Author Topic: 2018  (Read 13197 times)

skip207

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 422
  • Location: UK
2018
« on: December 29, 2017, 01:50:10 AM »
Today is the last day of trading in 2017.

Anyone got any goals for 2018?

Any UK peeps plan to fire in 2018 or any other interesting plans?

My goals are:

Fill my ISA by end of March then try and get as close to full again by the end of the year.
Try and save at least 50% of my income.
NW gain of +£100k.
Consider my position towards the end of the year in the markets as Brexit will be closing in for March 19.

I suspect its going to be a tough year business wise so I dont know if I will make any of those goals but I will be doing my best.

dreams_and_discoveries

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 924
  • Location: London, UK
Re: 2018
« Reply #1 on: December 29, 2017, 01:52:31 PM »
Some good goals there Skip - who knows what Brexit will bring us.

My financial goals are just to stick to the plan, keep myself in work and keep investing, keep savings rate >80% and enjoy my last few years working!


RetirementInvestingToday

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 76
    • Retirement Investing Today
Re: 2018
« Reply #2 on: December 29, 2017, 04:41:41 PM »
My 2018 goals in order of occurence:
- Collect my 2017 bonus
- Fill both the better half's and my S&S ISA
- Resign
- FIRE by the middle of the year having completed my OMY
- Move to the Med
- Register in our new Med country pre-Brexit to ensure we get the negotiated rights already agreed

Like dreams_and_discoveries prior to FIRE'ing I want to keep my net savings rate over 80%.

My FIRE journey is now at 10.2 years and I'm ready to move onto the next phase.

poppydog

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 156
  • Location: Scotland, UK
Re: 2018
« Reply #3 on: December 30, 2017, 01:02:51 AM »
My wife and I will be giving our notice to our respective employers on Tuesday 09
January, both of us retiring at the end of April. And, we’re going to be grand parents in February.  Exciting times!

In May, we have plans for a two week stay at our favourite holiday spot, the Marriott Marbella Beach Resort, and then our first ever trip to New York in June.

I’ve just checked our accounts after the markets closed for the year yesterday. Our mix of domestic and international stocks and bonds funds has seen growth of 12% in 2017, and we are still adding more funds. Overall, we are 27% above our retirement target we set some 5-6 years ago.

A very happy new year to my fellow UK MMM members.

PD

poppydog

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 156
  • Location: Scotland, UK
Re: 2018
« Reply #4 on: December 30, 2017, 01:19:36 AM »
My 2018 goals in order of occurence:
- Collect my 2017 bonus
- Fill both the better half's and my S&S ISA
- Resign
- FIRE by the middle of the year having completed my OMY
- Move to the Med
- Register in our new Med country pre-Brexit to ensure we get the negotiated rights already agreed

Like dreams_and_discoveries prior to FIRE'ing I want to keep my net savings rate over 80%.

My FIRE journey is now at 10.2 years and I'm ready to move onto the next phase.

Hi RIT - love your blog btw.

I’m interested in learning what is motivating you to want to move abroad when you retire?  Mrs PD and I love Spain, but I don’t think we’d consider a permanent move abroad.  I always imagined that learning how to deal with everyday life would be too troublesome - e.g. paying bills, dealing with tradesmen, health care, taxes, buying property etc.   I guess I’m worried that the place I love going on holiday to would feel different entirely if I lived there.

Also, I have to say that I love my home town - Glasgow. I hate the weather, but I love the place and the people. Just can’t see myself living anywhere else!

never give up

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 7844
  • Location: UK
  • Kindness is free to give and priceless to receive
Re: 2018
« Reply #5 on: December 30, 2017, 01:35:29 AM »
Well done poppydog and RIT. Good to see people right at the FIRE stage. It reinforces that this is possible and that we can get there even though the journey seems so long sometimes.

For me 2018 is about keeping my job and maintaining my savings rate. I must keep investing in the markets and not migrate back to cash when the amounts start to get scary!

skip207

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 422
  • Location: UK
Re: 2018
« Reply #6 on: December 30, 2017, 02:18:27 AM »
Great replies so far.

I would love to hear more about the move to France.

