I’ve done it!
We’ve finally reached my FI target number this month with a nice £12.5k net worth increase.
So how does it feel, and what actually changes now?
To go from not knowing anything about FIRE just over 3 years ago to actually getting to 100% FI feels great actually at the moment, and I haven’t really felt any sense of anti-climax, just an urge to keep moving forward in the same direction.
There’s definitely less money saving pressure now, and Me and Mrs FU have already been out for a couple of meals to celebrate, albeit sat outside with our coats on!
I think reaching our target will loosen our spending reins and we will be less frugal than over the past three years.
Of course, there could be a drop in the markets that takes us back under 100% FI, but as I’m not retiring just yet I’m confident that we would have time to recover.
I can’t believe we are in May already, but time goes so fast in the FU house, it’s a blur.
As mentioned last month, Fu#3 leaves school in three weeks. The school have decided to carry out their own final GCSE tests, probably to justify the grades given out, as official GCSE exams were cancelled due to covid.
He has decided to leave school and work with me in my business. He will start as an Apprentice Joiner and I will then look to enrol him on to a part-time property degree after that. I will teach him all about managing BTL properties and the business admin side of things as well, giving him an all-round knowledge for when he starts his own property empire!
So no retiring for me just yet, but by training up FU#3 he can take over the reins gradually over the next 3-5 years.
The Numbers
FI Target – £1.25m to give £50k/year income @ 4% withdrawal rate.
Current FI value – £704k networth+ £466k (2xState pen £18.6k x 25) + £88k (DB pen £3.5k x 25)) = £1.259m
% to Target FI – 100.7% (99.7% last month)
Time to FI = Achieved! (last month- 1 month, April 21)
MONTHLY UPDATE AND GOALS
Last months figures in brackets
Net Worth Apr ’21 – £704,153 (Mar ’21 £691,652) +1.8% +£12,501
Assets – £922,386 (£910,366) +1.3% +£12,020
Cash/bank £6173 (£6322)
Main Home Q1 £453,809 (Q1 £453,809) +0.0% +£0
Rental Properties Q1 £187,196 (Q1 £187,196) +0.0% +£0
Pension SIPP £275,208 (£263,039) +4.6% +£12,169
Liabilities – £218,233 (£218,714) -0.2% -£481
Main Home Mortgage £83,250 (£83,600)
Loans, Debts and credit cards £134,983 (£135,114)
Overall Net Worth in April increased by £12.5k.
Assets increased by £12k due to an increase in my SIPP value.
Liabilities decreased by £0.5k this month.
Rolling year on year change in net worth from April ’20 is +£169,714 (assets +£150,655, liabilities -£19,059)
Since we began tracking our net worth in June ’18, our net worth has increased by £289k, at an average of £8.5k per month.
Property
My house price YOY change +8.18%. (Q1 2020 – Q1 2021 NW England)
The Equity in my main home is £370,559.
Main home and rental property values are calculated using the Nationwide House price index.
Nationwide’s April ’21 update reports annual house price growth went from 5.7% to 7.1% this month. The near term outlook is buoyant, but uncertain further out.
The UK annual % change in house prices to March is +7.1%, with a UK average house price of £238k.
Dividends
SIPP Dividends paid in April were £584.
Dividends April 21 YTD total £1680, Av. £420/m (Apr 20 ytd £1391, Apr 19 ytd £414)
(Yearly totals – 2016 £425, 2017 £911, 2018 £1306, 2019 £2319, 2020 £5942)
Other Monthly/weekly goals
Matched Betting +£49 this month (+£213 last month)
£42 profit this month. We are still mainly doing casino offers and a bit of normal match betting.
Total to date since starting 42m ago £12871 Av. £306/m (£12822 to last month Av. 313/m) means we made £49 this month, broken down as follows.
Casino/slot offers to date £6230(6206) = +£24 this month
Each way sniping to date £625 (£625) = £0 this month
Normal match betting offers £25 profit this month
Diet and Fitness – Lost 2kg to go to 72kg and 17% body fat (74kg, 19% body fat last month). Been stricter on the diet this month by combining 16:8 intermittent fasting with 5:2 fasting, whilst still training 3 times per week. This has made the difference and now the weight is coming off.
My target is to get to 70kg and/or under 15% body fat.
eBay/selling – Sold our awning and various caravan accessories for over £500.
Any comments/questions always welcome
Monthly Net worth since started tracking
#20 April ’20 £534,439 +£32,858
#22 June ’20 £569,037 +£13,570 89%FI
#23 July ’20 £569,001 -£36 89%FI
#24 August ’20 £575,970 +£6,969 89%FI
#25 September ’20 £584,439 +£8,469 90% FI
#26 Oct ’20 £601,476 +£17,037 91% FI
#27 Nov ’20 £623,482 +£22,006 93% FI
#29 Dec ’20 £652,421 (+£28,939) 95% FI
#30 Jan ’21£661,508 (+£9,087) 96% FI
Massive congratulations, Mr Fu! What an achievement!
You couldn’t have timed it better really, ie loosen your spending just as things are opening up after lockdown.
Hopefully you’ll be able to celebrate with a holiday at some point.
Thanks weenie
We’ve already booked a week away in Bournemouth in July. Holidays abroad will probably have to wait until next year!
Pingback: Weekly FIREUK Blog posts on CFD – at May 07, 2021 at 06:34PM – Dave's Finance Ramblings
Hi,
I’ve been following your updates and congrats on reaching your FI figure. I hope you take your time to enjoy it!
One question I have is how do you factor your house equity into your net worth? My limited understanding is that you need to get 4% from your net worth so how do you extract that from your home equity? I have built up a substantial amount of equity but don’t use it in my FI number as I’ve always thought I can’t use it. Any advice much appreciated
Thanks Wannabefree
Some think it’s wrong to include home equity in net worth figures, but for me it’s still an asset at the end of the day and too large to ignore, risking working for much longer than you need to. I also include housing costs in my post FIRE expenses so it would be covered anyway. My plan is to downsize at some point or release the equity in some way to invest into my pension/BTLs. Additionally, my withdrawal modelling does not require me to access the equity left in my home even if I decided not to sell it.
I hope that helps you. Feel free to ask anything further