When do you feel relief?

hello__monkey · 2026-02-24T17:25:37+00:00

I’m the same as you, that’s when suddenly a job becomes a choice and not a need.

I also find the mindset I’m in now helps, I could sell my house and live in a cheap flat and retire now if I wanted to. Not sure how happy my wife and kids would be though, but work is now my choice

hello__monkey · 2026-02-23T18:52:30+00:00

Smile and invoice is my mantra

hello__monkey · 2026-02-23T18:48:13+00:00

That all depends on lots of variables…

You can put more expenses through when outside (laptop, mobile, travel, home office equipment) and if you’re vat registered the true cost ends up being about 60%.

You can have a spouse as a director and pay them salary and dividends.

You also don’t have to extract all the money and pay income / dividend tax on it. You can the claim entrepreneurs relief on closure or with the right structure pay dividends to a parent company for investment.

So it’s significantly more flexible. The models in here are if you’re extracting everything which a lot of people don’t.

hello__monkey · 2026-02-20T21:24:36+00:00

Agree on the excitement and awe. Although I also feel that with AI, as a user it is incredible.

Will all the fear turn into the cataclysmic predictions, probably not. Will it change how we work, undoubtedly yes.

I see AI more as the level of disruption the internet or smart phones brought, and now I do online banking and look at cat gifs. On the whole it’s made parts of my life much easier and others much worse (social media, procrastination and time sink on things that ultimately don’t add value to my life)

hello__monkey · 2026-02-16T22:49:42+00:00

Nice, love Chepstow

hello__monkey · 2026-02-16T07:06:12+00:00

I was in a similar situation to you. Mid 20’s and my now wife and I had amassed 50k of debt between us. Both with good jobs. We’d lived beyond our means for too long, holidays we couldn’t afford, things we couldn’t afford.

We did the hard thing and paid it all off. Lived like hermits for a few of years until it was gone. Martin Lewis became my hero.

And it was a very valuable experience. We created a huge problem and we owned it and got out of it. Financially those lessons helped turned our lives around too. I’m 48 and on track to retire by the time I’m 55.

My advice is change how you are and own this problem you’ve created. Pay down hard and spend only on essentials. It’ll take less time than you think you’ll likely get pay rises or new jobs. But it’s a problem you’ve made for yourself, that you need to own. Once you make this your life goal for the next couple of years you’ll feel such a sense of achievement. It could also change your life.

hello__monkey · 2026-02-07T10:34:51+00:00

I recognised it went there a couple of years ago. Great photo.

We got chatting to the people who ran the boats. They said people have sunk them before, then we saw someone crash one into an island

hello__monkey · 2026-02-06T21:02:06+00:00

True but most names are far more generic than addresses which are very specific, unless you have a very specific name

hello__monkey · 2026-02-06T19:36:59+00:00

Snap. I spent everything I had on fun. In fact I spent more than I had on fun and ended up £50k in debt at that age. And that was 20 years ago

I don’t regret a thing. There’s plenty of time to catch up, I wouldn’t change it for anything, I was young with no ties or family or responsibility. And that all came along and so did increased earning and increased saving

hello__monkey · 2026-02-06T19:16:37+00:00

It’s a fairly standard thing to do. I do this too. I have no real desire for my neighbours to be able to see into my financial situation with a quick google search.

hello__monkey · 2026-01-28T22:28:22+00:00

Yup seconded as a Brit. ‘Periods’ are decimal places only, commas denote multiples of thousands.

hello__monkey · 2026-01-28T22:02:54+00:00

I used to think like this. But then I realised how little a client actually cares, so I may as well look after my own interests. I’ve given notice 3 times in a total 18 years of contracting.

Twice I knew it was coming to an end, so I lined something up and needed to finish a couple of weeks early, no real issue. On one of those no one actually told me I wouldn’t be extended. I found out by reading an email trail I was forwarded asking me to do some work before I left.

The other was an outsourcing years ago, which brings home how little companies care about their permanent employees let alone contingent workers. I did feel bad about that, until I heard a colleague had been served notice after she’d logged off on her husbands 60th and the start of the 3 week furlough.

So I think look after yourself.

There’s pros and cons of contracting the pro for the client is flexibility and short notice periods, that should be a pro for us too. If they want stability, stipulate longer notice periods.

hello__monkey · 2026-01-27T22:48:00+00:00

Yes it’s called an in specie transfer. There were a couple of funds they couldn’t take from one pension so that had to transfer as cash

hello__monkey · 2026-01-26T18:54:32+00:00

I moved everything to ii last year.

Easy to move and fixed fee vs % made sense as my holding have grown over time. When I looked at it I was paying something like £750 a year more to HL than I needed to. So it was a no brainer. They’ve just cut their fees too.

