Mid 40's: how to maintain/max wealth + retire early

iceblue said:
We have had large expenditure over last few years - house deposits, house upgrades, car upgrades, assisting familly, one off holidays like disneyland. Circa 500k over last 6 years. This was done from savings.
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Can you detail out this 500k spend? Did you buy more than one property in the last 6 years?

It’s spent now but regardless of the incomes I feel there is over spending.
 
aristotle said:
Can you detail out this 500k spend? Did you buy more than one property in the last 6 years?

It’s spent now but regardless of the incomes I feel there is over spending.
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Deposit 84k
House renovation 200k
Car 60k
Family 50k
Mortgage adhoc payments 80k
One-off holidays 20k

No doubt we could be more frugal. Your note on 7.5k per month is under review!
Is it "overspending" if we can afford it and are not in debt?
 
Yeah it’s probably not over spending, I am just somehow irked that with that level of income and ages that there isn’t a 1m+ pension pot, a mortgage free house and plenty of cash. But with some changes that is what is down the line.
 
Annieindublin said:
You seem to be in a good place.
However I’d have a think about the kids aspect. Childcare and time with them. How is the work life balance at the moment? Will that work with 2 teens?
We found childcare for teens much harder than for younger kids, 3 months holiday.. and I know there are a gazillion summer camps. It wasn’t so much finding places for them to go (they were sporty musical and arty) but taking 2 months off to learn to sail with them, a week to go skiing, these things weren’t going to fly with my then employer so I moved and “downsized” my career, then my partner did the same. We can’t retire early but we all had a blast.

Just another angle. Ignore if by all means
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I wonder one day wiIl we regret missing out on time with the kids. It doesn't seem that way at the minute. By time we know for sure it will either be just fine or too late to change!

Perhaps that has led us to 'go for it' when it comes to holidays.

So far the kids are normal and seem content! They miss out on some activities compared to peers as we are not around to taxi them. But I'm not bothered and neither are they.

In teens expect them to be able to mind themselves, maybe even some chores while they are at it.
 
aristotle said:
Yeah it’s probably not over spending, I am just somehow irked that with that level of income and ages that there isn’t a 1m+ pension pot, a mortgage free house and plenty of cash. But with some changes that is what is down the line.
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Me too!
 
It’s not about minding them. It’s about spending time with them and building relationships. Sure you can leave a note or send a text about chores, but that’s not the same as hearing about how their friends are, and seeing who the friends are. And seeing who collects the friends from your house and how they interact with their kids. Tells you a lot about the friendships your kids are forging.

Ask any parent of a teen about when they talk and tell you stuff… in the car.. while you drive them to places. No eye contact in a car , you can’t stare at them so they actually talk and tell you stuff. That’s why we drive kids around, it’s not because we don’t like Uber or bikes.

And having one of us WFH (a decade before covid) meant the kids hung out in our place, so we met the friends and the parents and learned so much.

And frankly learning to sail in Greece, all 5 of us, was worth every single career rung. Sure we could have retired early and learned to sail now, but the kids are now busy building careers and can’t come

You’ve a great financial cushion. Enjoy it.
 
iceblue said:
Deposit 84k
House renovation 200k
Car 60k
Family 50k
Mortgage adhoc payments 80k
One-off holidays 20k

No doubt we could be more frugal. Your note on 7.5k per month is under review!
Is it "overspending" if we can afford it and are not in debt?
Click to expand...

Hi Iceblue,

This is a great question. I am not sure there is a wrong answer. I think the correct answer though rests with being intentional. Do you want to enjoy the luxury of high income now? Or do you want to secure wealth fast? Or will you intentionally find a middle ground.

The mistake arises where there is no plan and just pottering along, letting costs creep up, burning cash.

Your combined salaries are enormous, your disposable income should be mega. Being critical - your savings appear lousy! The BTLs have looked after themselves not because of your cash but because you enjoyed two lovely trackers the next generation can only dream about.

I would start with a budget to ensure you avoid unintended "lifestyle creep", it can be very very expensive, far more than a trip to Disney as it is reoccurring.

You have mentioned both jobs are high stress/busy - the implication being the goal is to work hard, pull in the money, and reach the point where you have the choice to bang out or reduce commitment - this does not really sit with "as long as we are not in debt are we overspending". If you have a clear acceptable cost base you will be able to quickly define your "need" to work in those jobs.

Curious how many employers/industries are still giving 15% into a pension. Well done anyway, with careful management you should both be "financially free" very quickly.
 
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