Author Topic: Thoughts on my first retired year.  (Read 14195 times)

TheFrugalFox

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Thoughts on my first retired year.
« on: August 14, 2015, 11:04:36 PM »
In a nut shell, fantastic. Really loving it.

I retired at 40 in South Africa - with a pretty small stash by SA sizes and extremely small by USA sizes. And although I had monitored my spending for a few months prior to retiring, I was worried if it would generate enough income. Roughly $1 = R10 (these days it's closer to R13 I think) - I'll just convert that way to make it easy

Wife still works from home - home is paid off. No kids. First 6 months I had $500 per month. This was a bit tight as I was putting up insulation and a ceiling in my workshop plus was doing other little jobs around the house. But managed.

Upped the budget to $550 for the last 6 months - and now living is pretty easy. About $100 is set aside for misc. which is needed - but sometimes does not get used. We eat very well. Sure, we don't scoff fillet every night - but we eat well enough that I need to cool it and loose a couple of k's.

We still take a motorbike ride most Sundays and get breakfast - and make sure we go out to a show/film/concert with dinner once a month - sort of a date night.

I did have plans to make a few hobbies turn into paying hobbies for holiday cash - that's taken a back seat. Did sort out my workshop though - looking quite good but haven't really produce much out of it. I have started a new and better veg garden which I am enjoying. Have tackled a few  jobs around the house - and there lot's more. Still have products to sell from my old business and have imported some stuff in tiny amounts but does make a little holiday cash

Recently sold my little 1 ton truck - spent most of it's time sitting, now the money is invested so actually making a little money. Took a while for me to sell it - liked having a truck (guy thing!) - it's probably the only vehicle I will have from new. It's also might be me saying good bye to my "produce things to sell at markets" idea.

The plan though is once I have built a car port at the front of the house, is to by the same car but with better paintwork and in station-wagon format. Coupled with a tow bar/trailer and I can pretty much carry anything I could with the truck. Crazy having to build a car port, when we bought our house it had garages for 6. The two at the front got converted into an office for my wife and 4 at the back became my workshop. And it's just a pain bring the car in at the back - we made the front gate motorised. Would have to do the back gate AND huge garage door - cost around $1500 where as putting in a car port in the more convenient front should cast around $700 or so.

Lastly, holidays are starting to reappear. We have decided to take a trip up to Durban in October then, for my wifes 40th in 2017 - a 21 day cruise from CT to Venice - @ around $3000. Means I need to start saving, but I was going to get $600 from next month. So it's back down to $500 p/m for a while - at the most 1 year as then income from the sale of the car kicks in.

Lastly, I still want to save - even if it's a little, I feel I am adding to my capital, I am doing well. I now have a couple of account - the main one has about 90% of the shares, I now just live off this one. I now reinvest dividends on the smaller accounts in lieu of savings. Stall have around $4000 dollars worth of stock to be sold and invested into them. Lastly I only live on dividends - I do not like the idea of selling capital.

And that's it - could not be happier. Need to rush as I am doing my first MTB track with the local club in an hour. Will give it a go, a sport to do with my wife alongside my tennis.




CowboyAndIndian

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Re: Thoughts on my first retired year.
« Reply #1 on: August 15, 2015, 03:09:37 AM »
Congratulations TheFrugalFox.

I am visiting your beautiful country right now. Typing this from Cape Town on the last day of my trip. We return tomorrow.

South Africa has so many hiking trails. A great frugal vacation is the two day hike in Cape Point/Cape of Good Hope.

Which part of SA are you in? Have you done the hiking trails?
« Last Edit: August 15, 2015, 03:46:47 AM by CowboyAndIndian »

NearlyThere

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Re: Thoughts on my first retired year.
« Reply #2 on: August 15, 2015, 05:27:06 AM »
Amazing to hear its going so well.

Congratulations TheFrugalFox

forummm

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Re: Thoughts on my first retired year.
« Reply #3 on: August 15, 2015, 08:13:07 AM »
Sounds like you're doing well with a small stash! What's your withdrawal rate? If you're only spending dividends, you are probably leaving a lot of room for additional spending if you wanted to do that. Maybe after your stash has grown from keeping the budget lower you'll feel more comfortable with spending more if that's needed.

