Author: Latestarterfire

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Mid Year 2021 Goals Review and Update

colourful wooden cubes with GOALS

Ah, It’s that time of year again.

July. Winter. Cold. Miserable.

No … July is the NEW January! I heard this recently and I LOVE it.

In the past, July is my ‘recharge the battery’ time and I’d head overseas for a holiday and catch up with family in Europe.

But alas, it has not been possible two years in a row.

However, even though an overseas holiday right now is out of the question, it is still my time to take stock of the previous six months and enter the second half of the year strong.

It’s a kind of … ok, never mind if you haven’t started any of your goals you set in January, let alone achieved them … you have another six months up your sleeve … chop, chop now.

So, how was my fist six months of the year?

Let’s dive in.

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Goal 1: Create another income stream

This one threw me out of my comfort zone BIG time.

In all my life, I’ve relied on my full time job to survive. And I’ve done all right with it – bought and fully paid off a house, saved a little in retirement account, gone on numerous overseas holidays etc.

But I can see how the pandemic has affected my workplace and how hard we try to keep afloat. It becomes increasingly important to me to develop some additional income streams.

Just in case.

I can always look for extra weekend shifts elsewhere but doing what I do professionally doesn’t bring me joy anymore.

So the goal was to earn some income from the blog where I was spending the majority of my free time anyway. I’m not looking for profit right now but just enough to break even with my expenses will be very exciting.

Gosh, the steep learning curve combined with impostor syndrome, procrastination and perfectionism nearly did me in!

There was so much to wrap my head around – the technical issues with various platforms, design and marketing, just to name a few. I didn’t know how to do any of this six months ago.

I’m not a technical person by any stretch of the imagination so I really struggled with all of that.

BUT you know what, I felt so accomplished when the emails went out as scheduled after I changed email provider; when I received my first payments for the Late Starter to Fire Action Plan – the payment system that I finished setting up at 4am actually worked! Woohoo!

Whenever I bemoan the fact that I am too old to learn all these new systems, my blogging buddy reminds me that my whole online persona is about starting late … and she is right. And I get on with it.

As a result, I have learned so, so much and gained new skills I never dreamed I would need but best of all, I’ve learned a lot about myself.

I’ve never tracked my blog expenses in the past. But since I decided to try and earn an income, I started tracking for the first time. So far, in the last six months, my expenses are more than double my revenue so definitely a long road ahead yet 🙂

Besides the blog, I’m answering surveys with Octopus Group and have managed to earn a few hundred dollars this way.

 

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Goal 2: Invest $30k in shares portfolio outside superannuation

I reduced my salary sacrificing into superannuation (super), my retirement account in January. I’d calculated that I would probably reach Coast FI soon and therefore even if I stopped contributing extra into super, the amount currently in super would grow to the figure I need when I can finally access it at 60 years old.

I reached Coast FI in mid April, yay!

So the extra funds are now diverted to my shares portfolio outside of super. This is my ‘bridge the gap’ fund – to support me between 55 and 60.

After some fits and starts, I finally settled into a system to invest $3000 every 5 weeks.

I chose to set up auto invest function with Pearler (affiliate link), a new broker dedicated to long term investment and achieving financial independence. Their ethos totally fit in with my investment strategy. The problem is that I found their platform a bit glitchy.

I was used to investing with CommSec which was fast and seamless – once you link an account with your brokerage account, it’s really easy. But it was also $10 more expensive per trade compared to Pearler.

And I love Pearler’s autoinvest feature despite its initial glitchiness.

So I persisted with Pearler. And to give them their credit, they have listened and are trialling a new faster way to accept deposits and buy shares. So, all good.

I’m tracking well here – so far in the first six months, I’ve invested $15900.

Goal 3: Lose 10kg

As I wrote earlier, menopause and pandemic eating is not a good combination!

Even before the pandemic, I’d wanted to lose some weight – the kilograms just creep up and up.

But I never had a plan besides to eat less and exercise more.

In February, I read Michael Moseley’s books The 5:2 Diet and The Fast 800 Diet. In the past, I thought these diets were fads and didn’t try them.

I started with the 5:2 diet after reading this book first and then swapped to intermittent fasting after reading the second book. It was a game changer!

I now try to eat between 12pm and 8pm but will have a cup of coffee at around 8am. I just cannot function without my cuppa in the morning!

So far, I’ve lost 6kg. I’m struggling to lose the next 1kg since the end of May but I am persisting. Ever since April, when chocolates reentered my life after Easter, I’ve been losing the battle with chocolates.

