Author Topic: Australia - late starter and now impatient  (Read 4135 times)

hermster

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Australia - late starter and now impatient
« on: June 16, 2017, 05:33:13 PM »
Thanks to those who commented and provided encouragement - I'm just going to delete the detail so it's not on the internet forever.

Cheers.
« Last Edit: June 26, 2017, 03:31:07 PM by hermster »

Sydneystache

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Re: Australia - late starter and now impatient
« Reply #1 on: June 17, 2017, 04:56:04 AM »
Hi hermster, it looks like you have your head screwed on properly and I think you are doing well.

Living in a country town has its pros and cons and one major con being limited income prospects/growth. Think yours is above the average rural income and your super balance is healthy.

If you are impatient, have you thought about moving to the big smoke for a short period of time and earning the big bucks? Downsides are a-plenty - high rents, social network, more consumerist temptation etc etc

If not and you love your town, here's one suggestion, my DH comes from a small town. Property there is cheap. However, some have been entrepreneurial about it and they have been buying houses to reno and rent it out on AirBNB.

We stayed in one and it was fantastic! The owner had a fridge full of food and goodies for us and his return would be 300-500% the going rate for a weekly rental and just under what the motels would be charging per night. However, the place is always full up for the holidays - school, long weekends, weddings, funerals etc. if your town has a special historic connection, big bonus too. Of course you have the down season but it isn't a bad option to look into.

Other than that, 7 years isn't that far away to suck it up. I would just throw any extra income at that mortgage offset account and beefing up the managed funds.

hermster

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Re: Australia - late starter and now impatient
« Reply #2 on: June 17, 2017, 05:18:09 PM »
Thanks for those comments Sydneystache.

Yes, mean income for my town is about $46k  so I'm lucky to be getting a relatively high salary in a low cost of living town.  I'm determined to make the most of that while I can.  My skills and experience are very industry specific and I doubt there would be better pay in the cities, in fact I think I'd find it very hard to get work there.  Also, I can sit in my office and literally watch kangaroos grazing, I have an easy drive to work on quiet country roads, the supermarket is a few minutes away, etc - the lifestyle is good.

I've avoided investing in property since the capital growth is fairly low here - my house actually went backwards in value after I bought out my ex-wife for her half.  Long term growth is about 2-2.5%.

Rental yields are ok, but I never thought about airbnb - I'll do some research thanks for the idea.  There are plenty of cheap houses here, although for some reason there are a lot of motels in this town too.  I'll see if I can find some vacancy info.

Other than that I'll just put my head down and save.  I read MMM's post on Stoicism yesterday and some follow up reading, I think focusing more on that will help get through some of those weeks where I just want to be free.

Sydneystache

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Re: Australia - late starter and now impatient
« Reply #3 on: June 17, 2017, 05:52:11 PM »
Yes, lifestyle is good in the county - wide open spaces, fresh air etc. just the exodus of the youth to the cities and ice epidemic shit going on due to variety of employment issues.

If you were going to do an AirBNB type, offer people the country thing - eg country homestead with wrap around verandah, by the banks of the river, pets welcome etc. City friends of ours did did the whole station thing and stayed at a sheep station, got bogged down, had to be pulled by a 4WD but they loved it! Dont forget wifi if you have the NBN!

Not sure how your town is going eg rental returns (>7%?) are always high outside urban areas though capital growth is not as spectacular as Sydney's or as you point out, get negative growth.

How about side gigs eg making souvenir trinkets for the local markets? Anywho, the other is just to enjoy life, volunteer for your RFS/SES/Lions/CASE etc - you're already semi-retired living in the country 😛

hermster

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Re: Australia - late starter and now impatient
« Reply #4 on: June 17, 2017, 11:21:56 PM »

 Anywho, the other is just to enjoy life, volunteer for your RFS/SES/Lions/CASE etc - you're already semi-retired living in the country 😛

I work for a not for profit (management position) and it's always been a great job where I can feel like I'm giving back to the community, but lately the politics and egos of some new entrances into the workspace are making me feel disheartened.   Volunteering elsewhere might be just what I need. Thanks.

Sapphire

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Re: Australia - late starter and now impatient
« Reply #5 on: June 18, 2017, 02:35:52 AM »
Looks good Hermster and I would be inclined to hang onto a home base.  I think it is much harder to be renter in Australia in retirement than it is for our American friends. 