TheFrugalFox

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Re: Thoughts on my first retired year.
« Reply #4 on: August 15, 2015, 08:50:04 AM »
Cowboy - a have done a few walks, but more when I was younger - have thought thought of joining a hiking club. We do travel quite a bit through the Western Cape though, usually by motorbike though, We live just out side Cape Town in one of the wine regions. Hope you had fun - everything must have been a bargain at almost R13 to the $1 - bet you where constantly going " how much? That's a bargain!" especially when it comes to food.

Cheers, Major

Forumm - I picked my own shares and get around a 5% yield. I work in 6 month "batches" and am always 6 months behind - so there are no unexpected falls in income and if there are have a bit of time to make it up. I like the dividend way and never selling shares - as I would find choosing when to sell a pain and I guarantee I would do it on the wrong day!

Lastly, dividends, on the whole, increase at a round 8%, and inflation is running around 6% - so I should have more income the longer I do this. Has worked so far.

I probably should get medical aid at some point although the local government hospital around here are not too bad. A fairly cheap hospital plan costs around $100 p/m and covers serious accidents and most serious illnesses.

Just came back from our first mountain bike ride - we did the "easy" 18km. Nothing easy about it - lovely scenery though, and will probably do it once a month or so.  Basically starts 5km away - so on our door step. Two lovely sections of single track, must have taken a bit of work to get it done. My back though, is a bit sore - so will need to rest it the rest of the weekend. Getting old!

Due South

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Re: Thoughts on my first retired year.
« Reply #5 on: August 15, 2015, 11:38:14 PM »
Hi Frugalfox. So lucky to have stumbled onto your thread.  I too live in SA (in winelands region) and have just pulled the plug aged 44. Also have no kids but a few four legged mouths to feed. :-).

Congrats on your first year! 

Heading right over to your blog now....

TheFrugalFox

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Re: Thoughts on my first retired year.
« Reply #6 on: August 16, 2015, 02:20:16 AM »
Would really be interested in your story DS - although we have lot's in common with our NH friends, we do face certain challenges which are pretty unique to us down here on the tip of africa. So how did you get to where you are? What's the plan from here? Concerned about SA?

Have removed the blog link - it really is just for me to keep track of what I do and my thoughts - you would struggle to find anything useful. My writing is just to bad to have a diary - and I am useless as backing up, so figured it was safer online - more a tracking tool really as I have a terrible memory.

CowboyAndIndian

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Re: Thoughts on my first retired year.
« Reply #7 on: August 16, 2015, 05:20:19 AM »
Cowboy - a have done a few walks, but more when I was younger - have thought thought of joining a hiking club. We do travel quite a bit through the Western Cape though, usually by motorbike though, We live just out side Cape Town in one of the wine regions. Hope you had fun - everything must have been a bargain at almost R13 to the $1 - bet you where constantly going " how much? That's a bargain!" especially when it comes to food.

Cheers, Major

Cool, the next time I come to SA, I am going on a couple of day hike around the Cape.

Loved SA wine. Stayed at Spier in Stellenbosch. How could I have missed such great wine when I was in the US? And very inexpensive if you consider the exchange rate.

But most of all, I like the people of SA. Soft spoken and wonderful.


TheFrugalFox

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Re: Thoughts on my first retired year.
« Reply #8 on: August 16, 2015, 07:37:25 AM »
The wine is fantastic - glad to hear you will be visiting again. Personally I think we have more idiots per capita than most of the places I've visited - but I might just be turning into a cranky old man. And I read the newspapers more. And those idiots sometimes impact on my shares. grrr

Did you take a drive down the Garden Route? And hiking around the Cederberg area is also pretty good. I am guessing you have just left, pity - as the wild flowers are starting to come out along the west coast - maybe next time plan your trip a little later September is great


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Re: Thoughts on my first retired year.
« Reply #9 on: August 16, 2015, 09:18:18 AM »
No idea if I'll ever visit, but in our spendier wine-drinking days, I remember being super impressed with South African wine when I could actually find it.

