The 'Make £120k in 10 Years' thread!

PaulW1965

Ok I'm up for the challenge to add £120k in 10 years. Me and the good wife currently have £110k in cash and £40k in shares - and we both have employee pensions. We're also mortgage free. I'm not including pensions in the challenge. We're both 50!

Right off to make a signature....

rockitup

Count me in too please.

I have taken early retirement and my pension does not cover my living costs at present but may do if I can make a better job of handling a budget...

I have capital left from house sale before moving out from UK and am trying to build on what is left after starting up again. If I can hit this target I would be very glad but with our ultra-low interest rate environment it's going to have to be made on investments instead.

Fingers crossed and I wish all fellow MSE'ers following this thread can get to the 120k target too. :beer:

rictus123

How is everyone getting along? Not much progress on the savings front as i am clearing debt. Looking like August for debt free date so should have some money saved by end of the year!!

MoneySaverLog

Been there and done that rictus123, It's going slowly but will get there, depending on returns from investments it's likely to be 5-7 years. It's a long challenge, but will be worth it in the end :-)

YoungBusinessman

Just found this thread...how is everyone getting on? I would like to join in the fun!!

N1AK

I wasn't on the original thread, which sadly doesn't seem to have taken off; however I have been managing my money and saving so I'll put a little update on here and if the thread wakes up I'll keep updating.

I have used a program called Moneydance to track my finances since early 2009 which makes it reasonably easy to find these figures.

Back in January 2009 my net worth was -£9,840 (negative due to student loan). I had been working since I finished uni in 2005 but hadn't really been managing my career or money. One of the best things that has happened to me was being made redundant in early 2009. The redundancy payment, plus incentives to stay on meant I had most of a deposit to buy a house and it gave me a kick up the !!!! to get a better job.

By July when I got a new job my networth had increased to £2,500 the job paid considerably better and I saved hard, paid into a pension etc. We finally bought a house early last year my networth had reached £24,000.

We bought because we wanted more control over the property but it also helped with money as although the mortgage is higher than our rent was the interest on the mortgage was much lower.

My networth at the end of September was £58,000 made up as follows:
> £35,000 My half of our shared accounts/assets including house value, mortgage, cars, balance of credit cards and bank accounts.
> -£8,000 Student Loan
> £5,500 Savings (which I am moving most of into index funds)
> £15,000 Pension & S&S ISA
> Various little bits in cash, Paypal, Ratesetter, Zopa etc

I'm always dubious about posting in these threads because it can't fail to come over as bragging, but I wanted to highlight to people in the position I was in 4 years ago that things can work out if you take advantage of the opportunities luck gives you, think strategically and be patient. My turn around wasn't due to financial genius. I was lucky with my redundancy and I have the support of a great partner

So where do I go from here? My networth is currently increasing by about ~£1900 per month and I don't see that increasing vastly in the next few months. I am moving most of my savings to index linked funds as a long term savings strategy. We will probably look at buying a 2nd property (well mortgaging one) to take advantage of the fact we can borrow and diversify. I'm setting myself a stretch target of £90,000 networth for next Christmas and £175,000 for the end of 2015.

I prefer using networth to specific account balances, savings types etc because, in my opinion, it encourages more responsible behaviour. I could easily have more cash savings if I didn't buy or if I dropped out of my company pension for example so I prefer to look at it more holistically.

YoungBusinessman

N1AK, you are well on track! Net worth is indeed a better indication. You could own 5 houses at £300k each all mortgage free yet only have £20k in a savings account so you wouldnt look that well off...! I use net worth but its a scary figure at the moment due to £28k business loans....ask me again in 12 months when its gone