Hi everyone,
I'm writing from southern Australia and am new to this forum. I've been a long time reader of early retirement books and websites. I am slowly convincing my partner that early retirement really is possible!
We have 2 years worth of expenses in savings, and we're always working on bringing down our monthly expenses by generally following the principles in Your Money or Your Life. Friends and family think we're tight, but we see a faint light at the end of the tunnel, while many of them have much longer tunnels!
We could pay off our house, but prefer to keep working away at the small amount remaining on our mortgage, as our job situation is a bit uncertain for now. However, we are well in front with the mortgage, and it has meant that I was able to resign from my job and take the last two years off work to complete my second degree (nearly finished!).
Once I'm back at work, my partner is planning to start winding back to part-time work. We also want to crank up our investments - in terms of dollars and knowledge. So far I have done quite a lot of reading and planning (spreadsheets galore!), but there's been no real action.
I'm not really sure when we will be able to retire. What is the best way to figure this out?
Anyway, I look forward to chatting with many of you on the forums.
Cheers
mackpal
I'm writing from southern Australia and am new to this forum. I've been a long time reader of early retirement books and websites. I am slowly convincing my partner that early retirement really is possible!
We have 2 years worth of expenses in savings, and we're always working on bringing down our monthly expenses by generally following the principles in Your Money or Your Life. Friends and family think we're tight, but we see a faint light at the end of the tunnel, while many of them have much longer tunnels!
We could pay off our house, but prefer to keep working away at the small amount remaining on our mortgage, as our job situation is a bit uncertain for now. However, we are well in front with the mortgage, and it has meant that I was able to resign from my job and take the last two years off work to complete my second degree (nearly finished!).
Once I'm back at work, my partner is planning to start winding back to part-time work. We also want to crank up our investments - in terms of dollars and knowledge. So far I have done quite a lot of reading and planning (spreadsheets galore!), but there's been no real action.
I'm not really sure when we will be able to retire. What is the best way to figure this out?
Anyway, I look forward to chatting with many of you on the forums.
Cheers
mackpal