Congrats on your retirement!

fiveoh

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Re: Thoughts on my first retired year.
« Reply #10 on: August 17, 2015, 12:26:06 PM »
Congrats on your first year!  I'm curious, what markets do you hold stocks in?  U.S.?

TheFrugalFox

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Re: Thoughts on my first retired year.
« Reply #11 on: August 17, 2015, 09:49:12 PM »
Congrats on your first year!  I'm curious, what markets do you hold stocks in?  U.S.?

South Africa - on the JSE (Johannesburg stock exchange). The exchange (and our financial institutions) are regard very highly by other governing bodies - so no problem there. Out biggest problem is the Rand and it performance vs the dollar/pound and Euro. Constantly hitting new lows.

Luckily, we can buy a few of the DB ETF's (world/eu/us) and many of the companies listed ether operate partly and some case fully overseas - many reporting and earning dividends in $ or Euro's. You can actually put together quite a nice diversified portfolio of overseas earning companies on the JSE - which is nice. Plus some are focussed on Africa - plenty room for growth there.

Unfortunately, we have idiots running this country. And I am not joking - this isn't being subjective. These guys are IDIOTS. No forward planning abilities at all. An example : at the moment no post is being moved between post offices because they have run out of money for petrol. The unions are also a joke in the country and work alongside the government. Basically anything the government touches turns to c**p - luckily they haven't messed with the banks and stock exchange.

Anyway, growth is a problem - but other African countries are sorting themselves out and you can get quite decent growth there - and as said, many South African companies are pushing into the rest of Africa.



bwall

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Re: Thoughts on my first retired year.
« Reply #12 on: August 17, 2015, 10:05:51 PM »
I Spent 4 months in Southern Africa back in 1994....... Changed my life ..... Good times.......

And i'd forgotten how far $600/mo can go. Glad to hear you are doing well.

Due South

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Re: Thoughts on my first retired year.
« Reply #13 on: August 18, 2015, 01:16:34 AM »
Hi sorry the reply is a little late. But here we go...

I guess we got where we are now much like many who post here. Married in 99 and bought a modest home which we paid off very quickly (2 years). At that point it was 2001 and both working in financial services where retrenchments were commonplace at the time - we decided to ensure that we could live off one salary saving the rest for "rainy days". We also never succumbed to the usual lifestyle inflation that most do at that stage in their lives - no kids, stayed in the same home, single car most of the time. At that stage we weren't really thinking of early retirement but 7 or 8 years on realised this could be a possibility and from then on aggressively saved and invested.  I've had a few false starts / OMY's over the last 3-4 years, but as they say on these forums, my BS bucket is now full to overflowing. Hubby has been ER since 2011 .... It's time.

Wrt SA. Yup a big concern (which is why we moved to WC) but what does one do? Our assets are invested here and won't go far in other countries. I try to diversify our portfolio in a sensible way and just stick my head in the sand for the rest of it.  I really do still love living here - as many have pointed out in this thread, the wine is excellent :-)

I don't have specific plans for when my notice period ends - and a little worried as I do tend to define myself by my job.  Need to work on that...it's pretty sad and pathetic :-).  I would like to take at least 6 months though to completely unwind before embarking on any major new ventures.  I'm pretty nervous though - this is a huge step for me.....

TheFrugalFox

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Re: Thoughts on my first retired year.
« Reply #14 on: August 18, 2015, 10:46:53 PM »
Hi DS.

yeah, live in SA is a worry - imagine if Malema ever got into power? The WC would probably be the last place to crumble - my hope is that as other move in from non functioning provinces, we get to sell our house at a decent price! From what I understand, some smaller munis out in Limpopo and Mpumalanga are already non functioning.

