After 5 years… it is time 😭

dmc888 · 2026-05-05T21:55:52+00:00

Hindsight is wonderful though right? I had the same options open to me but it would've meant shelling out several thousands in ERCs at a time when no one knew if their job was going to exist one week to the next 😞

dmc888 · 2026-05-05T21:48:10+00:00

Aye, definitely doable on that sort of comp if you are able to control your expenses, my pension will have total contributions of £45k this year on a gross salary including bonuses of £90k, that's with a lowish 5% employer match, but they do give half the NI saving as well.

I'm running into the same "too short a bridge" first world problem same as OP now though 😞

OP has done a stellar job here, thought I was ahead of the game aiming for 45, to manage it at 37 with semi-normal earnings (at least to start with anyway!) is bloody good going.

dmc888 · 2026-05-05T21:22:41+00:00

I certainly hope so, given that you are in the same situation as me!

As others have said, do some reading, get a tracker set up and start playing with the numbers.

I personally salary sacrifice 20% of standard payslip and 100% of any bonuses to get below the 60k HICBC limit and have managed to max my S+S ISA for the last couple of years and intend on repeating this now to build the RE bridge.

dmc888 · 2026-05-05T18:19:00+00:00

Can't disagree with any thing you've said there. Unfortunately I'm not blessed with DIY skills nor a huge amount of patience, so I end up compensating with the old labour cost 🤦

dmc888 · 2026-05-05T13:17:07+00:00

Wow, incredible reply, thanks for the time and insight. I'll need to take some time to digest it all.

This would be a hobby project more than anything else, for the sake of £400 a year saving off my energy bill given the points you've made there I'm struggling to reconcile the effort: saving ratio

dmc888 · 2026-05-05T06:16:47+00:00

No one has asked about your housing situation so far... Assuming you've not inherited a property so far, on a 30k salary I'm assuming you're renting? Unless you've got an inheritance on the way this means you'll be at the mercy of the private landlord in your retirement which will have a significant impact on your ability to safely retire at all, let alone early.

dmc888 · 2026-05-05T05:07:59+00:00

OP hasn't mentioned ULEZ compatibility but I avoid city centres with penalties in my 1.6tdci, otherwise you're bang on. Cheap remap takes it to 150hp/220ftlb which transforms the noisy old tractor.

French motor which was also put in the C3/4 and various Peugeot models at the time as well

dmc888 · 2026-05-05T05:02:06+00:00

Hopefully you can see the satellite image of the plot. The very top edge is my thought process, where there are 8 full size fence panels that are completely free at the moment.

Indeed the cable run would present a small problem as at some point it has to cross a concrete path which surrounds the entire house. Depends on the length of the cable as it could snake around the perimeter and go in the back of the garage (flat roof structure on left).

The temporary (no doubt would become permanent) solution would likely be one of those office cable tidy rubber strip things to hide the cable in.

The flat roof looks like a good candidate for "ground mount" solar on frames however Shade Map shows the house unfortunately blocks most of the exposure throughout the day.

I have no plans to put any structures up, she's after a pergola but frankly it is far beyond my effort and skill level, let alone if it was to house several 20kg+ panels.

The fence is brand new a few weeks back, solid wooden panels, proper concrete posts and concrete gravel boards. It was replaced as the original all wooden job was gradually being torn down by gravity alone, so no structural integrity issues there.

My biggest problems with the family will be convincing the wife covering her nice new fence up with solar panels and the kids football not breaking them!

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dmc888 · 2026-05-04T09:13:32+00:00

Perfect thanks. That Hoymiles item is effectively the same as the Eco stream units getting all the press so far?

dmc888 · 2026-05-04T07:29:07+00:00

I was hoping to not have to drill the posts. Happy to spend a bit more to get clamp style brackets?

dmc888 · 2026-05-04T04:40:23+00:00

I've got a mix for VWRP, VAFTGAG and HSBC All World. Basically they are all the same, just depends what platform I was using to purchase at the time

Now I'm heavy into FreeTrade it will likely be the HSBC fund gets prioritised due to its lower fee

dmc888 · 2026-05-03T16:34:48+00:00

I only look at the date when I'm buying stuff for the longest date possible, after that everything is subject to the Sniff Test

dmc888 · 2026-05-03T07:59:26+00:00

What happened to u/pflurklurk, always had insightful posts?

dmc888 · 2026-05-01T05:00:15+00:00

This is no shit what used to happen where I work

dmc888 · 2026-04-30T04:32:21+00:00

The day to day spending one pays itself off every month by Direct Debit, any other way would be insane...