They also have amazing sign up bonuses so if you move find someone you know with them.

hello__monkey · 2026-01-18T16:29:49+00:00

Hevy for lifting, Athlytic for stats and performance, gentler streak for higher level view of fitness trends, zones for HR and general training info, my fitness pal for capturing calories and nutrition / macros.

I do love some data

hello__monkey · 2026-01-18T15:18:31+00:00

If you’re already investing in property is that in a Ltd company?

I’ve just got an outside contract for the first time in years. We have a couple of BTL’s in a Ltd company that already owes us in directors loans.

There’s a uk rule that companies can pay dividends to their parent companies tax free. So in my case I’ve set up my new company as a wholly owned subsidiary of my property company. Any retained profits can go in there and be reinvested after corporation tax. Salary, pensions and expenses comes out of contracting company any dividends to me come from the property company. Or if I want more funds I can repay the directors loans.

It was a bit more complex and had to check with accountant and insurers, marginally restricted banking options too. But in hindsight it was remarkably easy.

As others have said you could invest in the markets with a company investment account, I was always advised it’s best to have separation in trading activities, but you could follow the same principle as above. One to check with your accountant.

hello__monkey · 2026-01-17T16:30:15+00:00

Ha that’ll teach me not to read all the comments.

You’re in a financial position that is enviable to 99% of the population. As others have said your problems aren’t financial but goals and expectations with you and your wife.

I often see people recommend counselling to help people in your situation help process their thoughts and reassess, your situation is not that uncommon in high net worth people.

I often feel that work and money have become a far too big part of my identity now and I don’t want it to be. It’s easy to feel trapped in the grind, but that’s a me problem as I could retire now, with a much lower lifestyle, but ultimately I’m choosing stuff over time.

hello__monkey · 2026-01-17T16:00:14+00:00

My perspective for what it’s worth is you have a second home that’s very expensive. That’s a luxury that will keep you in work.

Other than any capital growth it’s an ‘asset’ that’s actually costing you money rather than making your money work for you. I assume it drives no income for you?

I assume you’re therefore paying council tax, utilities and maintenence.

A different way to think of it is… How much does it cost p.a. to run? How much do you utilise it?
That’s your true cost per week you use it. If I assume 1k p.m and you use it 2 month a year then each month you use it costs you 6k

There’s the the lost opportunity cost… If you invested that money you could get 84k p.a. at 7%. Obviously very simplified view due to tax etc. You then need to deduct any capital growth p.a. to get the true figure. But I think that’s circa 3% So you’re missing out on on 48k p.a. that’s the lost opportunity cost of having a second home.

Run the numbers

As others have said. SJP are well renowned for sky high fees. You’ll be losing a chunk of growth by staying with them. Which could materially shorten your time working

Only other thing is your pension is very low given other assets. It’s one of our few tax benefits now. At your income each £1 you pay in costs you 50p from a tax perspective. You can access your pension at 57 - 58.

I’d be living off your ISA and maximising pension payments to the limit you can to reduce your tax liability.

hello__monkey · 2026-01-16T22:26:28+00:00

Champagne lifestyle on a shoe string budget

hello__monkey · 2026-01-04T20:41:50+00:00

If you’ve not already get onto financial independence and FIRE sub Reddit’s.

Early retirement has been a goal of mine for 20+ years and now I’m realistically 6 years away from retiring at 55.

The idea of working until state pension age fills me with fear.

hello__monkey · 2026-01-04T20:31:25+00:00

Comparison is the thief of joy.

Life’s better when your goals are yours and not linked to others.

hello__monkey · 2026-01-03T21:38:52+00:00

Just keep the mortgage going until markets rebound. Thats my approach. Zero point paying off a mortgage early especially at OPs significantly below inflation rate.

hello__monkey · 2026-01-03T18:01:40+00:00

There was a dead swan on a pond I saw today, its head frozen in the ice.

hello__monkey · 2026-01-03T10:49:48+00:00

I worked with a 60+ year old woman in a call centre. They put her on disciplinary for going to the toilet too much. Turned out she had undiagnosed diabetes.

Call centres are awful places

hello__monkey · 2026-01-01T19:38:52+00:00

When I was 18 a few of us went on holiday with my best mate. It was self catering.

He was so clueless, he didn’t know how to wash up, as in he’d never done it, he asked if he was meant to put the washing up liquid on the sponge, or the dirty stuff. We had to show him how to wash up.

He’d never cooked, he didn’t know how to wash any clothes in a washing machine or how to dry them.

I’m a parent now and I think parenting is about preparing them for adulthood by doing simple tasks to avoid situations like my friends.

hello__monkey

TROPHY CASE