Dec ’20 – Net Worth and monthly update #29 £652,421 (+£28,939) 95% FI

Well, what a year 2020 was.

We started January ’20 in an optimistic mood looking forward to upcoming family holidays throughout the year, celebrations for a couple of milestone birthdays (including mine) and a family wedding in the summer.

February saw terrible wet weather but we managed to do some activities with the kids in half term, and we also attended the Manchester FIRE meetup, which was really good.

Things quickly went downhill from there, with large stockmarket falls in February and March, culminating in the covid lockdown at the end of March. My portfolio was down about £60k at this point.

The lockdown resulted in major changes in the FU household, with Fu#1 being initially laid off then re-employed on furlough leave, FU#2 being placed on furlough, and Mrs FU quickly having to transition from in-person tuition to completely online tuition.

Our yearly all-inclusive holiday abroad got cancelled, too –  the only consolation was that we had a large garden and the weather was fantastic during this first lockdown, meaning we had a great family time together for a couple of months at home.  We are lucky to live close by to both sets of parents so were able to support them throughout the lockdown, too.

As the first lockdown eased, things started looking up.  FU#1 was made redundant but was lucky to walk into a new (improved) job straight after, and FU#2 went back to work after being furloughed for 3 months. The other kids went back to school. Mrs FU’s online tutoring business was booming and we managed to get out for a few family meals, for once affordable, courtesy of Rishi’s Eat out to help out. The stock market was also recovering quickly.

It didn’t last! In August Mrs FU broke her ankle and was in a cast for 6 weeks. One of our kittens got run over and killed, greatly upsetting everyone in the house. The kids went back to school in September but their schooling was severely disrupted the entire term as they were in and out due to covid outbreaks.  At the end of September Covid swept through the FU house, just in time to wreck FU#2’s planned 18th birthday celebrations. Thankfully we all had relatively mild symptoms and fully recovered within a week or two. The stock market continued to recover as well.

October and November saw various lockdowns and tiers implemented, with dizzying and constantly changing rules, culminating in the chaotic Christmas shutdown in December.  Somehow in the middle of all of this, we were able to welcome a new family member – an adorable fluffy kitten, whose crazy ways have really helped brighten the gloomy winter days.  Our other cat has (quietly) taken to her, though doesn’t like to admit it.

At least we had made it to the end of year intact, both in health, and financial terms!

In the end 2020 turned out a great year for us financially, with an increase of £108k in our net worth, but what is money without good health?  We were fortunate to avoid any major health problems despite having Covid, so we count ourselves very lucky in that respect.  Another unplanned bonus of the year was lockdown meant we all were together at home not just in the week but during evenings and weekends.  That’s a rare thing when there are so many teenagers in the house and we, as parents, enjoyed not being taxis for a change. Any disappointments at having our holidays and celebrations postponed were forgotten as we enjoyed the extra bonding time as a family that lockdown afforded us.

Who knows what this year will bring, but if nothing else here’s to a healthy 2021.

 

The Numbers

FI Target  – £1.25m to give £50k/year income @ 4% withdrawal rate.

Current FI value – £652k networth+ £455k (2xState pen £18.2k x 25) + £87k (DB pen £3.5k x 25)) = £1.19m

% to Target FI – 95.6% (93.3% last month)

Time to FI =  14 months, March 22 (last month- 25 months, Nov 22)

 

MONTHLY UPDATE AND GOALS

Last months figures in brackets

Net Worth Dec ’20 – £652,421  (Nov ’20 £623,482) +4.6% +£28,939

 

Assets – £867,530  (£840,737) +3.2%  +£26,793

Cash/bank £7110 (£5989)

Main Home Q4 £441,157 (Q3 £428,068) +3.1 +£13,089

Rental Properties Q4 £181,977 (Q3 £176,578) +3.1% +£5,399

Pension SIPP £237,286 (£230,102) +3.1%  +£7,184

 

Liabilities – £215,109 (£217,255) -1.0%  -£2,146

Main Home Mortgage £84,650 (£85,000)

Loans, Debts and credit cards £130,459 (£132,255)

 

Overall Net Worth in December has risen by a whopping £28,939.

Liabilities were down by just over £2k.

Assets increased by £26k.

Rolling year on year change in net worth from December ’19 is +£108,560 (assets +£83,524, liabilities -£25,036)

Since we began tracking our net worth in June ’18 our net worth has increased by £238k, at an average of £7.9k per month.

 

Property

YOY  house price change +7.98%. (Q4 2019 – Q4 2020 NW England)

The Equity in my main home is £356,507.