Would you give some consideration to perhaps sharing your house with someone in the meantime to help towards the mortgage and expenses?  Might only have to be for a few years.  Could also be good socially (although could also be bad of course!) ;)

hermster

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Re: Australia - late starter and now impatient
« Reply #6 on: June 18, 2017, 06:38:25 PM »

Would you give some consideration to perhaps sharing your house with someone in the meantime to help towards the mortgage and expenses?  Might only have to be for a few years.  Could also be good socially (although could also be bad of course!) ;)


I've thought of it, and it makes sense, and if I was truly mustachian I'd be doing that - but I'm a fairly private person plus I don't really want to share a bathroom with a stranger.  If I had an ensuite/2nd bathroom it would be easier to accept.  When I was 20 I shared a house with 5 others no problem, but at 50 I'm a bit set in my ways...

Sapphire

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Re: Australia - late starter and now impatient
« Reply #7 on: June 19, 2017, 04:48:54 AM »

Would you give some consideration to perhaps sharing your house with someone in the meantime to help towards the mortgage and expenses?  Might only have to be for a few years.  Could also be good socially (although could also be bad of course!) ;)


I've thought of it, and it makes sense, and if I was truly mustachian I'd be doing that - but I'm a fairly private person plus I don't really want to share a bathroom with a stranger.  If I had an ensuite/2nd bathroom it would be easier to accept.  When I was 20 I shared a house with 5 others no problem, but at 50 I'm a bit set in my ways...

I do understand...;)

life_travel

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Re: Australia - late starter and now impatient
« Reply #8 on: June 19, 2017, 05:46:28 AM »
Just genuinely curious , when you say you don't want to share a bathroom with s stranger , what exact aspect is the problem ? Seeing their stuff , having to wait sometimes or just a general feeling ?
We are in similar age bracket and just had boarders on and off for 3 years and had 1 bathroom for 5 adults. No problem. Not criticizing at all , I genuinely want to know " the other side " :)

hermster

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Re: Australia - late starter and now impatient
« Reply #9 on: June 19, 2017, 02:51:29 PM »
Just genuinely curious , when you say you don't want to share a bathroom with s stranger , what exact aspect is the problem ? Seeing their stuff , having to wait sometimes or just a general feeling ?
We are in similar age bracket and just had boarders on and off for 3 years and had 1 bathroom for 5 adults. No problem. Not criticizing at all , I genuinely want to know " the other side " :)

Huh.  Good question.  I had to really think about it and can't find a specific reason.  I shared a single bathroom with my two teenage girls so I'm used to lots of stuff and waiting.

I guess it's just the lack of privacy.  Do you get used to that after a while? 


Sapphire

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Re: Australia - late starter and now impatient
« Reply #10 on: June 21, 2017, 03:47:51 AM »
Just genuinely curious , when you say you don't want to share a bathroom with s stranger , what exact aspect is the problem ? Seeing their stuff , having to wait sometimes or just a general feeling ?
We are in similar age bracket and just had boarders on and off for 3 years and had 1 bathroom for 5 adults. No problem. Not criticizing at all , I genuinely want to know " the other side " :)

Huh.  Good question.  I had to really think about it and can't find a specific reason.  I shared a single bathroom with my two teenage girls so I'm used to lots of stuff and waiting.

I guess it's just the lack of privacy.  Do you get used to that after a while?

I think it is like anything else new...it's very uncomfortable to start with but after a bit you get use to it. 

Ha ha, if you shared with two teenaged girls, I suspect another adult wouldn't be an issue...

life_travel

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Re: Australia - late starter and now impatient
« Reply #11 on: June 21, 2017, 07:37:28 AM »

Huh.  Good question.  I had to really think about it and can't find a specific reason.  I shared a single bathroom with my two teenage girls so I'm used to lots of stuff and waiting.

I guess it's just the lack of privacy.  Do you get used to that after a while?
Well you get to the bathroom , you shut the door and you are private ! :)
People sitting in MY lounge room or using MY kitchen annoyed me more because you know , you have to share. Bathroom , no problem.
We are quite minimal in our house so when we "interviewed" housemates , I pointed to empty bathroom counter and said that for cleaning ease I ask not to keep anything on them. I allocated a draw for each person/couple and that worked really well.