RetirementInvestingToday

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 76
    • Retirement Investing Today
Re: 2018
« Reply #7 on: December 30, 2017, 04:03:51 AM »
My 2018 goals in order of occurence:
- Collect my 2017 bonus
- Fill both the better half's and my S&S ISA
- Resign
- FIRE by the middle of the year having completed my OMY
- Move to the Med
- Register in our new Med country pre-Brexit to ensure we get the negotiated rights already agreed

Like dreams_and_discoveries prior to FIRE'ing I want to keep my net savings rate over 80%.

My FIRE journey is now at 10.2 years and I'm ready to move onto the next phase.

Hi RIT - love your blog btw.

I’m interested in learning what is motivating you to want to move abroad when you retire?  Mrs PD and I love Spain, but I don’t think we’d consider a permanent move abroad.  I always imagined that learning how to deal with everyday life would be too troublesome - e.g. paying bills, dealing with tradesmen, health care, taxes, buying property etc.   I guess I’m worried that the place I love going on holiday to would feel different entirely if I lived there.

Also, I have to say that I love my home town - Glasgow. I hate the weather, but I love the place and the people. Just can’t see myself living anywhere else!
Many congratulations on the retirement and enjoy those holidays.  Thanks also for the blog hat tip.

To your question.  Firstly, why not:
- Globalisation has been both a positive and a negative for us.  On the negative side it's meant that family and friends are spread across the globe meaning family/friend ties are very limited in the UK.  This is usually one of the reasons that ground people and it's not really even a consideration for us.

Now the why:
- Both Mrs RIT and myself have lived abroad and also travelled abroad extensively to get us to the position we currently find ourselves.  We know loosely what we can expect from the 'everyday life' problems having been through similar previously.  We don't see this as a negative but just something that's different and we need to learn. 
- Small why but a move to the Med also on average brings us a little closer to friends/family. 
- The weather.  We're not naive here but have real life experience.  We both have spent a lot of time in a 'hot' country previously and know the score.  For us it works.  It makes me feel so much better and helps my wife health wise.  It also better suits the lifestyle we want - quality of life.  For example I've previously been able to regularly swim in the ocean for much of the year and it's liberating.  We're also aware of the negatives such as in the middle of summer you just do not go into the sun for a large portion of the day.
- Cost of living including capital expenditures.  We'll be far better off financially.  One only has to compare house prices between the UK and Spain/Cyprus.  Moving to the North of England/Wales/Scotland would help with that but then the weather gets even worse than where we are in the South East.
- It's an adventure.  Learning a language, a new culture to adapt to, a new community to integrate into, new friendships to find/build...

Given the lives we've lived I'd bet that this move won't be our last.  That said I can also see that idea changes with some people as they age so I wouldn't bet on it.

poppydog

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 156
  • Location: Scotland, UK
Re: 2018
« Reply #8 on: December 30, 2017, 06:11:50 AM »
Thanks for the reply RIT.  I can see where you’re coming from and why it suits your needs. 

Mrs PD and I would “never say never”to the idea, but for the time being we’d rather stay at home and travel to warmer climes as and when.

In fact, I’m writing this in Marbella, where we are taking our last pre-retirement holiday this week.  The weather is unbelievably good!

PD

dreams_and_discoveries

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 924
  • Location: London, UK
Re: 2018
« Reply #9 on: December 30, 2017, 09:05:51 AM »
It's so exciting to see both poppydog and RiT graduating this year - please keep us updated with your new adventures.

TartanTallulah

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 592
  • Location: The Middle of Scenic Nowhere
Re: 2018
« Reply #10 on: December 30, 2017, 09:14:27 AM »
I love the idea of living somewhere with warmer weather than the UK. We aren't considering emigrating, but I think FIRE winters may include an element of snowbirding.

I've just done my year-end sums. I'd previously calculated that it would be financially feasible for me to retire at the end of June 2018, and this remains the case, though I currently expect to stay at work till the end of September. I plan to take my DB pension, which will cover our household essentials, in March 2019, and to bridge the gap with cash savings; I don't need to have a bigger cash cushion because the pension comes with an obligatory tax free lump sum.

My plan is fairly simple:
1. £1,000 a month plus 50% of however much the accountant tells me I was underpaid in the 2016/2017 financial year (this is likely to be a small five-figure sum) into the cash account.
2. Increase my husband's SIPP contributions.
3. Take holidays! You never know what the future holds.
4. Continue to feed my S&S ISA with whatever's left. I've been advised that due to the way my DB pension accrual is calculated I'll be sailing close to the annual allowance if I stay at work until March 2019 (which is not impossible, though at the moment the prospect of another 15 months feels like being told to eat an elephant) and I'm out of carry-forward, so I won't make any SIPP contributions until I've handed in my notice.

