Page 2 of 5

Re: Kipling's Journal

Posted: Sat May 04, 2019 6:07 am
by Earlybath
I came across this vineyard unexpectedly while out on a hike a couple of months ago.
https://www.redhillestate.com/
Really beautiful to look at and owner seemed to be having a pretty good time of it (he was labelling up bottles), but the risk / reward of running a vineyard in the Uk boggles the mind. I looked at the prices when I got back, but didn’t fancy dropping £20 on such an unknown quantity (I am not a wine person).
However, I might pop back on one the tours in the summer, it’s good to listen to someone thats following their passion.

Re: Kipling's Journal

Posted: Thu Jun 06, 2019 4:15 pm
by Kipling
Assets and liabilities check 6/6/19

Assets

Property - £387,000
Saleable collections - £14,000

Pension 1 - £15,000
Pension 2 - £466,000
Pension 3 - £92,000
Pension 4 - £74,000

ISAs - £15,000
NS&I - £40,000
Cash at bank - £3,000
Loan out- £12,000

Gross - £1,118,000

Liabilities

Credit card - £3,000
Committed purchases - £2,000

Net - £1,113,000

I spent £4453 this month. Too much. That included some £800 on a city break, £1600 on more wine for future drinking, and £400 on a pair of boots. Basic food and maintenance costs were again about £1500, the remainder went on a brief out of town trip. I socked another chunk away in premium bonds. The stock markets and property value went down but I clicked though another year which means the NPV of my final salary / state pensions goes up. Must (really, must) do better.

Re: Kipling's Journal

Posted: Sat Jun 08, 2019 6:19 am
by Earlybath
Kipling wrote:
Thu Jun 06, 2019 4:15 pm
Must (really, must) do better.
At what? For what purpose?

Re: Kipling's Journal

Posted: Sat Jun 08, 2019 12:12 pm
by chenda
There is a couple of vineyards in Hampshire, the white and sparkling I tried was quite nice, although I'm not a wine expert at all. 'Good plonk' my parents used to say back in the 1980s, do wine people still say that ? Maybe you could be a wine blogger ? You seem to write well.

Re: Kipling's Journal

Posted: Thu Jul 04, 2019 4:48 pm
by Kipling
Assets and liabilities check 4/7/19

Assets

Property - £387,000
Saleable collections - £14,000

Pension 1 - £16,000
Pension 2 - £497,000
Pension 3 - £83,000
Pension 4 - £91,000

ISAs - £16,000
NS&I - £40,000
Cash at bank - £7,000
Loans out- £13,000

Gross - £1,164,000

Liabilities

Credit card - £4,000
Committed purchases - £2,000

Net - £1,158,000

I spent £5,344 this month. £3,152 of that was a big targeted spend on some buy-it while-it's-undervalued wine for future drinking (some of which is for a time many years into retirement). Other than that (!) not much to kick myself about. £500 on the remaining costs of a very expensive city break for my birthday; £300 on supplies for, and a trip up to see, the aged parents. Basic food and maintenance costs were again about £1,500, that seems pretty standard (if a luxurious life that includes the substantial service charge on my portered block, a cleaner once a week, and organic free range meat and poultry can ever be described as 'standard'). The stock markets went up sharply so I'm more than £30k better off than last month- sure nice when that happens but it rarely does! We are riding for a fall I'm sure but I'm trying to avoid having clever ideas about timing the market. I also checked up on the net present value of my small final salary pension due at 60 (slightly lower than I thought, as the base value has not grown as fast as my assumptions- assumptions thus adjusted for future) and my state pension (the UK tax authority website also now includes your social security record, and tells you exactly how much pension you will be entitled to- quite a lot more than I thought, as my last years at school post-16 counted towards it and there were also fewer gaps than I had assumed would be the case in my social security record).

I had a bout of insomnia (10 days straight with no more than 3-4 hours sleep a night) and that makes dealing with full-time work... challenging. Well, to be precise, it makes dealing with the people in the workplace challenging. Actually helping clients is easy by comparison.