It seems many people worry a bit with what to do with all that extra free time. Depends on the person I guess - I seem to always have a few project on the list. My only problem sometimes is finding someone that can play tennis /go cycling during a week day. I still seem to be trapped (for certain things) by their working hours. I think my wifes job sort of defines her as well - not sure what she would do when she retires. That said, she works from home for herself, so she can always just take on a little less work.



Zx

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Re: Thoughts on my first retired year.
« Reply #15 on: August 18, 2015, 11:07:22 PM »
Great news that someone can live so well on 550 per month in a paid off house! I hope to find an area in the USA where I can do that, too. Or I could just move to Guatemala and live on that like a king.

CowboyAndIndian

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Re: Thoughts on my first retired year.
« Reply #16 on: August 19, 2015, 07:14:33 AM »
The wine is fantastic - glad to hear you will be visiting again. Personally I think we have more idiots per capita than most of the places I've visited - but I might just be turning into a cranky old man. And I read the newspapers more. And those idiots sometimes impact on my shares. grrr

Did you take a drive down the Garden Route? And hiking around the Cederberg area is also pretty good. I am guessing you have just left, pity - as the wild flowers are starting to come out along the west coast - maybe next time plan your trip a little later September is great

Sorry for the late response, Jet lag and a 15 hour flight has knocked me out ;-)

Politicians are idiots everywhere! Have you seen the latest bunch to run for President in the US?

We went down to cape point thru Chapmans peak, and when coming back went thru Simonstown. Not sure what the route is called.
We did see some flowers, but would have been lovely to come in September (and maybe a little warmer too).
I would like to explore the Cape region some more. Next time!
« Last Edit: August 19, 2015, 08:12:16 AM by CowboyAndIndian »

TheFrugalFox

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Re: Thoughts on my first retired year.
« Reply #17 on: August 19, 2015, 02:18:41 PM »
Dag - yeah, it's great. You only start paying income tax over R72K per year, so even the government thinks it's very little! But it's all relative. If my wife did not work and we where paying of the house, I would need to be earning around R25K p/m - couple of school age going children, R30K p/m - just to be in the same situation.

Cowboy - Sounds like you still have plenty to see when you visit next time. Garden route goes along the southern coast line - lots of lovely towns on the way like Knysna, Hermanus - very pretty and well worth a visit. You would probably pop into Addo Elephant park as well - although the bigger game parks are up in the northern part of the country.  Good place to start http://www.gardenroute.co.za/

The we have fields of wild flowers that pop up around this time of year - millions of them. All on the west coast -for hundreds of kilometers - well, those fields that arn't growing crops of course.

https://www.google.co.za/search?q=west+coast+wild+flowers&newwindow=1&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAWoVChMIrMHo7vm1xwIVhtYaCh052QZW&biw=1366&bih=643

CowboyAndIndian

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Re: Thoughts on my first retired year.
« Reply #18 on: August 19, 2015, 03:10:39 PM »
...
The we have fields of wild flowers that pop up around this time of year - millions of them. All on the west coast -for hundreds of kilometers - well, those fields that arn't growing crops of course.

https://www.google.co.za/search?q=west+coast+wild+flowers&newwindow=1&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAWoVChMIrMHo7vm1xwIVhtYaCh052QZW&biw=1366&bih=643

Wow!

k290

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Re: Thoughts on my first retired year.
« Reply #19 on: August 22, 2015, 09:50:27 AM »
South Africa crew checking in.  Congratulations, it sounds like a blast.

Can you please give more details about your portfolio? I mean you're living off dividends which only pay out every 6 months. My total dividend returns from JSE listed index funds really aren't much. You're generating R5000-R6000 per month purely off of dividends is that correct?

You mentioned our weak currency. I feel like when I reach FIRE in SA I won't really be able to do much travelling overseas due to our shitty exchange rate. Have you managed to/or are you planning to do any holidays overseas? If so how are you going to get enough money?

Do you have a blog/website/journal where I can learn from your experiences? :P

(Sorry its so many questions but its not often you get to ask a South African FIRE-ee how they've managed)

TheFrugalFox

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Re: Thoughts on my first retired year.
« Reply #20 on: August 22, 2015, 03:49:54 PM »
Hi k290.

