How has this house gone up so much?

Herzlos

Mark_Glasses said:

My monthly savings target is £2k every month regardless of whether I exceeded it in previous months. 

If you don't think I'm going to be a paper millionaire how far do you think I can get? How much would I need in the bank to become a paper millionaire? We have more than £100k but it is less than £200k.

If you're at £200k and saving £2k/month (more than most of us earn), it'll take you another 33 years to hit £1m not factoring in interest.

But that'd put you at 76, so you'll presumably have retired by 67 meaning the most you'd be able to add is another £520k. Your flat would probably be worth more than £300k which would bump you over the million though. So congratulations, I guess. You've got £1m in assets but have spent your entire working career being miserable so you can age in wealth that you won't want to spend.

Of course, with compound interest you'll do better than that. You'd be much better trying to do something more productive with your money than putting it into savings.

What have you done differently in the 3 months since this started?
How much have you over paid the mortgage?

Mark_Glasses said:
Where did you get 23 years from?

You said you were 41, so you've been doing a pretty poor job since presumably 18. But then if you went to uni maybe that should be 22 and only 19 years.

By doing a poor job I mean you don't seem to have put any actual effort in, in terms of either learning about finance or trying to do something with it.

Tucosalamanca

Herzlos said:

Mark_Glasses said:

My monthly savings target is £2k every month regardless of whether I exceeded it in previous months. 

If you don't think I'm going to be a paper millionaire how far do you think I can get? How much would I need in the bank to become a paper millionaire? We have more than £100k but it is less than £200k.

If you're at £200k and saving £2k/month (more than most of us earn), it'll take you another 33 years to hit £1m not factoring in interest.

But that'd put you at 76, so you'll presumably have retired by 67 meaning the most you'd be able to add is another £520k. Your flat would probably be worth more than £300k which would bump you over the million though. So congratulations, I guess. You've got £1m in assets but have spent your entire working career being miserable so you can age in wealth that you won't want to spend.

Of course, with compound interest you'll do better than that. You'd be much better trying to do something more productive with your money than putting it into savings.

What have you done differently in the 3 months since this started?
How much have you over paid the mortgage?

Mark_Glasses said:
Where did you get 23 years from?

You said you were 41, so you've been doing a pretty poor job since presumably 18. But then if you went to uni maybe that should be 22 and only 19 years.

By doing a poor job I mean you don't seem to have put any actual effort in, in terms of either learning about finance or trying to do something with it.

So left Uni around turn of the Millennium?

Affordable housing was available in most of the country, interest rates manageable.

Stock markets offering reasonable opportunities. Picking through the tech-wreck offered the potential to make huge gains.

2008 GFC, interest rates collapse, housing takes a modest dip.

Austerity aside, those with money/assets have had fantastic opportunities to grow their wealth.
We've had QE and rates have been on the floor for a decade. Assets have grown almost exponentially as a result.

For someone aspiring to become a millionaire, they're not making good progress...

YoungBlueEyes

It seems to me the only way you’re gonna be happy is if someone puts up a link to a house in a great area, priced well below its real value, that you can buy for half your savings so no mortgage etc, that wants nothing doing to it at all and will be worth £1.5mil by Christmas. 

If you don’t actually do something more than posting on here about how you can’t catch up with a guy (who probably hasn’t given you a seconds thought) you’ll be no further forward in another 3 months/3 years/however long. 

The only way you’re gonna be a millionaire is to take £10k into a Bureau de Change and swop it for rupees. 

I’m done now. It’s no fun when you’re not sure if someone’s not right in the head. Get help Mark. Seriously. And don’t lose your wife to your miserly ways. 

RelievedSheff

Mark_Glasses said:

Like I said he's not what I'd call a close friend. We have some friends who are currently on holiday in France and we were invited but declined due to the cost.

We had a two week holiday in France in September this year.

It was cheaper than staying in the UK.

Emily_Joy

Mark_Glasses said

Putting being a millionaire to one side, what I want out of life is to have enough money to never work again. At the very least I want a job that I can at least have a slight interest in and that involves travelling.

@Emily_Joy you've hit the nail on the head there. Where are the best places to look for repossessed properties? Paying £530k for a property worth £900k would be ideal.

Repossessed properties nowdays generally sold in auction, which means you need to move really fast. The colleague I mentioned had his low offer accepted under condition they complete in 2 weeks. He didn't have any searches or survey, except mortgage valuation, and he took holiday to do all conveyancing work himself. I find the very idea of never working again really appalling.