About Me
- 24 year-old male, living in London, UK
- Single
- Software engineer, £35k salary, work 40 hours a week
- MEng Computer Science from University of Warwick
- Strong education and good problem solver, but inexperienced in industry - a jack of all trades, but master of none. For example, could build a fairly sophisticated web app from scratch, but would be Googling half the time and would make a tonne of poor architectural choices along the way.
- Renting an apartment in London that eats up about half of my salary. £1083 per month and has another 9 months left on the contract, though there is a break clause that can be used in 3 months.
- Paying off a mortgage on another apartment elsewhere - being paid off by a tenant. At current rate of progress, maybe about 10 years left on it. Around £60k equity in there.
- No other savings to speak of - I currently barely only scrape by each month in my current account. I’m fairly frugal on regular expenses, but occasionally blow money on meals out and dates. I don’t do any personal accounting - I’m guessing this is probably a good place to start.
What I want
- Financial freedom
- Freedom to travel around freely - I want more than 5 weeks each year to see the world
- A passive income stream that I can rely on to take breaks away from my work at will
Current thoughts
I’ve read the “inspirational” digital nomad books like Four Hour Work Week, but they don’t lend much guidance to someone who is inexperienced and starting at near ground zero. I’m in a state of analysis paralysis, often exhausted at the end of my working day and struggling to figure out how to take the first steps to transform my life. I’m open to any additional income stream, as long as it takes me one step closer to not needing a full-time job. Preferably one I can eventually automate. I am willing to work hard - I just don’t know what to work hard on.
I don’t have any expert knowledge to sell that couldn’t be found anywhere else, and I’m not sure how freelancing/contracting could be maintainable alongside a full-time job. That kind of work doesn’t run itself in the long run either.
I could start an online business on the side, but I lack any obvious domain knowledge. All I can think of is something generic like hustling on Ebay or drop shipping via Alibaba.
I would follow some of the investment advice on this site, but don’t have anything to invest right now. I’m reluctant to sell the house with the mortgage, though open-minded.
I have a few months experience of running a startup, so I have a vague idea of how hard it is to run your own business. I’m ready to take it on again.
Questions (not all necessary, any would be appreciated)
- What should be my first steps to stop being dependant on the 9-to-5 job?
- Should I be looking to utilise my software engineering skills to take the first steps?
- Any software engineers with first-hand experience of doing this?
- Should I sell the house to pay off the mortgage and use that money elsewhere?
- For someone at my age with my level of experience in my industry, should it be possible to start making the transition immediately, or do I need to learn some more first? The latter feels like procrastination.
Many thanks!
James