When picking my portfolio I did specifically go for good yield - so many of the usual shares most South Africans would have, I do not. Shares like SAB, NPN, APN, richmont, all do not feature. I have a fair amount of property including oversea property - and in the shares there is a lot from the whole financial sector. Roughly - 30% property, 30% financial, 10% telcoms, 30% other. No resources/ no construction. I do have a little growth portfolio with a few of my favourite no dividend stocks like EOH, APN, PSG, DSY. I currently get around 5 - 5.5% after tax

The only etf's I have are in my TFSA - besides the property ones, the only others that pay a half decent dividend are the financial based ones - think they are around 3 - 3.5%?

Yeah, overseas holidays are going to be a problem on my budget! Luckily enough, I have travelled a fair amount - I spent my 20's in London. But we are planning to take a 21 day cruise (CT to Venice) - in about two years. It means cutting back the budget from R6K to R5K for a few months - no sweat.

As to how dividends are paid, I only clear that account out once a year - that money is then dividend up into 12, and that is how much I have for that year. Nice and easy, and no surprises.


k290

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Re: Thoughts on my first retired year.
« Reply #21 on: August 23, 2015, 08:59:20 AM »
Interesting stuff. Thanks for the details; certainly helpful.

South african

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Re: Thoughts on my first retired year.
« Reply #22 on: August 24, 2015, 03:22:54 PM »
Hi fellow south africans

Another South African here. Great to get some posts from other south africans. I am planning to also pull the plug at the end of the year, but with current market movements it does make it a bit more difficult

I will be 42 at the end of the year, married with 2 children ( 12 and 6).  My wife is a home executive (sounds much better than house wife) so we will both be free to start our new journey at the end of the year.  Guess I will be vice home executive then?

I also intend to only live of the interest, rent and dividens from my investments. Current expense budget I think we will manage is r25k per month. I am overweight Reits with some other jse listed shares that offer decent dividend yields (coronation, vodacom etc).

Still need to figure out what we will do, but spend time together, hiking, supporting kids and some gholf seems to be the first things. I also enjoy cooking, gardening and need to get fit again so I am sure the first few months will be fine while I learn to unwind.

We live in northern suburbs of cape town.

TheFrugalFox

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Re: Thoughts on my first retired year.
« Reply #23 on: August 24, 2015, 09:29:15 PM »
Nice to hear someone else doing it. R25K sounds fine for a family of 4 - especially if the investments are split for tax reasons. And, of course, you could have 4 TFSA's going. Ever thought about moving into the country? Some advantages - and with no work commute can make sense and often a bit cheaper.

Stock market volatility doesn't really bother me - sure it's nice to have a greater "paper" wealth - but as I have no intentions of selling, that's really all that it is. So for instance, yesterday the markets took a pounding and so did my portfolio. But the rand devalued some more but around 15% of my portfolio reports directly in pounds or dollars - so their dividends should be up nicely. The ROC had EYR - which where decent and EOH (in my small non div portfolio had a decent TU - it then got hammered).

So what I am trying to say, is that I am way more interested in company news and results than I am in share prices these days. That not to say I do not look at my account way to often during the day (my wife only looks at hers at the end on the month) - but for me now it really has just become a number whereas a dividend increase/ decrease is actually worth something to me.

And I wouldn't tell my wife I was VHE - she might klap you - you'll get away with apprentice HE for now. :)


Due South

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Re: Thoughts on my first retired year.
« Reply #24 on: August 24, 2015, 11:01:29 PM »
Hi South African, seems Mr FF's post has drawn us out the woodwork.  Funny how SA posters here seem to mainly live in WC.

Having just pulled the plug the last few days' Market activity is causing some concerns in terms of timing etc. We also will need R20-25k pm I guess (closer to R20k - no kids) and hopefully divis will continue to cover this.  Also have 2 yrs expenses set aside in cash for this very event.  But still - all the studies - trinity, firecalc, pfau etc are based on total assets and total return.  So am I locking myself into a low WR forever by retiring into a declining Market (if things continue to get worse)? 