Re: Kipling's Journal

Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2019 9:02 am
by Kipling
Assets and liabilities check 2/8/19

Assets

Property - £387,000
Saleable collections - £14,000

Pension 1 - £18,000
Pension 2 - £500,000
Pension 3 - £83,000
Pension 4 - £91,000

ISAs - £16,000
NS&I - £50,000
Cash at bank - £5,000
Loans out- £12,000

Gross - £1,176,000

Liabilities

Credit card - £2,000

Net - £1,174,000

I spent £6,386 this month. £2,186 of that was more spending on buy-it while-it's-undervalued wine for future drinking. Of the £4,200 remainder £1,700 went on like-for-like replacement clothes for stuff that had worn out. £300 on future holiday costs. £350 on going to see the parents and supplies for that. Food and household maintenance costs were up sharply at £1,850, mainly due to an extra slug of the latter. I got a small bonus which went into savings so despite all this spending net worth is up again. Way the market is looking though that is not going to be the case at the end of this month...

Re: Kipling's Journal

Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2019 9:17 am
by Kipling
@ earlybath: I have been pondering your questions ['At what? In what way?] of June 8th. It is genuinely helpful to have people ask these sorts of questions because it forces one to articulate clearly what one means. I must do better at optimising my spending. Wasted money often occurs when I give in to short- term temptation. Examples include (i) buying a bag of chips or sweets on the way home. I end up only eating half of them and throwing away the rest. Since they're incredibly bad for me, it is actually worse than throwing money down the drain. (ii) getting the tube home instead of walking. I need to do more exercise, walking home is part of my 6-miles-a-day base load, so why go and stand in a loud, sweaty, underground cattle truck with lots of other depressed people? I should be walking everywhere, exercising daily, and consuming just protein and salad [and wine].

Re: Kipling's Journal

Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2019 9:33 am
by Kipling
@chenda: I actually went to Chapel Down vineyards in Kent on a team trip this month and we did the full tour and tasting. The tour was enjoyable and included the clearest explanation of Guyot pruning I've had anywhere. But the wine... I know my standards are pretty high but I was surprised by quite how bad some of it was, especially in terms of quality for price. There was a £30 single vineyard chardonnay where the fruit just wasn't powerful enough to stand up to the amount of oak they'd given it. That's poor wine-making, and unacceptable at the price of good Premier Cru Chablis. Chapel Down allege that it is one of England's finest white wines. In which case, I am not sure I should bother with the rest.

Re: Kipling's Journal

Posted: Sat Sep 07, 2019 5:00 am
by Kipling
Assets and liabilities check 7/9/19

Assets

Property - £387,000
Saleable collections - £14,000

Pension 1 - £18,000
Pension 2 - £488,000
Pension 3 - £83,000
Pension 4 - £91,000

ISAs - £16,000
NS&I - £50,000
Cash at bank - £9,000
Loans out- £12,000

Gross - £1,168,000

Liabilities

Credit card - £4,000

Net - £1,164,000

I spent £4,819 in August. £1,400 of that was on a holiday in Italy that was informative and largely enjoyable but also exhausting and terrifyingly expensive. [It ran into early September during which time I spent another £1,800; that was only my share; including pre-payments the total for the two of us for the trip was something like £8,500 for 10 days- which is absurd and which I am not prepared to repeat.] £600 for another round of sessions with a personal trainer (covers occasional sessions over about three months). £1,000 went on wine and spirits for future drinking and £400 on going to see the parents and taking each of them out for dinner. Of the remaining £1,400 I had two expensive dinners out with work colleagues which I did not enjoy [they were in noisy environments- almost all London restaurants are really noisy- in which I can't hear anything anyone says because I have an auditory processing disorder] but cost almost £400. That was wholly pointless spending, and a reminder that I need to be more honest about my disability in socially-polite-professional-contexts, because not being so leads to me spending lots of money to be miserable, which is insane.

It is perhaps not surprising that in a month when I had a total of 24 'meals out' I gained 3 pounds. So I am now off to do some press-ups in the park.

Re: Kipling's Journal

Posted: Sat Sep 07, 2019 8:56 am
by 2Birds1Stone
It's still not too late to get to your goal of ~196 lbs by years end, 24 meals out a month might be a hindrance though.

Re: Kipling's Journal

Posted: Sun Sep 08, 2019 4:54 am
by Alice_AU
Hello Kipling, may I ask how do you approximate the value of the future State Pension (#4 on your list) ?

My calculation gives me £218K (£168pw times 52 weeks per year, multiplied by 25 using 4% swr rule). I, however, don't add it to my NW summary, as it is too far away and the rules/amounts/qualifying age will likely change, and possibly even more than once...