PhilB

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 5705
Re: 2018
« Reply #11 on: December 31, 2017, 12:11:43 AM »
I fear 2018 will be a year of continual agonising over whether to quit or try to hang on for my planned June 2019 date with my thoughts see-sawing depending on whether DW or I have had a good day or a bad day at work.

poppydog

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 156
  • Location: Scotland, UK
Re: 2018
« Reply #12 on: December 31, 2017, 01:37:53 AM »
I fear 2018 will be a year of continual agonising over whether to quit or try to hang on for my planned June 2019 date with my thoughts see-sawing depending on whether DW or I have had a good day or a bad day at work.

Good luck PhilB. Maybe a burst of super saving early this year can advance your date to December 2018?  It would feel much better to know you’re in your last year! 

RetirementInvestingToday

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 76
    • Retirement Investing Today
Re: 2018
« Reply #13 on: December 31, 2017, 03:58:03 AM »
I fear 2018 will be a year of continual agonising over whether to quit or try to hang on for my planned June 2019 date with my thoughts see-sawing depending on whether DW or I have had a good day or a bad day at work.
My suggestion is be digital about it.  FIRE or set an amount and/or a date to FIRE then get your head down.  I spent a period of time in limbo with the will I or won't I post FI and it led to negativity and plenty of bad work days because there is always something better you could be doing in FIRE (the initial must do's or dreams).  It is just not healthy.  As soon as I admitted I was going to do OMY and adjusted the countdown timer everything became far more positive again.

RetirementInvestingToday

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 76
    • Retirement Investing Today
Re: 2018
« Reply #14 on: December 31, 2017, 04:02:08 AM »
I love the idea of living somewhere with warmer weather than the UK. We aren't considering emigrating, but I think FIRE winters may include an element of snowbirding.

I've just done my year-end sums. I'd previously calculated that it would be financially feasible for me to retire at the end of June 2018, and this remains the case, though I currently expect to stay at work till the end of September. I plan to take my DB pension, which will cover our household essentials, in March 2019, and to bridge the gap with cash savings; I don't need to have a bigger cash cushion because the pension comes with an obligatory tax free lump sum.

My plan is fairly simple:
1. £1,000 a month plus 50% of however much the accountant tells me I was underpaid in the 2016/2017 financial year (this is likely to be a small five-figure sum) into the cash account.
2. Increase my husband's SIPP contributions.
3. Take holidays! You never know what the future holds.
4. Continue to feed my S&S ISA with whatever's left. I've been advised that due to the way my DB pension accrual is calculated I'll be sailing close to the annual allowance if I stay at work until March 2019 (which is not impossible, though at the moment the prospect of another 15 months feels like being told to eat an elephant) and I'm out of carry-forward, so I won't make any SIPP contributions until I've handed in my notice.
Why aren't you considering emigrating?  Once you FIRE and provided you aren't bare bones on the finances the world really does become your oyster.  I thought about the home in the UK and winter apartment in the sun thing.  When I did the maths even a small second home is not inexpensive.

PhilB

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 5705
Re: 2018
« Reply #15 on: December 31, 2017, 04:53:11 AM »
I fear 2018 will be a year of continual agonising over whether to quit or try to hang on for my planned June 2019 date with my thoughts see-sawing depending on whether DW or I have had a good day or a bad day at work.

Good luck PhilB. Maybe a burst of super saving early this year can advance your date to December 2018?  It would feel much better to know you’re in your last year!
Thanks.  Unfortunately my barriers are almost entirely psychological.  My financial targets are almost certainly way too high and, following the recent stock market returns, I'm likely to hit them this summer rather than next anyway, but my pessimistic nature doesn't like to count those 'excess' investment returns in case they are wiped out in a correction.  If it was just us, I'm sure we'd walk now, but having kids of 12 and 14 the feeling that I need extra to help them through Uni, to buy a house and for 'just in case' is a hard one to defeat.

