julicorn's journey 3 - The House on the Hill

julicorn

julicorn said:

julicorn said:

julicorn said:

End of November update:

Current figures:

Investment ISAs: £74,454.31

Mortgage: £213,005.57

% towards being mortgage neutral: 35.0%

Total retirement pot: £201,061.05

% of early retirement savings: 21.6%

End of December update:

Current figures:

Investment ISAs: £77,493.45

Mortgage: £212,517.37

% towards being mortgage neutral: 36.5%

Total retirement pot: £205,494.55

% of early retirement savings: 22.1%

End of January update. Also worth noting that the overall goal has increased with inflation to £949,500.00, so the percentage of early retirement savings is based on a different overall target. 

Current figures:

Investment ISAs: £84,246.03

Mortgage: £211,503.04

% towards being mortgage neutral: 39.8%

Total retirement pot: £217,487.16

% of early retirement savings: 22.9%


My book currently stands at around 14,000 words, for what it's worth

Stopping by for an end of Feb update with the figures only for now - struggling with a few things at the moment and trying to work out what I want to do about work mainly, so things might either get shaken up quite dramatically or not, who knows. Will post a proper update when I have the mental bandwidth. 

The stock market has not been doing great this month, let's put it like that, but we made some half decent contributions (to the ISA especially) which have at least made up for the reduction in value. 

Current figures:

Investment ISAs: £86,191.96

Mortgage: £211,010.18

% towards being mortgage neutral: 40.8%

Total retirement pot: £217,309.29

% of early retirement savings: 22.9%

South_coast

Your pot did at least increase though, I went backwards this month 🤦‍♀️

Good luck with coming to a decision x

julicorn

South_coast said:

Your pot did at least increase though, I went backwards this month 🤦‍♀️

Good luck with coming to a decision x

Thank you - we did add something like £3.8k to the ISAs (technically a GIA but am going to bed & ISA that next month), which I guess managed to fill the hole at least!

And work wise, things are just really not looking good financially at the moment. While that's not really affecting my own job security in the short term, it's adding to the stress and unhappiness I'm feeling. I need to work through what I actually want to do I think. At the moment, I'm feeling quite burned out (even though I don't have that much to do really, the great irony!). Have talked to the other two directors already and to be honest they've been quite encouraging in trying to give me some space and help find the right way forward - be that leave entirely, take some time off, go to part time, or even change my role. So the ball is definitely in my court to try and figure out what's right. I'm finding it hard because I've been with the same company for over 11 years now, I just need to figure out whether I can find some happiness and fulfilment in what I do again or if I need to move onto something else entirely. 

julicorn

You know what @South_coast , just had to slightly correct the figures because I hadn't reconciled Mr julicorn's retirement account, and we're slightly down after all. Solidarity and all that!  

South_coast

Solidarity is good, retiring early would be better 🤣!

seventh88

Hi @julicorn good to hear you had a lovely few days away, and sorry to hear you're feeling down and stressed at the moment about work. It sounds as if this is potentially a pivot point in your life/career and that can take a lot of thinking/working out. Sending you extra strength and energy as you navigate this. Be as kind to yourself as you can.

julicorn

seventh88 said:

Hi @julicorn good to hear you had a lovely few days away, and sorry to hear you're feeling down and stressed at the moment about work. It sounds as if this is potentially a pivot point in your life/career and that can take a lot of thinking/working out. Sending you extra strength and energy as you navigate this. Be as kind to yourself as you can.

Thanks so much, that is really kind of you to say!  

julicorn

Ok, I've made a decision work-wise and it luckily was accepted as well: Beginning of April, I'll take some time off, and I'll half my hours when I come back (i.e. working 2 long days a week rather than 4 long days like I do now). That will also mean that my role will need to change quite a bit, because right now I'm quite strongly entangled in project work (which I won't be able to, at least not to the same extent, if I'm not there as much). I'll still take a decent salary on 2 days, realistically about as much as I could have gotten full time by switching industries (I don't really want to find another job in my field). The plan is for me to work more at a strategic level and help develop new offerings. I'm hoping that will give me some new enthusiasm for my work. 

As much as I could have continued on and retired really early most likely, it just doesn't feel right dragging myself to work feeling miserable. Financially, it's a bit of a silly decision, but I actually feel very relieved now.

I'll need to make a decent plan for my 'days off', I'm hoping I can use them to do some more creative things, and maybe put some more effort into my etsy shop as well. At the moment, I often don't end up doing much on my day off (Friday) because I'm so drained from the work week. If any of you work part time, I'd love to hear how you bring structure into your week

In non-work news, we're going to try and tackle our garden this afternoon. It's pretty neglected because we put all our effort into the allotment, and zero into our little garden, ironic I know! I ordered a whole lot of interesting herbs from Urban Herbs to attempt to plant a herb garden, we'll see how that works out. Got a lot of prep to do first, but luckily it's not a huge area. 

And this evening we're going to go into town for a meal and cinema (we're going to watch Anora). 

I hope you're having a good weekend too and enjoying the sunshine!

trix-a-belle

That's great to hear they value you and are willing to be flexible and adjust your role to retain you, I wish my former employers had done that

julicorn

trix-a-belle said:

That's great to hear they value you and are willing to be flexible and adjust your role to retain you, I wish my former employers had done that

I do feel very lucky with how understanding they have been. I'd have expected more push back, but I think they've seen me struggle (and luckily also value me), and they seem to think it's the right move for me too. 

I think it'll give some others the chance to step up and have more ownership as well, so I'm feeling like it's probably a good move for others too (rather than it feeling like purely a selfish decision if that makes sense).