My friend and I are still trying to walk after work. But are easily derailed when either of us has a valid excuse not to walk eg I have to stay back late at work or she has to leave work early to take her mother to a dental appointment.

But the important thing here is we are still persisting.

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Goal 4: Be semi self sufficient in vegetables

I had increased my capacity by another 3 wicking bed boxes in December 2020. Because they are situated in a shadier part of the garden, I’m struggling to find the appropriate vegetables to plant.

So far, bok choy, cos lettuce, chillies and eggplants have survived quite well.

The boxes at the front of the house would be more productive except for the snails and slugs. I wasn’t as vigilant and they decimated my brussel sprouts. I hope the Chinese broccoli fare better as I’ve scattered broken egg shells around them in an attempt to repel the snails. The snow peas are doing well, as are the garlic.

The summer was productive in basil, beans, tomatoes, cucumbers and capsicums. As an experiment, I dug up a few capsicums and eggplants and plonk them in pots in the greenhouse. Not sure if they’ll survive the winter. My plan is to take them out in late Autumn.

The wonderful thing about growing your own vegetables is that it is all a big experiment. And when something works, you have to remember how to replicate it. Conversely, if something doesn’t work out, it can be maddening trying to work out why.

I will continue to experiment.

 

Decade goals

At the start of 2020, I narrowed down to 3 goals to achieve in this decade. They are, in no particular order – visiting Antarctica, running a marathon and retiring at 55.

I thought the Antarctica goal would be knocked off at the end of this year. But after putting down a deposit with a tour company with Frogdancer Jones, I pulled out. The situation with Covid 19 was just too uncertain for me. It was stressful planning for all the uncertainty.

Will borders (Australia and Argentina and any other countries we may visit) open in time for us to get there before the cruise sails from Ushuaia? Will we have to quarantine in South America? How about when we return?

I wasn’t keen on quarantining anywhere as it would take precious time away from seeing a new city and country. And I definitely wasn’t keen on hotel quarantine back in Australia – neither the cost of it – approx $3000 for 2 weeks nor the fact that I live alone and can therefore quarantine at home quite comfortably.

For a period of 2 weeks or so, when I was considering the possibility and doing preliminary research – you know the bit where you are researching all the things to do and eat in a place to determine how long you should stay – it was so exciting. I clearly miss the thrill of planning a holiday. Never mind, Easter Island … we’ll get there some day.

Running a marathon – no progress here at all. But I figure the less weight I carry, the easier it would be to run so maybe I’m making progress in a different way 🙂

Retiring at 55 – this seems possible but scarier as the time nears. I do really want to retire fully at 55 but am open to working a shift or two in the evenings with good penalty rates.

Hitting the Coast FI milestone did make me wonder if I could afford to work 4 days a week. The choice is to continue working full time for five more years (if my job survives that long) and definitely retire at 55 OR work 4 days a week and take longer to retire. For the moment, I’ve decided to just look at one year at a time.

Other news

It’s been an expensive six months, the culprits being medical expenses and home maintenance. I have already spent two thirds of what I spent in 2020.

I am very thankful for Australia’s Medicare system and that I can afford additional private health insurance to assist with costs not covered by Medicare.

It was interesting navigating the healthcare system from a patient’s perspective. I’d always been relatively healthy and never needed anything more than a GP consultation and blood tests.

During a 3 month period this year, I had numberous GP visits, specialist consultations, an ultrasound, culminating in a day surgical procedure at a private hospital.

Between Medicare and my private health fund, I was out of pocket by just over $1000 ($750 excess and out of pocket fee from my anesthetist) for the day procedure.

BUT luckily, around the same time, I also received my tax refund (from last financial year) to nearly the same amount, so I was covered.

And yes, I know I should do my taxes the second the end of the financial year (June 30) rolls around, but I’m always late and until my accountant tells me I will be charged a late fee …. (sorry, that Obliger in me again … only responding to external deadlines!)

Oh, and all the tests came back negative, thankfully! That peace of mind is priceless 🙂

My smooth and shiny floor

Home maintenance

One day in early December, I’d left the house with the dishwasher running. When I returned 8 hours later, water was gushing out of a broken pipe under my sink.
 
Sometime in January, my dishwasher (which I suspect was the original culprit that somehow caused the pipe to burst?) finally died. Then the washing machine died the following month.
 
These were anticipated as they were both very old. The dishwasher came with the house and I bought my washing machine when I first moved in 18, 19 years ago. I did start a home maintenance sinking fund but it wasn’t quite enough and I had to raid the emergency fund.
 