Ah well, good luck with the rest of the year and keep posting on you progress !  It's great to read about those in similar circumstances. 

patrickza

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Re: Thoughts on my first retired year.
« Reply #25 on: August 25, 2015, 12:56:41 AM »
There's plenty South African's on here, and I'm glad the frugal fox has finally lured us out! Unlike the rest of you, I'm not a Capetonian, but if I had pulled the trigger I definitely would be. Not a chance in hell I'd be living in JHB if it wasn't for the big salary. I plan on pulling the plug in just over 3 years, at age 39. My wife thinks I'm absolutely crazy for wanting to give up the high paying job, but I think life is already too short for all the things I'd like to do. Doesn't bother me too much, my investments will cover my half of the expenses, and she can work for the rest and spend as much as she chooses :)

I really like the frugal fox's method for pulling income from his portfolio. I plan on doing the same and drawing down R159k a year using this method inspired by TFF: http://investorchallenge.co.za/can-you-retire-by-40/ he's also doing it on the smallest monthly income that I know of. Very inspiring!

It will be interesting how it goes for Due South and South African who are pulling what I consider a middle class salary from their portfolios.

South african

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Re: Thoughts on my first retired year.
« Reply #26 on: August 25, 2015, 06:47:25 AM »
I have been reading quite a bit on the various ways in order to draw down an income post fire.  The best solution for me was the live off the income that the portfolio generates and do not try and sell assets to fund my lifestyle.  As FF states I only tend to focus on the income statement of the companies I invest and the price is a factor if I want to buy more!

I have a ss which lists my companies I invest in with the past distributions. Every month I copy this sheet across and update for any updated distributions or if I manage to buy more shares.  Currently I am hoping that my portfolio will be able to fund double my expected annual expenses since I do not want to be in a position to have to return to work (only by choice, which I doubt).

I also enjoyed to calculate my savings rate every year once I learned the way to early retirement in 2008.  I was amazed that in most years my savings rates was above 80% and last year I touched 90%. I would recommend this to anyone.  It really does inspire finding ways to reduce expenses especially if it does not affect your lifestyle (eg insurance, telephone, internet, entertainment costs).  To me the formula is savings/(savings plus expenses). 

I am also saving as much as I can for each of my sons p.a. in their name.  it is tax beneficial and hopefully it will provide them a good fund when they finish studying to provide them with options.  With all the EE/AA etc. issues I would want to give them options to be entrepreneurs or to at least have a leg up when starting out.

Since I am still an office worker I have a pension fund as well plus an RA (for tax purposes), which I will draw on when reaching 60.  We do not have the same social security in sunny South Africa as many first world countries.  This will be my "social security" that other posters from the US include in their retirement planning.

I must say it is so nice to communicate these thoughts to fellow South Africans that understand the nuances of living here.  The basics are the same across the world, but the details differ.

Keep posting, I enjoy all your posts!

South african

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Re: Thoughts on my first retired year.
« Reply #27 on: August 25, 2015, 12:40:53 PM »
Frugalfox we have looked at moving to the country once I retire, but we have found that the positives of living in the country do not outweigh the positives of staying in the suburbs for now. The kids have good schools (model c) and the kids have there friends etc. my wife also enjoys the suburbs and her friends.  I will easily move to a dorpie ( montague, bredasdorp etc) or even a smallholding and do some off grid living but for the sake of the family at this stage of our lives I am willing to sacrifice for them. Perhaps when sons are out of school wife and I can try a few years of country living before we get too old.

Patrickza I understand your reasoning for quiting a high paying job. At some point the extra utility from the additional money earned is not worth the sacrifice it requires. The book your money or your life comes to mind. Not all of us enjoy being time poor and money rich, which seems to be the norm for society on how to live.

South african

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Re: Thoughts on my first retired year.
« Reply #28 on: August 25, 2015, 12:48:59 PM »
Due South have you just retired? Wow must be such a blast, just hope the markets do not spoil your first few months. With such a large cash holding (nearly R500k?) you can afford to turn off the news and markets and try to unwork or decompress or whatever word would best describe the process. I was also hoping to have at least 6 months of expenses in cash by the end of the year and then to take half yearly withdrawals from the share portfolio.

