of getting to £250,000 (saying Quarter of a million sounds so much better…) which I considered Base bare bones FI giving me the £833 monthly figure at 4% SWR, this would pay for all my current bills and basic outgoings as fortunately I am mortgage free. I dreamed of getting to this figure before I was 40 but originally it was going to take me until 50.. this has since fell due to a good dose of luck and increasing my monthly investments with a couple of promotions along the way.

The Plan

In order to hit my target of the quarter of a million. I need a nice sail wind that I won’t be able to control such as the 2% real growth for 3 years with no bears showing their face. Who knows if this will happen what with what’s going on politically and with the long bull run we have had. Life itself will have to go as I plan also when it comes to my job, health and such and I only mention these things as I am very aware that I can only control so much and even if the wind turns against me, I will still consider this plan a success if I manage to pull off the below;

  • Invest £54000 over the next 3 years (£1500 a month)

  • Do the above without depriving myself whilst still being able to weather some expected unexpected outgoings

Is it Achievable?

Is this target I have set myself achievable? I would certainly say it is yes. The key thing for me that will determine this is that the £1500 monthly figure itself is realistic given the realities of life and my increasing expenditures lately.

With that in mind when I look at this target I have looked at 3 areas financially that I need to ensure are strong. There are of course many other factors such as ensuring I keep my job, working hard etc but financially my main instruments used in this success are as follows:

Expected Unexpected Outgoings Fund

I have always had a £1000 cash expected unexpected fund that I use to make sure my monthly investment amounts are safer from being meddled with due to any number of issues propping up. I currently fund this in terms of replacing it every year so that should I spend the lot, by the next April I will have a fresh £1000 ready. This is done from normal cash monthly interest, the 2 months of council tax I don’t pay and 2 yearly payments I receive for doing a task for family members. Every year for the last 5 years, something has come up using some or most of this money. Whether it’s a large vets bill or to replace a boiler, fridge etc or fix my car. This has always helped me out so this fund for me is a big first defence of not touching that £1500 monthly investment

Big expenses Fund

The next major pillar to the success of this plan is that when it comes to big expenses such as buying that new iPad, new 4K TV, PS5 or yearly trips to Amsterdam and Liverpool etc. I can pay for these things without it impacting the investing. This fund which has been sourced from side hustles (mostly MB) stands at around £7k and will be there to use for these next 3 years. This is a huge relief for me as it means I can still do the things I want to do without yet again impacting this plan.

Non depriving Discretionary spend 

Now for me, this is probably one of the most critical parts of this plan. One of the most important parts of all this for me is that this is a financial plan and goal which of course impacts so many areas of my life. Despite this however, I don’t want to spend 3 years not doing the things I want to do such as having drinks on a Friday, going out for a meal once a week, buying that game or book when I want them or going out on day trips etc. I am still very very careful with my money and I always look for deals and buying food in bulk as an example but I will not compromise on quality of life when there are things that for me really bring great joy. 

For these reasons, I have set a weekly discretionary spend that for me should be enough. It’s slightly higher than I am used to but not much more. This is in part because I have been spending more money on buying gifts for people and going out in the last few months and I don’t want that to stop.

In Closing

I will provide updates on how I am getting along with this £250,000 challenge from now on every quarter at least. I would love to know your thoughts on this and if you could share any of your financial plans however large or small.

Chris @ TheFIJourney