Re: Kipling's Journal

Posted: Sun Sep 08, 2019 4:00 pm
by Kipling
@Alice_AU: the figure is based on the weekly amount that according to my personal tax account (even though you are no longer in the UK, your journal suggests, presumably you can still access yours) I have already accrued (in my case, £129/week). I then assume a 2.5% annual growth in that number between now and 68 (i.e. I assume no increment for contributions- I might retire tomorrow- but I do assume an increment for RPI). I then assume I am going to survive until I am 80, and then add together (assuming 2.5% growth annually in pension value for RPI) the sum total of what I expect to receive in the period 68-80. Having established that total amount (in my case, about 175k), I then discount that total back to today by 3% a year (22 years in my case) to provide an Net Present Value of that asset for retirement calculation purposes.

While, as you correctly suggest, the delivery of the pension is in a sense uncertain due to the UK's sovereign parliamentary powers- I take the view that it is as 'real' as any other number in my retirement calculations. There are others here who will tell you that if you want certainty about retirement calculations, then buy (by strictly proper and lawful means) land, seeds, guns, bullets, skills, and basic medical supplies: not promises from a present government that a future government may or may not honour. I respect those who choose not to believe the promises of governments; personally I am gambling on at least some of those promises being delivered; but, if I am wrong, the societal suffering that will follow makes my personal situation irrelevant.

Re: Kipling's Journal

Posted: Mon Sep 09, 2019 1:29 am
by Kipling
@2birds1stone - yes indeed, some focus is going to be required but i'm going to give it a go. A weekend of fairly healthy eating and really serious amounts of exercise has me back down to 207 pounds today. I'm now going to go for an exercise session before going to work.

Re: Kipling's Journal

Posted: Mon Sep 09, 2019 2:53 am
by Alice_AU
Makes sense)
The difference is from
a) me assuming I'll get to the final amount of £168pw (only have £111 now but continue paying voluntary contributions so on track)
b) you including only what you're likely to receive and me - what I would need to have invested to have this income indefinitely with 4% swr

I also ignore the increases and discounting under presumption they'll cancel each other out)

Re: Kipling's Journal

Posted: Fri Oct 11, 2019 5:13 am
by Kipling
Assets and liabilities check 11/10/19

Assets

Property - £387,000
Saleable collections - £14,000

Pension 1 - £16,000
Pension 2 - £492,000
Pension 3 - £83,000
Pension 4 - £91,000

ISAs - £21,000
NS&I - £50,000
Cash at bank - £7,000
Loans out- £12,000

Gross - £1,173,000

Liabilities

Credit card - £7,000
Tax bill - £5,000

Net - £1,161,000

I spent £6,351 in September. £1,800 of that was on the remainder of a holiday that ran into September. £2,750 went on wine for future drinking- almost fully stocked now. The remaining £1,800 was the usual round of food and mandatory travel and household expenses. My service charges, council tax, utilities and the cleaner now add up to about £600 a month. I've changed electricity supplier this month as they were starting to gouge me, as a reward for staying with them for years. I don't control the service charge (which is set to go down 20% the year after next- we'll see...) and the council tax is what it is. It would take a lot to make me give up on the cleaner- basically, that is an expense of working. The pleasure I get from coming home on a Tuesday, tired from work, and finding the whole place spotless is immense.

Stock markets went down. I socked some more away (albeit the additional money put in is staying in cash until we see where things are heading).

My firm under-reserved for my tax bill for last year so I'll have to pay that in the next few months. Irritating in one sense but on the other hand I have found some consolation in having sufficient put away that I can swallow an unexpected £5,000 bill without blinking. So I'm basically flat overall.

Weight this morning 209. Time to make changes to the eating habits as well as doing exercise. I've been eating too much pizza. Yes there have been a good few late nights in the office, getting home at 10 or 11pm, but there are other options for fast eating that are healthier.

Re: Kipling's Journal

Posted: Fri Oct 11, 2019 5:18 pm
by Noedig
I had a couple of bottles of Chateau Kirwan the other week. Heavenly.

Be careful you don't end up like two of my friends - more wine than they will ever drink. You could sell it I suppose.

Luxury experiences must be intermittent to still be luxurious. I avoid pointless semi-social expensive dinners, but, sigh, some are part of the expense of having a professional and social life.