PhilB

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 5705
Re: 2018
« Reply #16 on: December 31, 2017, 04:56:39 AM »
I fear 2018 will be a year of continual agonising over whether to quit or try to hang on for my planned June 2019 date with my thoughts see-sawing depending on whether DW or I have had a good day or a bad day at work.
My suggestion is be digital about it.  FIRE or set an amount and/or a date to FIRE then get your head down.  I spent a period of time in limbo with the will I or won't I post FI and it led to negativity and plenty of bad work days because there is always something better you could be doing in FIRE (the initial must do's or dreams).  It is just not healthy.  As soon as I admitted I was going to do OMY and adjusted the countdown timer everything became far more positive again.
Completely agree that that is the best way to be.  It's just achieving it that's the problem as the more corporate bullshit I get hit with the more the 'why are you doing this?' thoughts start kicking the door down.

RetirementInvestingToday

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 76
    • Retirement Investing Today
Re: 2018
« Reply #17 on: December 31, 2017, 05:07:10 AM »
I fear 2018 will be a year of continual agonising over whether to quit or try to hang on for my planned June 2019 date with my thoughts see-sawing depending on whether DW or I have had a good day or a bad day at work.
My suggestion is be digital about it.  FIRE or set an amount and/or a date to FIRE then get your head down.  I spent a period of time in limbo with the will I or won't I post FI and it led to negativity and plenty of bad work days because there is always something better you could be doing in FIRE (the initial must do's or dreams).  It is just not healthy.  As soon as I admitted I was going to do OMY and adjusted the countdown timer everything became far more positive again.
Completely agree that that is the best way to be.  It's just achieving it that's the problem as the more corporate bullshit I get hit with the more the 'why are you doing this?' thoughts start kicking the door down.
Exactly what I went through.  Very quickly after hitting FI my bullsh*t bucket became tiny and my stress bucket became huge then I became unhappy as I was drifting in a difficult environment with no end in site.  The exact opposite of what i went through getting to FI which was incredible focused.  You have to set a plan even if it's I'm going to get my head down and work until <insert month and year here> at which point we'll have a family meeting and agree next steps.

Burnthehousedown

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 16
Re: 2018
« Reply #18 on: December 31, 2017, 12:20:05 PM »
My 2018 goals in order of occurence:
- Collect my 2017 bonus
- Fill both the better half's and my S&S ISA
- Resign
- FIRE by the middle of the year having completed my OMY
- Move to the Med
- Register in our new Med country pre-Brexit to ensure we get the negotiated rights already agreed

Like dreams_and_discoveries prior to FIRE'ing I want to keep my net savings rate over 80%.

My FIRE journey is now at 10.2 years and I'm ready to move onto the next phase.

I'll be interested to hear from you post FIRE when you're in the drawdown stage! Good luck for the move to the Med!

I would love to do something similar in retirement - I can't deal with the lack of sunlight here in winter. However, that's still a way off and who knows what the situation will be post-Brexit.


My goals are the same as always - maintain pension contributions at company match (5% each) and put as much as possible into my S&S ISA (sadly not enough to utilise my whole allowance yet!).

Edit: does anyone know what's happened to Simple Living in Suffolk?
« Last Edit: December 31, 2017, 01:10:28 PM by Burnthehousedown »

aoedae

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 43
Re: 2018
« Reply #19 on: December 31, 2017, 03:14:08 PM »
Impressive goals in this thread! I'm a little overawed, as I'm 25, and single, and therefore much, much earlier on my FIRE journey...

My 2018 goals in order of occurrence:
- Save 40% of total pre-tax earnings in first half of year (approximately £13,000) via salary sacrifice to auto-enrolment company pension and S&S ISA
- January 2018: Open my LISA (and keep open in case I need to use it for a future house purchase) and change to my new address with all financial institutions
- February 2018: Gain remaining £250 available from bank current account switches & sell my car for around £4k (already off-road and declared SORN as of 1st January)
- April 2018: Persuade my current workplace to give me freelance work during my masters at my annual review, as well as at least a +cost of living pay rise. [Aside: I've had a significant title increase since my last pay rise (1 year 3 months previously, by April), so may also angle for a decent salary bump before I leave, but the business as a whole isn't doing so well, so I may struggle to get much.]
- Mid-June 2018: Go part-time from to spend time in my non-profit lab, supervise a PhD student internship with us, and prepare for my Master's degree
- September 2018: move to Manchester (lower cost of living city) for a Master's degree in Bioinformatics & Computational Biology, funded from my savings and parents (who are willing to go halves on tuition), which will hopefully increase my long-term earning potential
- November/December 2018: pick up some freelance work from my old company during their busy season to provide some income [net: more profitable than a part-time retail job.]