In the meantime, I lodged a claim with my home and contents insurance. Things moved at a glacial pace. Because of our long lockdown in July last year, a lot of building or renovation work was delayed and builders are still catching up. So it took ages for a builder to assess the floor. When he finally came, he pointed out the damage to the timber floor and skirting boards. And the claim was accepted by my insurance company.
 
Then Melbourne went into lockdown in mid February which delayed the floorer coming out to assess the floor. He disagreed with the builder on one aspect. I had an open plan set up and while the water washed over two thirds of the floor, his opinion was we couldn’t fix two thirds of it and try to match the existing varnish. We have to do the whole floor.
 
So it went back to the insurance company and deafening silence ensued. One day, many months later in May, I received a call from the insurance company. They are happy to pay out a revised claim but only for doing two thirds of the floor and it was up to me to find someone to do the whole floor.
 
So I did. After another lockdown. And another delay when the floorer’s staff had to self isolate.
 
The insurance pay out included two weeks of alternative accommodation as the smell of the varnish was too strong for anyone to remain in the house. I saved this and moved back in with my parents for a few days. The money saved replenished my emergency fund.
 
Sometime in the middle of the floor saga, I had insulation installed in my ceiling. This was something I wanted to do last year after a home audit found there was negligible insulation in the ceiling – an R1 rating whereas the standard these days is an R5 rating.
 
This should help to reduce the cost of heating and cooling my house. I am particularly keen to reduce my gas bills. Cooling the house isn’t so bad with my solar panels. My electricity bill is very low compared to the cost before the panels were installed.

Final thoughts

It’s been an intense and expensive first six months of the year for me.

It’s kept me on my toes, with so many new experiences – navigating the healthcare system, argy bargy with the insurance company, organising the floor project, trying to earn an income from the blog ….

In terms of achieving my 2021 goals, I am on track and progressing.

Phew! May the second half of 2021 be just as exciting and filled with more new experiences. Bring it on!

 

How was your first half of 2021?

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Late Starter to FI Series #31 – Taking a Sabbatical with Cutting Through Chaos

Welcome to the Late Starter to FI series!

I am a Late Starter – I discovered the FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early) movement when I was 47. This was way later, I thought than others who seem to have it all together in their 20s and 30s.

Since I started to write about my own journey, I have discovered there are many more Late Starters like me, yay! It’s such a relief knowing I’m not alone. 

I want to share our stories, our unique perspectives and show that it is absolutely not too late for us.

So in this series, I particularly highlight those of us who start our FI journeys in our 40s, 50s and 60s. And explore questions such as ‘where do we start’, ‘can we still retire early(ish)’, ‘what are the specific challenges for us late starters’. We look at our past, not to castigate ourselves but so that you can learn from us.

Please join in the conversation in the comments below. I encourage you to share your story if you fit the profile of a late starter. You absolutely don’t have to be a blogger or podcaster to share your story. 

Please email me at info@latestarterfire.com or connect with me on Twitter or Facebook.

If you’ve missed any of the previous stories, you can catch up here – Late Starter to FI series

And if you can’t wait to start on your own FIRE journey, check out my step by step ultimate starter guide, Late Starter to FIRE Action Plan.

Our latest Late Starter is Mr Chaos from Cutting Through Chaos where he and Mrs Chaos blog about finance and family life – very witty and funny writing 🙂

I’d first come across the Chaos (what’s the plural?!) in this article that Mrs Chaos wrote – about her reluctance to attend Chautauqua, a famous FI conference.

And it was only recently when I read Mr Chaos’ article on why he didn’t discover FI earlier in life that I realised they were fellow late starters.

I’m very glad that Mr Chaos agreed to share their story, for it brings yet another perspective on the Late Starter to FI narrative.

You can also connect with the Chaos on Twitter – @CuttingChaos

So, over to Mr Chaos …

A little about us

My wife and I are in our 40s, have four kids (ages 5 to 9) and live in Spain. Our story is like many others up until I turned 40. We were living in Scotland and I worked a regular corporate job in finance. But we were restless and wanted to feel like we were contributing to society.

Then came the opportunity to work for a small healthcare NGO in Zambia. What felt like an opportunity for us looked like a midlife crisis to our friends. But we went and had five amazing years in Zambia.

As our time in Zambia came to an end, we were not ready to return to Scotland. We also wanted to find a way to have more time as a family. Some friends suggested taking a sabbatical in a new country … which is how we ended up in Spain.

Lightbulb moment

 

My light bulb was flashing for years before I noticed it at age 43 when a friend introduced me to the ChooseFI podcast.

 

 

I’d asked him for podcast recommendations for side hustles in response to some upcoming financial commitments, like college education for our kids, helping out parents financially if required, and setting enough aside for retirement.

