Honkie Signing in and Saying Hi!

[Honkie]

Been reading the forum for a while and very impressed and entertained!

About time to say hello...here's our basics.........

Married, 35, daughter of nearly 2 years.

Home - 630k of equity, mortgage currently at 320k (Market value approx. 950k)

Other Props - 525k of equity, mortgages currently at 690k (Market value approx. 1215k)

450k in stocks, funds and cash, plus around 50k in other saleable assets (gold, jewellery)

Total net just north of 1.6 mill. (2.615m in assets less 1.010m liabilities)

Saving between 3 to 3.5k per month.


Cheers, Honkie

 

[Cut-Throat]

Hi Honkie,

That's a lot of wealth for a 35 year old! How did you manage to accumulate so much for a young person?

On another note - Have you ever considered that over a Mil of it is in real estate equity that could vanish with a Bubble pop?

Also, LBYM does not seem to be part of your savings forumula as you live in a Million dollar house. If you are interested in ER, there looks to be a few ways to save yourself a few bucks and diversify your portfolio. - Just my 2 cents.

 

[Honkie]

Hi Cut-throat,

Thanks for your 2 cents, anothers opinion is always interesting.

To fill in some of the blanks, my wife and I are both professionals and have quite a large income (good years have been above 250k) I am grateful for the opportunity of a great education for that one. Yes, we have the million dollar home (apartment actually), but that was bought some years ago and has appreciated considerably. Also, previous real estate deals and other sideline businesses have added one-off lump sums to the pile. We also save religiously and despite appearances do live below our means!! Could we live even further below our means? Definitely we could save a few bucks here and there, but we don't want to. Yes, we could shave our budgets if financial independence was our SOLE aim, but we want to enjoy some of the fruits of our labours as we go along!! That said, we live considerably more frugally than many of our contemparies. Truthfully there is not much we would WANT to trim from the budget and it wouldn't significantly improve our accumulation progress.

As for the lean towards real estate - I take your point, but we are not particularly ruffled. As you can see from the numbers, we are far from highly geared (47/53% debt to equity). From the investment property, cashflow is strong, tenancies are good (mostly long term corporate) and returns are acceptable. So I am comfortable with that for the long term. I acknowledge your comments on the bubble scenario and would say that the current market does not offer anything even remotely attractive (believe me I have searched long and hard).

Cheers

H

 

[shiny]

Hi Honkie,

This doesn't really have anything to do with your ER strategy... I just wanted to let you know that I agree with you about wanting to have rational political discussions about issues such as the worlds perceptions of the US, etc. but some people (who for some un-justifiable reasons) believe they are smarter than everyone else and therefore cannot hear/understand anyone else.

I've been reading this board for months and have not come across much immature name calling (immature jokes, sure, but that's part of the fun!) but we both have been subjected to it right off the bat. I just consider the source and wear it as a badge of honor.

BTW, my husband and I are about your age and we love NYC, but we ended up in Seattle which is probably for the best ERwise (no state tax and the rents are not quite so high) Take Care, Shiney

 

[haha]

Hi Honkie,

This doesn't really have anything to do with your ER strategy...  I just wanted to let you know that I agree with you about  wanting to have rational political discussions about issues such as the worlds perceptions of the US, etc. but some people (who for some un-justifiable reasons) believe they are smarter than everyone else and therefore cannot hear/understand anyone else. 

I've been reading this board for months and have not come across much immature name calling (immature jokes, sure, but that's part of the fun!)  but we both have been subjected to it right off the bat.  I just consider the source and wear it as a badge of honor.

BTW, my husband and I are about your age and we love NYC, but we ended up in Seattle which is probably for the best ERwise (no state tax and the rents are not quite so high)  Take Care, Shiney

First, welcome to Puget Sound, Shiney. And welcome to the board to both you and Honkie. I don't quite understand some of the recent heat either, but I've been here 2 years or so, and it comes and goes. Likewise, the interest in and tolerance for thought-provoking posts waxes and wanes.

I hope you both will hang around and contribute going forward, as you certainly have already.

ha

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Its ok folks, just strap on your asbestos underwear and you'll be fine.

The good news is the name callers and idiots arent really significant contributors here.

That apparently goes for me too

 

[Honkie]

Thanks for the welcome, Shiney, Haha and th.

After reading a lot of the previous posts here I really did not expect the angry reactions generated in certain quarters. Very surprised. Maybe I should have laid lower for a few months!!!! Still, takes more than a couple a ignorant loud mouths to get me down.

Take care all.