In my opinion, there's significantly diminishing returns on trying to earn over £18k-ish taxable income in the coming tax year, as my student loan deducts an additional 9% at that point, so with NI+basic rate it's an effective 41% tax rate [on time I could therefore better invest in my studies.] But I'd be happy to hear contrary views if you disagree!

Overall goal: I just want to make a net break even this year, balancing savings with tuition, or maybe even a little profit using my eBay resale side business.
« Last Edit: January 01, 2018, 03:08:15 AM by aoedae »

aoedae

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 43
Re: 2018
« Reply #20 on: December 31, 2017, 03:17:15 PM »
Edit: does anyone know what's happened to Simple Living in Suffolk?

As far as I'm aware, it's defaulted to this address: https://simplelivingsomerset.wordpress.com

Aha - here you go, an explanation... https://simplelivingsomerset.wordpress.com/2017/12/29/simple-living-in-suffolk-is-no-more/

skip207

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 422
  • Location: UK
Re: 2018
« Reply #21 on: January 01, 2018, 12:05:53 AM »
@MmatoO - Vanguard SIPP is due to launch in the next few months I think. 

Burnthehousedown

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 16
Re: 2018
« Reply #22 on: January 01, 2018, 04:08:31 AM »
Edit: does anyone know what's happened to Simple Living in Suffolk?

As far as I'm aware, it's defaulted to this address: https://simplelivingsomerset.wordpress.com

Aha - here you go, an explanation... https://simplelivingsomerset.wordpress.com/2017/12/29/simple-living-in-suffolk-is-no-more/

Ah thank you! I tried the normal website and it went to a page about recordings of sounds!

RIT may want to update the links on the side of his blog to remove the old one :)

RetirementInvestingToday

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 76
    • Retirement Investing Today
Re: 2018
« Reply #23 on: January 01, 2018, 04:25:06 AM »
Ah thank you! I tried the normal website and it went to a page about recordings of sounds!

RIT may want to update the links on the side of his blog to remove the old one :)
Already done BTHD :-)

TartanTallulah

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 592
  • Location: The Middle of Scenic Nowhere
Re: 2018
« Reply #24 on: January 01, 2018, 10:52:07 PM »
Why aren't you considering emigrating?  Once you FIRE and provided you aren't bare bones on the finances the world really does become your oyster.  I thought about the home in the UK and winter apartment in the sun thing.  When I did the maths even a small second home is not inexpensive.

There's no one LCOL place abroad we want to live in enough to justify the upheaval of a big move, and at the moment we have parents getting on in years and young adult children who regard our house as their stable point of contact. We also don't want the responsibility of owning more than one property. It's inexpensive to rent a holiday apartment in Spain out of season for a month or more at a time, and that's more in keeping with how we want to divide our time in retirement.

cerat0n1a

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2320
  • Location: England
Re: 2018
« Reply #25 on: January 02, 2018, 01:43:45 AM »
I'm planning to RE in 2018. Should probably change my username to something that doesn't easily identify me to friends & start a journal here.

poppydog

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 156
  • Location: Scotland, UK
Re: 2018
« Reply #26 on: January 02, 2018, 02:33:09 AM »
Why aren't you considering emigrating?  Once you FIRE and provided you aren't bare bones on the finances the world really does become your oyster.  I thought about the home in the UK and winter apartment in the sun thing.  When I did the maths even a small second home is not inexpensive.

There's no one LCOL place abroad we want to live in enough to justify the upheaval of a big move, and at the moment we have parents getting on in years and young adult children who regard our house as their stable point of contact. We also don't want the responsibility of owning more than one property. It's inexpensive to rent a holiday apartment in Spain out of season for a month or more at a time, and that's more in keeping with how we want to divide our time in retirement.

That pretty much sums up our thinking TT, although things may change in the future.  Thanks for the post.

Chuck Ditallin

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 67
Re: 2018
« Reply #27 on: January 02, 2018, 07:21:20 AM »
I'm planning to RE in 2018. Should probably change my username to something that doesn't easily identify me to friends & start a journal here.

You never know when you're going to run into someone whjo knows your name from elsewhere ;-)

so: me too... and me, too... but not me, too (respectively.)

