2020

[Nomad]

@Uk-with-kids
I just take the middle value of the Zoopla.co.uk estimate of my house price.
Currently it is £96k-£106k - so I assume it is £101k.

[Nomad]

I have decided to put approx 50% of my investments into non-equities. Growth will obviously slow down but I will be able to make money
from volatility if there is a stock market collapse.

[Nomad]

end of July 2020 numbers (monthly change)

a) £41671 (same)
b) £82994 (+1545)
c) £25635 (-86)
d) £92893 (+1251)
Pensions total = £243193 (+2710)

Investments £21723
Savings/stuff £13395

House £101000 (revalued by Zoopla)
House Mort £-34417 (-168)
Car £7000 (-100)

Today's total is £351894 (+2045)

[Nomad]

end of August 2020 numbers (monthly change)
Now only 45% in equities.

a) £41671 (same)
b) £85372 (+2378)
c) £25924 (+289)
d) £95734 (+2841)
Pensions total = £248701 (+5508)

Savings/Assets £33513 (-1605)

House £100000 (revalued by Zoopla -1000)
House Mort £-34147 (-270)
Car £6900 (-100)

Today's total is £354967 (+3073)

[Nomad]

End of September 2020 numbers (monthly change)
Now only 43% in equities.

a) £41671 (same)
b) £85089 (-283)
c) £26181 (+257)
d) £95600 (-134)
Pensions total = £248541 (-160)

Savings/Assets £32991 (-522)

House £99000 (revalued by Zoopla -1000)
House Mort £-33789 (+358)
Car £6800 (-100)

Total £353543 (-1424)

[Nomad]

End of October 2020 numbers (monthly change)

a) £41671 (same)
b) £84080 (-1009)
c) £25792 (-389)
d) £94381 (-1219)
Pensions total = £245924 (-2617)

Savings/Assets £29512 (-3479)

House £99000
House Mort £-33610 (+179)
Car £6700 (-100)

Total £347526 (-5986)

[Nomad]

End of November 2020 numbers (monthly change)

rejigged pensions.
a) £41671 (same)
b) £80183
c) £42809
d) £86017
Pensions total = £250675 (+4751)

Savings/Assets £28914 (-598)

House £101000 (revalued by Zoopla +2000)
House Mort £-33339 (+271)
Car £6600 (-100)

Total £354003 (+6477)

[Nomad]

End of 2020 numbers (monthly change)

Pensions
a) £41671 (same)
b) £82575
c) £43326
d) £88546
Total = £256114 (+5439)

Savings/Assets £26682 (-2232)

House £101000
House Mort £-33070 (+269)
Car £6500 (-100)

Total £357226 (+3223)

[Nomad]

So, I end the year after not working for 9 months and with £20k more net worth than I started 2020.
My plans for travel were entirely scuppered and I did not even get to go away for a few days over New Years.
The other big news is that someone has moved in. An FI lady of a similar age to me has been living here for the last 10 weeks...

[George the original one]

Apart from the lack of traveling, you eased into retirement nicely.

[Nomad]

It has been remarkably painless - retired at 52... not bad at all.

[Nomad]

End of January 2021 numbers (monthly change)

The markets hit a peak mid-month and now have started to drop.
I think everyone expects a correction if not a crash.

Pensions
a) £41671 (same)
b) £83643
c) £48223
d) £83103
Total = £256640 (+526)

Savings/Assets £25342 (-1340)

House £101000
House Mort £-32768 (+302)
Car £6400 (-100)

Total £356614 (-612)

[fingeek]

Great to see you settling in to retirement well! Is it still going well for you?

How is Spanish practice? Have you tried Duolingo app?

[Nomad]

@fingeek
yep, it is still good. I am using the DuoLingo app as my main Spanish learning tool.
Also, I am doing a lot of music stuff at the moment. Recording songs and learning bass guitar a bit better.

[Bankai]

Great to see you doing well despite pulling the trigger just before the market crash!

Some questions:

* what was your asset allocation going into retirement/market crash and how has it changed over the last 9 months?
* was it challenging for you to watch markets drop right when you were pulling the trigger and loosing regular income and how did you deal with it?
* do you miss some aspects of work like social interactions or identity and schedule it provides? If yes, how do you deal with it and did you prepare for it in advance?
* do you intend to live in your house forever or consider moving at some point?

[Nomad]

@Bankai

Just before the market crash, my asset allocation was about 80% for most of my pensions. Note that one of them is an index-linked final salary scheme - so I just put in the transfer value in my figures. I now have a definite plan with regard to asset allocation.
Currently, 60% in equities, and the rest is bonds, gold/silver, and a real estate fund. I also have home equity but that is obviously highly illiquid.

It was fairly terrifying watching the markets drop after I handed in my notice I did think I would have to get another job in a few months but assumed having the Spring/Summer off would be fun. Mainly, I created a plan. The next time markets drop a lot I will sell some of my bonds/gold/silver/REIT and buy equities at the lower price. I basically determine this by the prevailing Cape/Shiller rate. https://www.multpl.com/shiller-pe
I may move to 50% equities and 50% other as markets are insane...

I did miss some of the social interaction and having a reason to go out and do something is good. In my free time, I did a lot of cycling and I have sorted my house out a bit and done a lot of music. I didn't however do any preparation beforehand...
Also, I expected to see friends a lot more but the lockdown rules limited this greatly. A friend of mine is also a lodger at my house, has lived here about 18 months now. So that certainly helps.

I am hoping that something approaching normality returns to the travel/tourist sector if the vaccines prove to be effective and I can book flights etc...

[Nomad]

Feb 24, 2021

Markets are a bit jittery and may have started to slide into correction territory.

Pensions
a) £42588
b) £83817
c) £48675
d) £83061
Total = £258140 (+1501)

Savings/Assets £24755 (-587)

House £101000
House Mort £-32528(+240)
Car £6300 (-100)

Total £357668 (+1054)

[Nomad]

The actual end of the month, Feb 28, 2021

Pensions
a) £42588
b) £82561
c) £48013
d) £81971
Total = £255132

Savings/Assets £24603

House £101000
House Mort £-32528(+240)
Car £6300

Total £354508

[Nomad]

End of March 2021. I have been buying too much home studio equipment...

Pensions
a) £42588 (same)
b) £82643 (+82)
c) £52744 (+4731, 3600=contribution)
d) £82163 (+192)
Total = £260138 (+5005)

Savings/Assets £20352 (-4251 or which -2880 to pension)

House £103000 (+2000 revaluation)
House Mort £-32257(+271)
Car £6200 (-100)

Total £357433 (+2915)

[Nomad]

Mid-April. House revalued again, stocks going crazy.