ISAnoob wrote:Gosiegen wrote:
What to do?
1. As others say, keep doing what you're dong.
2. You're one of the 2% if not one of the 1%. Every day thank the gods or whoever put you in that position for your good fortune and don't forget the average man who was born to different circumstances.
3. Pay down the whole mortgage if possible. Being shot of the bank is a great feeling and it gives tremendous flexibility for your next property move.
4. "my holocaust fund": are you planning to fund a holocaust -- or just go and experience one?? Maybe buy a book about the actual holocaust, read it and help other people your age understand what happened. The last person in our family who had to flee the holocaust has few years left -- if he doesn't succumb to coronavirus in New York.
5. "14 plate Focus"? Luxury! I drive a 05-plate Skoda! But when I was your age in your position (after paying off 2 mortgages) I splashed out on a new Audi convertible and don't regret it at all. As others have said use your cash wisely to do things that bring you and others around you joy.
6. Regarding pension vs ISA etc. I've always done this: maximise my employer's contributions to my pension, matching if necessary; but for own savings I focused first on debt reduction (pay off mortgage), second ISAs and only then pensions. The problem with pensions is you can't touch them till you retire. So you tie up your funds and you become a hostage to law changes. The point of saving and investing is to attain freedom of action, not to be rich but bound. You can still use the 40% relief later when you are closer to retirement age.
Good luck.
GS
[Retired since age 37...]
Hey, thanks for your comments. I would be interested to hear more about your background and how you managed to retire so young? property?
Taking your points in turn:
1. I will, thank you.
2. I do consider myself lucky. I have been lucky all the way along - just got the grades to go to Uni and then managed to get on a Graduate programme with a massive international company (I was by far the least educated and qualified of the 20 of us that started that year out of 1500 applicants) and then managed to end up in a well paying role that comes with a massive standby retainer, almost unlimited paid overtime and a car allowance. I could easily have ended up in a completely different situation as I was applying for jobs straight from school in case I did not get into Uni.
3. I only took a 19 year mortgage (1.99% fixed rate for 5 years) and do intend to pay this down sooner.
4. Apologies for my poor choice of words - what I meant was a disaster fund i.e. lose my job
5. haha how did you end up from the Audi to an old Skoda?
6. I will keep this in mind.
Thank you.
2. I bet you got lucky before that too. e.g. I bet you weren't born in a remote Indonesian village with a dark skin, one parent dead and the other supporting several kids with an income of £200 per month. Believe it or not that is the start in life life for the average human, not the poorest! (Okay plenty people have two parents but ...)
An income of £60k per year at age 29 puts you right up there. My peak wage was £45k plus pension, company car etc.
3. Good job. Our second mortgage was 15 years IIRC. Getting a shorter mortgage than the standard 25 years makes a huge difference to ability to save and is a great idea if the terms of the best mortgages penalise lump sum payments.
4. No worries I was somewhat amused and hope people your age realise the enormity of the holocaust. I do family history, researching my kids ancestors and am horrified at the number of lives I track that end in a ghetto somewhere in Poland between 1941 and 1945. Really brings it home.
5. Retired! Sold the Audi to travel the world with kids (which we've done twice, a year at a time). The skoda helps keep the expenses down and they're actually damn good runabouts too, VWs in disguise.
To be fair I retired too soon: bringing up three young kids with savings from 15 years' work at under 50k wages is not easy. I've been lucky with investment though, starting with property in 1994 (perfect time) moving to shares in 2004 (again pretty good), then cash/gilts in 2007, then buying bank bonds in 2009 to 2011.
The biggest factor though in achieving the above is a wonderful wife on the same wavelength (mostly!) and super kids who relish an adventure. Best way to stay married and preserve your wealth is not to get divorced!!
GS