CrabbitDutchie

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 218
Re: 2018
« Reply #28 on: January 02, 2018, 11:22:21 AM »
Still at baby steps stage so nothing too grand for 2018 but my financial goals are:

- Keep total expenditure below £11k for the year 
- Increase contributions to my S&S ISA as much as possible £10K this tax year and then £1000 a month until income drop (if next point happens).
- Convince my employer to fund the Masters I want to do (massive increase in earnings potential and would lead to more interesting positions at current company too) and let me go part time for a year from September to complete the MSc full time in just 1 year. The latter is pretty likely they'll agree to, the former may take some convincing as there's no precedent (but there is a shortage of experienced people with the qualification - to the tune of a £5.5k referral bonus which in itself would cover about 70% of the tuition fees.
- Increase NW by at least £20k
« Last Edit: January 02, 2018, 11:28:33 AM by CrabbitDutchie »

icbatbh

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 35
  • Location: UK
Re: 2018
« Reply #29 on: January 03, 2018, 03:15:20 AM »
April 2018 will see me enter year 3 of my journey to FI.

We are due to remortgage at the end of June as this is when our fixed rate period will end. The plan is to save as much cash as possible from now until then so that we can buy a few more bricks when we do. After that it will hopefully be business as usual investing an average of 40% my income for the rest of the year. If I can put £10k towards the house and another £10k in investments this year then I will be extremely happy.

We are expecting baby number 2 in July which will put the pressure on the savings rate a bit. But if having two under 2 doesn't keep me busy enough then I also have an allotment to keep me out of mischief.

Manchester

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 405
  • Location: UK
Re: 2018
« Reply #30 on: January 03, 2018, 10:45:15 AM »
I feel like I'm miles behind most people on this thread, which is slightly disheartening.  I appreciate those of you who've reached a point where you can retire early have put in the graft to get there, you're all good role models!

My goals for this year are pretty simple.  Firstly, I want to increase my tangible net worth (excluding house equity) to over £10k.  I should be able to do this by saving roughly 50% of my after tax pay.  I'd also like to spend some time in Greece with my Grandfather who's getting very old.  I've been learning Greek and have an aim to speak it to a decent level by June.  I'll be able to measure this target based on passing my self taught course before then. 

I hope you all have a good 2018.


aoedae

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 43
Re: 2018
« Reply #31 on: January 04, 2018, 05:44:32 AM »
I feel like I'm miles behind most people on this thread, which is slightly disheartening.  I appreciate those of you who've reached a point where you can retire early have put in the graft to get there, you're all good role models!

It's not about where you are now, it's about where you are going ;)

An attempt on a 50% savings rate is not to be sniffed at (and, IMO, it's much harder on a small income, as a much smaller quantity is in any way disposable.) Good luck!

aoedae

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 43
Re: 2018
« Reply #32 on: January 04, 2018, 05:45:53 AM »
- Convince my employer to fund the Masters I want to do (massive increase in earnings potential and would lead to more interesting positions at current company too) and let me go part time for a year from September to complete the MSc full time in just 1 year. The latter is pretty likely they'll agree to, the former may take some convincing as there's no precedent (but there is a shortage of experienced people with the qualification - to the tune of a £5.5k referral bonus which in itself would cover about 70% of the tuition fees.

Sounds much like my plans - out of interest, what's the MSc? I'm looking at Bioinformatics and computational biology, with a view to bioinformatics/biostatistics jobs and a later crack at data science.

start_at_the_beginning

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 29
Re: 2018
« Reply #33 on: January 04, 2018, 07:55:24 AM »
2018 goals:
1) Move out of my parent house- Done as of yesterday! Avoid breaking things. 
2) Start my first 'proper' job, due to start Monday! Aim not to suck.
3) spend no more than £1000/month (inc. £500 rent)
3) Match employers 7.5% contribution to a pension from March.
4) Save an emergency fund of £6000
5) Open and fill a stocks and shares LISA (limit £4000).
6) Regain the love of reading that university killed in me, and aim to read 30 books this year.
7) Make friends
8) Get back into a sport of some sort
9) Learn to paint really well (or just a bit better!)