I feel your pain re Italian holiday, I had one of those this year: beautiful villa, rather expensive however all in. Those winding narrow roads in Umbria, fun to drive but require constant manoeuvring - no wonder Italians drive like madmen.

You are obviously well on your way to being able to FI, may your fortune continue.

Re: Kipling's Journal

Posted: Fri Oct 11, 2019 5:36 pm
by Noedig
I had a couple of bottles of Chateau Kirwan 2010 the other week. Heavenly.

Be careful you don't end up like two of my friends - more wine than they will ever drink. You could sell it I suppose. That becomes a hobby in itself.

Luxury experiences must be intermittent to still seem luxurious. I avoid pointless semi-social expensive dinners, but, sigh, some are part of the expense of having a professional and social life. First trip to Noma - sublime. Second - laughably awful: hit the diminishing returns in the first 5 mins.

I feel your pain re Italian holiday, I had one of those this year: beautiful villa, rather expensive however all in. Those winding narrow roads in Umbria, fun to drive but require constant manoeuvring - no wonder Italians drive like madmen.

You are obviously well on your way to being able to FI, may your fortune continue.

Re: Kipling's Journal

Posted: Sun Nov 03, 2019 8:38 am
by Kipling
@ Noedig: Good Bordeaux is wonderful stuff. But one of those things (like houses...) that I am just a bit too young to have ever purchased in the days before asset inflation really took hold around 2001. I am profoundly grateful when I drink other people's, though!

My aim is to retire with all the expensive wine I will ever drink already in the cellar. 'Daily drinking' will come from an annual trip to stock up on Beaujolais in 10-litre foil packages (available from a chap in Lyons market at 20-30 euros a time). That will perfectly provide for the 'glass of wine with lunch' (shades of the great Elizabeth David's 'An Omelette and a Glass of Wine' here).

Re: Kipling's Journal

Posted: Sun Nov 03, 2019 9:02 am
by Kipling
Assets and liabilities check 03/11/19

Assets

Property - £387,000
Saleable collections - £15,000

Pension 1 - £17,000
Pension 2 - £490,000
Pension 3 - £83,000
Pension 4 - £91,000

ISAs - £21,000
NS&I - £50,000
Cash at bank - £9,000
Loans out- £12,000

Gross - £1,175,000

Liabilities

Credit card - £3,000
Tax bill - £5,000

Net - £1,167,000

I spent £7,364 in October. £1,100 of that was on a trip to upstate New York - good fun to be with an old friend who lives over there. £3,750 went on wine for future drinking. £900 on a rare opportunity to buy several years of birthday-present material for my father in the line of what he collects. £400 on a present for myself- something in the line of what I collect that I'd been thinking about whether or not to buy for six months. The remaining £1,150 was the usual round of food and mandatory travel and household expenses.

Stock markets were flat. I didn't invest anything so no real change there.

Weight this morning 210. Too many late nights, not enough exercise. Again. I have agreed to go on a week-long boot camp with my girlfriend in March 2020 which gives me something to aim at fitness-wise. It will be interesting to see if our relationship survives the experience!

Re: Kipling's Journal

Posted: Mon Dec 02, 2019 6:25 am
by Kipling
Assets and liabilities check 30/11/19

Assets

Property - £387,000
Saleable collections - £15,000

Pension 1 - £27,000
Pension 2 - £502,000
Pension 3 - £83,000
Pension 4 - £91,000

ISAs - £37,000
NS&I - £23,000
Cash at bank - £6,000
Loans out- £12,000

Gross - £1,183,000

Liabilities

Credit card - £1,000

Net - £1,182,000

I spent £3,865 in November. £500 on a new hob which will be installed in a few days, the previous one died a couple of months back and its absence has been forcing up my food costs at home (£450) and eating out (£600). £1,000 on wine for future drinking. £450 on other flat expenses. The remaining £865 was mandatory travel (£200) clothing maintenance (£200) a prepayment for the boot camp (£200) and miscellaneous expenses.

I shifted money from premium bonds into pension and ISA to fill annual tax free allowances; so they're done for the year. I also paid my tax bill (which is £4,500 I will get back when I do my 2019/20 tax return next summer). It's now about rebuilding cash reserves. Stock markets were broadly flat.

Weight this morning 211. Too many late nights, not enough exercise. Yet again. I've been working on functional fitness with a personal trainer so I'm in a bit better shape, but still too heavy.