 

 

 

My wife and I have always been frugal and avoided debt (other than a mortgage). We had a period when we had no kids and a double income and made it a point to live on one of our incomes. But embarrassingly for a finance professional, I was an incompetent investor.

 

 

 

Our biggest ‘investment’ was our house in Scotland, which we were renting out after moving to Zambia. It returned about 4% per annum. And that includes both rent and appreciation. I’d dabbled with individual stocks and peer to peer lending with mixed success.

 

 

 

For us, the discovery of FI was like finding a framework for our finances and our frugality. We could calculate how much was ‘enough’, and we could see money as a tool to help us achieve our goals.

 

 

 

It has given us the insight to look at our finances in a different way and realize we have a lot of flexibility.

 

 

We’ve made the decision to focus on what really matters to us. That is spending more time with our kids whilst they are young and helping them become positive contributors to society. We think society will thank us.

 

 

And if that delays our retirement, we are okay with that.

First steps on the path to FI

 

The first step after my light bulb moment was to tell Mrs C about this movement. I tend to dive headfirst into topics I find interesting, and she assumed this was just another one of those. She had no interest in reading about personal finance, and still doesn’t, but she could see that I was passionate about this.

I eventually persuaded her to go with me to a FI conference later in the year. That involved promises about keeping the finance geeks at the conference away from her, lots of Greek food, and guaranteed daily time by the hotel pool. But it really helped give Mrs C more confidence in our financial position and helped align us on dealing with our finances.
 
It was a conversation at this conference that led us to take a sabbatical in Spain when we left Zambia.
 

Alongside speaking with Mrs C, I shifted the investments in our retirement accounts to broad based global index funds and started to make plans to sell the house we owned in Scotland.

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How far along the path to FI are we now?

 

The most difficult question for me to answer is how far along the journey we are. Not because I don’t know how to multiply by 25, but because we don’t know where we’ll end up living. And we have seen firsthand how much living expenses can vary from country to country.

Having said that, assuming we don’t end up in a high cost of living location, then we’re probably over 50% of the way there.

Thoughts on early retirement

 

We are not sprinting for the FI finish line as we want to have more time for our kids. FI is not binary, and we’ve given ourselves permission to slow down and take frequent breaks along the way via sabbaticals or working part time.

 

 

 

 

I also don’t think that we’ll ever RE if that means lying on a beach somewhere. We have too many projects we love getting involved in. Our experience working and volunteering in the developing world has also shown us that there are so many ways we can make a genuine impact on the lives of those less fortunate than ourselves.

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How my relationship with money has changed

 

My relationship with money has not changed much with the discovery of FI. Spending less than I earn has always been normal for me, though I am more intentional on my gadget spending these days.

One area where I was falling short was in relation to investing. If I were starting my career again, I’d be shovelling as much as I could into index funds from day one.

The biggest change in my attitude towards money happened during my sabbatical, rather than with the discovery of FI. I really struggled to step away from the rat race and accept that I would not have an income during our sabbatical. That made me feel extremely uncomfortable, and I nearly aborted the sabbatical at the last minute.

The sabbatical has shown me that I value flexibility of time more than the security of an income. That means that post sabbatical I have not looked for traditional employment and have started freelancing instead.

Specific challenges or advantages of starting late

 

To invest enough for retirement, you either need a lot of time and to save a little, or to save a lot over a shorter timeframe. If you start late in life, you no longer have the choice – you must save a lot.

But if 20-year-olds can save enough to retire by the time they are in their 30s, that tells us that it’s still possible for someone starting later in life to get there.

The big advantage of starting late is that you are most likely in your peak earning years and earning significantly more than you did earlier in your career.

The challenge is that you often have additional financial commitments in the form of kids or parents that require financial support.

What's next?

 

COVID interrupted our sabbatical year and meant lots of cancelled visits from family and friends. It also meant we had to put our exploration of Spain on hold.

 

So, we made the decision to extend our time in Spain for at least a couple of years. Our family is settled, and our kids enjoy their school. At some point we’d like to do more international travel as a family and world school our kids along the way.

 

In the meantime, I’ve started doing some remote freelance work with the aim of covering our living expenses.

Back to Latestarterfire

Thank you for sharing your family’s story with us, Mr Chaos.

And showing us that having a sabbatical and living a Slow FI lifestyle is possible as a late starter.

“The sabbatical has shown me that I value flexibility of time more than the security of an income.”

I love that you are living a life that is aligned with your values on the way to being financially independent, that you are not waiting until you reach FI to live that life.

What an amazing example you’ve set your children!

Readers, have you considered taking a sabbatical? Is it too late for you?

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