Early-retirement wannabe

jamesd

Marine_life wrote: »

I must admit to being slightly nervous on P2P (but maybe you can enlighten me!) as it seems that the rates offered are better than someone could get at a bank especially given the relatively low LTV offered. Has me asking why someone would go P2P?

Business profits for the borrower and their alternative forms of borrowing make P2P competitive. From property development finance to some forms of business expansion it's entirely viable and profitable to borrow at 1-1.5% a month vs the alternatives. Best to start by reading what I've previously written about Ablrate and MoneyThing since both places accept non-UK investors.

MoneyThing isn't expecting a very active December for seasonal reasons but you might be able to pick up a little on the secondary market. Ablrate has three deals available at the moment and a fair bit of availability on the secondary market. Pay attention to the yield on the Ablrate secondary market, pricing is usually at a premium or discount so yield is what you get, not the original loan rate. At both places the quoted loan rate isn't compounded, which is why you'll see a 12% loan selling at 100% of capital value showing a yield of about 12.5%.

Wednesday2000

Congratulations to Marine Life.:T I wasn't expecting that at all.:p

Marine_life

We had a conversation about exit date which includes a wind down over the first three months of next years with a view to be ready for exit in June.

They have offered me a one-day a week contract (which I assume is because they don't want me to go and work for the competition).

Given I was going to be looking for a one day a week side-gig anyway it seems a perfect solution. Or is it the slippery slope....:-)

chucknorris

Marine_life wrote: »

We had a conversation about exit date which includes a wind down over the first three months of next years with a view to be ready for exit in June.

They have offered me a one-day a week contract (which I assume is because they don't want me to go and work for the competition).

Given I was going to be looking for a one day a week side-gig anyway it seems a perfect solution. Or is it the slippery slope....:-)

I've just started working one day a week, I had handed in my notice to retire, I'm a chartered surveyor but work as a university lecturer. But they struggled to get someone to teach one particular module, so they asked me to work one day a week and continue delivering that module. I consider that better than retirement. I had planned to spend the winters in Spain, but as there is almost a 6 week gap between semesters, therefore I can still go away to Spain for 5 weeks from mid December to mid January, which is ideal for exploring and finding which part of Spain that I like best.

atush

One day a week sounds like Bliss.

Some work, some money, loads of time off. Whats not to like?

hugheskevi

It isn't anything like as good as 1 day a week, but I am also doing something rather different next year. I guess it works out at something like a 4 day week across the year

As well as planning for early retirement in about 7 years, I also like travelling a lot. For me, early retirement will be immediately followed by a few years on the road. But I have also managed to get 3 months (!) off work in 2017 to go off and

1. Climb Kilimanjaro (with wife)
2. Spend 3 weeks going on safaris and driving through Tanzania and Zambia (also with wife)
3. Spending 2 months going across Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Congo (not with wife, this bit will be tough, so she will be coming back home from Zambia)

Clearly, doing these sort of things doesn't help with early retirement, but really it is just moving working and retirement plans around a bit. I'll just probably have to work another couple of months longer to make good the cost of this trip, which I could alternatively have done as soon as I retired instead. Either way, much the same position would be reached.

There is also the physical aspect to consider - at age 39 the trip isn't too daunting despite nearly all of it being free camping, but even so I've lost 10 kilos since booking it back in July and reduced my 5K running time down to 24 minutes after not running at all for about 5 years previously to prepare for the trip. I very much doubt I'd be so confident of doing it if I was thinking about this once I'm the other side of 50. The one thing which did surprise me a bit was just how complacent I'd become living and working full time in London - I wasn't too badly out of shape, but gradually put on weight in my 30s and only got exercise from commuting by bicycle. It wasn't until I decided I needed to be in better physical condition for the trip that I realised just how far I'd let things slip.

I've been fortunate enough in the past to have spent a year working/holidaying in Australia, spending a year around Asia, and also a year around Africa as well as 6 weeks in Central America. If I hadn't done those things, I'd be pretty close to early retirement now once the cost of the trips but primarily the foregone earnings (and returns on those earnings) are taken into account. But I'm far happier having effectively brought forward the things I would otherwise have done in retirement, even though it does delay the point of financial independence.

darkidoe

Marine_life wrote: »

Well....here's some news for you.

Six years, one month and one day after starting this thread.....I quit.

A couple of things happened over the last month at work that really pi55ed me off so.....i wrote the letter. I sat on it for 10 days and tweaked it every day of those ten days.

During those 10 days we've also been running through our stash (€2.1 million in investments +€1 million in deferred tax accounts + pensions) as well as our budget (€35,000 'basics' + €30,000 'fun' money) and it all seems to stack up.

Finally I reached that point where the reasons to go exceeded the reasons to stay.

My contractual leaving date is 30 June 2017 ....

Press reset!

Excellent! I am overjoyed when I hear stories like yours! It makes me smile and think someday I can achieve that too!

Marine_life

hugheskevi wrote: »

As well as planning for early retirement in about 7 years, I also like travelling a lot. For me, early retirement will be immediately followed by a few years on the road. But I have also managed to get 3 months (!) off work in 2017 to go off and

1. Climb Kilimanjaro (with wife)
2. Spend 3 weeks going on safaris and driving through Tanzania and Zambia (also with wife)
3. Spending 2 months going across Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Congo (not with wife, this bit will be tough, so she will be coming back home from Zambia)

That sounds like an awesome trip.

hugheskevi wrote: »

Clearly, doing these sort of things doesn't help with early retirement...

...There is also the physical aspect to consider

I don't think there'e one set formula to early retirement and as you say there are age considerations.

I think when a lot of people have retirement in their head, they picture there young selves without really thinking about what happens to either personal taste (e.g. the desire to spend the night in a tent!) or physical ability (at 52 I can no longer run). So when the chance comes i think its good to take it.

hugheskevi wrote: »

The one thing which did surprise me a bit was just how complacent I'd become living and working full time in London

I think my years in London were the worst for my physical well-being. Even cycling or running in central London is bad for you as the air is so bad.

Enjoy your trip!

Triumph13

Marine_life wrote: »

They have offered me a one-day a week contract (which I assume is because they don't want me to go and work for the competition).

Given I was going to be looking for a one day a week side-gig anyway it seems a perfect solution. Or is it the slippery slope....:-)

So what is the one-day-a-week actually for? We all know that you don't actually need the money, so I take it that's unlikely to be the real reason. Is it an extra financial comfort blanket? Or are you worried about being bored or losing your identity in some way?
I'm not criticising your decision in any way, but I'm interested to know whether you have analysed why you wanted a side gig and if so what the answer was?
One day a week doesn't sound much, but it is potentially a big tie that could disrupt your ability to do things like take a last minute holiday, or imagine if the day you agreed to work was the one sunny day that week?

Thrugelmir

jamesd wrote: »

Business profits for the borrower and their alternative forms of borrowing make P2P competitive..

Many a property developer has come unstuck in the past. Will do so in the future. Unless you have an insight into the business finances. I'd personally suggest avoiding speculation. As it has no value.