Quote from: aoedae link=topic=84314.msg1839076#msg1839076

Sounds much like my plans - out of interest, what's the MSc? I'm looking at Bioinformatics and computational biology, with a view to bioinformatics/biostatistics jobs and a later crack at data science.

aoedae- just saw your post and thought I'd pop in to say I just finished a Msci in Systems Biology (essentially computational biology) and loved it! Let me know how it goes if you decide to go for it :)
« Last Edit: January 04, 2018, 10:52:19 AM by start_at_the_beginning »

CrabbitDutchie

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 218
Re: 2018
« Reply #34 on: January 04, 2018, 10:51:30 AM »
- Convince my employer to fund the Masters I want to do (massive increase in earnings potential and would lead to more interesting positions at current company too) and let me go part time for a year from September to complete the MSc full time in just 1 year. The latter is pretty likely they'll agree to, the former may take some convincing as there's no precedent (but there is a shortage of experienced people with the qualification - to the tune of a £5.5k referral bonus which in itself would cover about 70% of the tuition fees.

Sounds much like my plans - out of interest, what's the MSc? I'm looking at Bioinformatics and computational biology, with a view to bioinformatics/biostatistics jobs and a later crack at data science.

Same kind of area! I'm looking at MScs in Biostatistics/Medical statistics/ Applied statistics for health sciences. I'm from a very clinical/biological/life science background and kind of fell in to a role in biostats and programming in the pharmaceutical industry. Now need the MSc in order to move into a biostatistician position.
Think I'd absolutely love computational biology/bioinformatics, maybe one day...

Kwill

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2333
Re: 2018
« Reply #35 on: January 04, 2018, 01:17:26 PM »
In 2018, I hope to develop the habit of bringing my lunch to work every day and only eating out when it will actually add something good to my life. The goal is more to redirect my energy than to actually save. I want to say no to mediocre sandwiches from the cafeteria and yes to Sunday brunches with friends and occasional special treats.

Goal #2 is to buy a flat this year.

dreams_and_discoveries

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 924
  • Location: London, UK
Re: 2018
« Reply #36 on: January 05, 2018, 03:32:09 AM »
In 2018, I hope to develop the habit of bringing my lunch to work every day and only eating out when it will actually add something good to my life. The goal is more to redirect my energy than to actually save. I want to say no to mediocre sandwiches from the cafeteria and yes to Sunday brunches with friends and occasional special treats.

Goal #2 is to buy a flat this year.

How is the flat search going Kwill?

Kwill

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2333
Re: 2018
« Reply #37 on: January 05, 2018, 11:53:29 AM »
How is the flat search going Kwill?

It's been on hold for various reasons, but I hope to start looking again soon. My current lease ends 1 August, so it's time I got serious about finding a place.

SpreadsheetMan

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 428
Re: 2018
« Reply #38 on: January 05, 2018, 01:04:32 PM »
2018 is going to be my last full year of work, so keep my head down and try to stay positive at the office is the plan.

I have had the budget side locked in for a few years now where I operate sub-uk minimum wage and save the rest, so I just need to keep with it.

dreams_and_discoveries

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 924
  • Location: London, UK
Re: 2018
« Reply #39 on: January 05, 2018, 02:29:31 PM »
How is the flat search going Kwill?

It's been on hold for various reasons, but I hope to start looking again soon. My current lease ends 1 August, so it's time I got serious about finding a place.

Good luck, hope you get it sorted this time.

2018 is going to be my last full year of work, so keep my head down and try to stay positive at the office is the plan.

I have had the budget side locked in for a few years now where I operate sub-uk minimum wage and save the rest, so I just need to keep with it.


That's fabulous you only have one year left, you must go to the office with a secret smile?

SpreadsheetMan

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 428
Re: 2018
« Reply #40 on: January 06, 2018, 03:50:45 AM »
2018 is going to be my last full year of work, so keep my head down and try to stay positive at the office is the plan.

I have had the budget side locked in for a few years now where I operate sub-uk minimum wage and save the rest, so I just need to keep with it.


That's fabulous you only have one year left, you must go to the office with a secret smile?

It's more like 18 months actually as escape is mid-2019. My wife is going in Autumn 2018, so I am getting the "that is the last time I do [insert tedious and irksome work thing]" experience second-hand at the moment. I need to get to summer 18 before I can start saying that myself :-)

cerat0n1a

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2320
  • Location: England
Re: 2018
« Reply #41 on: January 06, 2018, 05:31:21 AM »
I have a post-it with a tally chart, crossing off one day at a time. Not the number of days until I finish work, but the number until the day when I resign. I have a 3 month notice period, but it's not entirely fixed what will happen then - best outcome would be 3 months gardening leave.

cerat0n1a

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2320
  • Location: England
Re: 2018
« Reply #42 on: January 06, 2018, 05:39:17 AM »
2018 goals:
1) Move out of my parent house- Done as of yesterday! Avoid breaking things. 
2) Start my first 'proper' job, due to start Monday! Aim not to suck.