South african

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Re: Thoughts on my first retired year.
« Reply #29 on: August 25, 2015, 01:08:44 PM »
Patrickza I just read the link you posted. Excellent article! I agree with optimising your tax bill.  However i also like the idea of living off the income statement of companies rather than selling shares. So the cgt fund you have will casue me a bit of angst when markets are volatile. I know over time the total return is the same whether it be dividends or share growth, but the volatility in share prices would make me wonder about the market etc too much.

I was not sure but do you also allow for the r23k interest exemption p.a.  This also is a useful tax shelter.

On picking individual shares or index low cost funds. I know I suck at picking shares, but these property etfs are overweight growthpoint and other lower yielding reits which i do not like too much. I currently average around 7% yield on my shares and reits. The cost is very low once bought and even a 0.5% p.a. charge is about 7% of my expected income. One can save this amount by just looking at the fund fact sheet of the fund you want to invest and buy say the top10 holdings they have in your own share portfolio.  Off course the ease of just buying an etf or fund has its benefits.

smiller257

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Re: Thoughts on my first retired year.
« Reply #30 on: August 26, 2015, 07:54:52 AM »
Congrats on your first year! I've been retired 3 years now (retired early at 50 years old). In my first year, I traveled about 6 months of the year but once I returned home I struggled with finding my way.  Fast forward 3 years and now I absolutely love it. It's hard to believe I ever had time to work in the past! 

I recently wrote a blog post about lessons I learned in my first 3 years: https://webetripping.wordpress.com/2015/07/15/after-3-years-of-early-retirement-5-things-ive-learned/

Congrats again on your 1 year anniversary!

TheFrugalFox

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Re: Thoughts on my first retired year.
« Reply #31 on: August 26, 2015, 11:34:43 AM »
Quote
I currently average around 7% yield on my shares and reits.

Hi SA - is that 7% at the current value or on your cost? And roughly what percentage is in REITS? Like you, I am not that keen on prop ETF's - just did not like the mix - have lot's but my favourite is Hyprop - but also like some of the smaller REITS if I feel they have some growth in them. 

South african

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Re: Thoughts on my first retired year.
« Reply #32 on: August 26, 2015, 01:17:32 PM »
Hi ff, the 7% is on current value. Not much growth though, only been in reits for the past 2 years. My favourite is arrowhead, with vukile and redefine.  Roughly 75% of portfolio is reits of which about 20% is overseas ( iapf, stenprop and redefine international). More recently bought hospA, the yield was like 12%, but yesterday the sens came out they intend merging the A and B class which will lower it back to 10%. Pissed me off a bit.  Hyprop income yield is a bit low, but they do expect good growth I believe. Perhaps I need to look at them again.

TheFrugalFox

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Re: Thoughts on my first retired year.
« Reply #33 on: August 26, 2015, 09:58:39 PM »
Interesting. Who is IAPF? (ahh, probably investes property fund? - have looked at them) My larger REIT holdings are Hyp, Arrowhead A and Redefine Inter and Rockcastle - so quite a bit of overlap. Then have quite a few others, NEPI, INTU, SAC, RED, GROWTH and Tower. Tower is interesting and if I had to add, might get a few more. 

Then recently bought TEX, SAFARI, FAIRVEST, ACC and DELTA Inter. Of those, I especially like SAFAFI and FAIRVEST - small but with interesting projects. Actually on these I am trying to get 8% div yield with 8% div yield yearly growth and 8% capital growth. Bit of a challenge I set myself.

Have you joined http://shareforum.co.za ? Would be nice to see all the SA's here on there as well.

Lastly, what does the other 25% look like? I am guessing MMI and AVI will be in the mix. CML?

smiller257

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Re: Thoughts on my first retired year.
« Reply #34 on: September 07, 2015, 06:35:13 AM »
Congrats on your first year, that is awesome!

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!