Main home and rental property values are calculated using the Nationwide House price index.

Nationwide’s December ’20 update says UK annual house price growth rose to a six year high of 7.3% in December.

The UK annual % change in house prices to December is +7.3%, with a UK average house price of £230k

 

Dividends

SIPP Dividends paid in December were £455.

Dividends December 2020 YTD total £5942,  Av. £495/m   (Dec 2019 YTD  £2319,  Av. £193/m)

(Yearly totals –   2016 £425,  2017 £911,  2018 £1306,  2019 £2319, 2020 £5942)

 

Other Monthly/weekly goals

Matched Betting  +£270 this month (-£157 last month)

Back into a profit this month.  We are still only doing casino offers.

Total to date since starting 38m ago £12363 Av. £325/m (£12093 to last month Av. 327/m) means we made £270 this month, broken down as follows.

Casino/slot offers to date £5814 (5544) = +£270 this month

Each way sniping to date £625 (£625) = £0 this month

Normal match betting offers £0 profit this month

 

Diet and Fitness –  Put a bit back on over Christmas. Went to 74kg and 19% body fat  (71kg, 17% body fat last month).

My target is to get to 65kg and/or under 12% body fat.

 

eBay/selling – Nothing done this month.

 

Keep healthy and safe everyone.

 

Any comments/questions always welcome

 

Monthly Net worth since started tracking

#1 June ’18 £414,258

#2 July ’18 £413,030 -£1,228

#3 Oct ’18 £420,037 +£7,007

#4 Nov ’18 £420,222 +£185

#5 Dec ’18 £415,731 -£4,491

#6 Jan ’19 £417,754 +£2,023

#7 Feb ’19 £419,313 +£1,968

#8 Mar ’19 £434,282 +£14,969

#9 Apr ’19 £434,843 +£561

#10 May ’19 £504,531 +£69,688

#11 Jun ’19 £514,218 +£9,687

#12 Jul ’19 £520,781 +£6,563

#13 Sep ’19 £532,376 +£11,595

#14 Oct ’19 £534,406 +£2,030

#15 Nov ’19 £539,998 +£5,592

#16 Dec ’19 £543,861 +£3,863

#17 Jan ’20 £541,041 -£2,820

#18 Feb ’20 £525,898 -£15,143

#19 Mar’20 £501,581  -£24,317

#20 April ’20 £534,439 +£32,858

#21 May ’20 £555,467 +£21,028

#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

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8 Responses to Dec ’20 – Net Worth and monthly update #29 £652,421 (+£28,939) 95% FI

  1. gettingminted.com says:

    The increase of 108k is a great result. Did you calculate how much of it was from new money saved and how much of it was from asset growth and house price inflation?

  2. gettingminted.com says:

    Thanks for responding. It’s good to have a contribution from all three, especially in the year just gone.

  3. Ali says:

    Hi Fu,
    I always read your posts with interest. Always interesting how people do things. I came across the links below and wondered how they would affect your FI number:
    https://bankeronfire.com/fire-number
    https://fireyourownway.com/financial-freedom/three-fire-net-worths/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=three-fire-net-worths&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=three-fire-net-worths

    All the best, please keep posting.

    • FU MON CHU says:

      Hi Ali

      I presume you are referring to including my house and state pension in my net worth.

      I include my housing costs within my FIRE expense figures so therefore include the equity in my property. I will probably downsize at some point to release the equity anyway.

      I include the state pension as I don’t think it will change by the time I claim it.

      Thanks for your comment

      • Ali says:

        Hi Fu,
        Not exactly, I’m interested that you include them in your FI number as your main home is not income-generating and your state pension is not available for some years. Although now I re-read it it does say FI not FIRE and if you’re not planning on retiring to draw 4% from on it its no big deal. Ignore me I was thinking you were planning to retire in 14 months not just recording when you reach FI! Instead go you! Major achievement!
        Ali

  4. weenie says:

    Great going there – looking like you’ll be FI before the year is out – that’s brilliant!

    Any plans then or keep on going to build up a buffer?

    I understand why you include your house in your numbers – at some point, you won’t have 6 children living under your roof so you will definitely be downsizing.

    • FU MON CHU says:

      Hi weenie

      Yes I might make my FI number this year, barring any drop in house or stock prices. I’m not going to RE at that point though as I can’t access my SIPP until I’m 55, in just under 5 years.

      I’m aiming to do less work for others after reaching FI to concentrate on my own developments and BTLs, which will build up a large buffer.

      Will definitely be downsizing if I can get rid of the kids!

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