Good luck. I ran our graduate programme at work for a couple of years and I think this "stage" of life can actually be one of the toughest for a lot of people. First "proper" job, first "proper" non-student house, first time when things aren't particularly timetabled - no end of terms, exams etc. just potentially 40+ years of work stretching ahead of you. Quite a big adjustment, and often it involves moving somewhere new where you don't know anybody, and work doesn't always provide the social opportunities that university does. Certainly many of the engineers & programmers I used to be responsible for struggled to adjust.

start_at_the_beginning

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 29
Re: 2018
« Reply #43 on: January 07, 2018, 02:41:13 AM »
2018 goals:
1) Move out of my parent house- Done as of yesterday! Avoid breaking things. 
2) Start my first 'proper' job, due to start Monday! Aim not to suck.

Good luck. I ran our graduate programme at work for a couple of years and I think this "stage" of life can actually be one of the toughest for a lot of people. First "proper" job, first "proper" non-student house, first time when things aren't particularly timetabled - no end of terms, exams etc. just potentially 40+ years of work stretching ahead of you. Quite a big adjustment, and often it involves moving somewhere new where you don't know anybody, and work doesn't always provide the social opportunities that university does. Certainly many of the engineers & programmers I used to be responsible for struggled to adjust.


Thanks cerat0n1a :) I can't say I'm not nervous! I am lucky in that I'm moving back to my university city, so I still have some friends scattered around doing PhDs etc., but I know I'm going to have to be proactive in seeing them. I don't really know what to expect with the job- I will find out tomorrow!

londonstache

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 115
Re: 2018
« Reply #44 on: January 08, 2018, 06:07:07 AM »
Inspiring to see those much further on with the FIRE journey. Alas at the age of 35 and with children possible/likely in 2018, the financial goals are:

1) Max out my S&S ISA by end of March, start of April max both mine and Mrs londonstache
2) Wield an axe to all costs like a crazed Tory minister
3) Look at increasing pension contributions to both workplace pensions by an extra 1% each

A back-of-envelope calculation puts us around ~£250k NW, not including property, so hopefully we're tracking well.

poppydog

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 156
  • Location: Scotland, UK
Re: 2018
« Reply #45 on: January 08, 2018, 11:29:47 AM »
Well done to Londonstache and all the other younger FIRE people who've posted recently.  I only wish I'd started this journey earlier.  I think I mentioned on another thread that Mrs PD and me only got together in our forties, after financially terrible divorces.   (My life-tip to everyone - find the right one first time and avoid divorce!)

These are exciting times for us though - Mrs PD and I will both submit our resignations to our respective bosses tomorrow morning - yikes! 
« Last Edit: January 08, 2018, 02:05:11 PM by poppydog »

never give up

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 7844
  • Location: UK
  • Kindness is free to give and priceless to receive
Re: 2018
« Reply #46 on: January 08, 2018, 11:31:50 AM »
Crumbs congratulations poppydog, what a moment. You’ll remember that date forever!

TartanTallulah

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 592
  • Location: The Middle of Scenic Nowhere
Re: 2018
« Reply #47 on: January 08, 2018, 01:18:13 PM »
Well done to Londonstache and all the other younger FIRE people who've posted recently.  I only wish I'd started this journey earlier.  I think I mentioned on another thread that Mrs PD and me only got together in our forties, after finacially terrible divorces.   (My life-tip to everyone - find the right one first time and avoid divorce!)

These are exciting times for us though - Mrs PD and I will both submit our resignations to our respective bosses tomorrow morning - yikes!

Exciting times indeed, poppydog :-)

Playing with Fire UK

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 3449
Re: 2018
« Reply #48 on: January 09, 2018, 12:58:45 AM »
These are exciting times for us though - Mrs PD and I will both submit our resignations to our respective bosses tomorrow morning - yikes!

How did it go?

elementz_m

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 80
  • Age: 34
  • Location: Peak District, UK
Re: 2018
« Reply #49 on: January 09, 2018, 01:44:53 AM »
I've got big plans for 2018. Retraining for a new career starting about June, which should accelerate FIRE goals significantly.

Also hoping to increase my net worth by around 156000% by December, after paying all my school fees.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!