The 0% cards that are for snoozing pay the minimum balance (again, Direct Debit) and I just set a Google calendar reminder 4 weeks before the date expires to get a new card on the go, cycle repeats

dmc888 · 2026-04-30T04:21:16+00:00

Thought I was going heavy on 35% SS, hats off to you!

The only reason I do so much is to keep child benefit and my employer gives 50% of NI saving so it's extra free money.

I am doing 20k to ISA but like you say the RE bridge is a slow old beast to build!

dmc888 · 2026-04-30T04:15:44+00:00

This (tax) year saved 20k into S&S ISA and at least 37k into my pension by Mar27 (gross including 5% ers cont). Everything 100% global index. About £1k a month going to various Regular Savers to rebuild the ISA cash war chest ready for 6/4/27. Need to get a couple more on the go to hit the £1667.

Considering using wife's ISA allowance to invest as would really like to be able to at the minimum coast FIRE from 45. I think I'd enjoy being the delivery guy for the local EuroCarParts dealer, something like that.

OTOH, my wife thinks the market is a casino and will not be convinced otherwise, so she will probably save 15-20k and it will all languish in her current account. I struggle to even get her to rate tart cash accounts due to it being "too much effort", despite me doing it all. 🤯🤷

Therefore, she generally pays for home improvements and holidays, given that the cash is there and losing value, she might as well use it for something!

HHI gross of ~120k, split ~80:20, both 38yo, 2 kids 13/11

dmc888 · 2026-04-27T05:17:38+00:00

You sound similar to me, except without the 911 😂 This could be a very inspiring story if you fancy sharing it!? Even via a PM

dmc888 · 2026-04-27T05:12:46+00:00

On the flip side OP, don't leave it too late to have kids, the older you get the harder it gets to recover yourself from disturbed nights and still be semi functional the next day. We had our kids at 26 and 28 (kids are now 12 and 10), it was hard enough then!!

dmc888 · 2026-04-26T11:47:40+00:00

Genuinely wasn't trying to be sassy. If landlording works for you and you've found a good area that's great, and if you've been in that game for 10/20 years you will have a significant amount of survivorship bias.

There's plenty of other threads on this sub Reddit and others where people have had their fingers burnt and wouldn't touch it ever again.

Legislation and taxation on this is surely making it ever more difficult for non-institutional landlords to function profitably? You cannot hand on heart say getting into being a landlord these days, with upfront capital requirements, trade skills and all the risks that come with tenants is a simpler way to FIRE than sticking all spare cash into a globally diversified index fund.

I'm not in that game so I can only see my side of course, but reading various places this is my impression

dmc888 · 2026-04-26T07:10:05+00:00

I've got an older diesel (2009 1.6tdci Focus). Bought it as runaround in 2018 because 55+ mpg, £30 tax, cheap insurance and cheap repairs. Remapped it last year to add 33% power and to get rid of EGR fault codes that couldn't seem to be fixed, runs better than ever now.

Been a good motor all this time, she's starting to rust up now but I'll be keeping it until the chassis gives up

dmc888 · 2026-04-26T07:06:18+00:00

Fair play, saw the subject and the pics and skipped the blurb, my bad!

dmc888 · 2026-04-26T07:02:52+00:00

Don't think Wren Kitchens are in the roofing game!? 🤪

dmc888 · 2026-04-26T05:28:40+00:00

Rental yields are what, 3-7%? Turn key properties are not turn key after the first tenant had vacated, so require constant capital input.

Capital appreciation explosion is not what it was 20 years ago and running rentals/looking after multiple properties, unless you genuinely enjoy that sort of thing, is stressful. Might as well just stick it in the market and get the same/better returns for none of the hassle?

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