Why am I choosing to pay down extra on the mortgage right now? Honestly the main reason is to free up more cashflow and give myself breathing room. Let’s take a look at how my mortgage payments have changed over the past 2 years. Initial ratesInvestment Property – 3.8% – $1974/monthProperty 2 – 2.29% –Continue reading “Mortgage Costs”
Category Archives: General
Solar Electricity Savings
Today I went back and looked at my electricity bills over the last few years, and I really am impressed by the savings from our solar system! We were lucky enough to already have panels installed when we purchased our property, so no initial outlay for the installation (though of course, it would have factoredContinue reading “Solar Electricity Savings”
Mortgage Amortisation
OK, so after my last post I really started to talk myself out of paying off my mortgage quickly. So I decided to sit down (for several hours!) with an excel spreadsheet and actually run the numbers. All the figures have been adjusted for an inflation rate of 3%, with a real return of 6%Continue reading “Mortgage Amortisation”
Investing With a Mortgage
Disclaimer: This post is NOT financial advice or a recommendation about what you should be doing – merely an exploration of my thoughts on the topic. Does it make more sense to focus on paying off my mortgage(s) quickly, or to invest that money instead? Or is it best to do a bit of bothContinue reading “Investing With a Mortgage”
EV Savings Tracker!
Having bought a new car, for quite a hefty price tag, I am determined to earn back the value of the car over it’s lifetime! Since it was an EV, and I am able to claim part of my expenses as a tax deduction, I’m hoping that I will be able to recoup my upfrontContinue reading “EV Savings Tracker!”
How To Pay For A New Car
Disclaimer: This post is NOT financial advice or a recommendation about what you should be doing – merely an exploration of my thoughts on the topic. It sounds obvious right? Pay in cash outright, or if absolutely necessary, pay using a loan at the lowest possible interest rate. However, it’s not that simple. A higherContinue reading “How To Pay For A New Car”
Update: February 2024
February net worth update! Some big changes over the past few months. As you can see, the cash buffer in my net worth is currently non existent. Why? I just bought a new car! I am not counting that car in my net worth given how quickly they depreciate, hence a sharp drop in myContinue reading “Update: February 2024”
Tax Effectiveness of Retirement
There are many tax advantages for people that have achieved FIRE and living off an investment portfolio, rather than employment income. Time to revisit my figures yet again! Some of the tax advantages that currently exist for investment income include – Tax deductibility of outgoings for investment properties – Tax-free withdrawal from superannuation after preservationContinue reading “Tax Effectiveness of Retirement”
FIRE Target Review
As I was updating my FIRE target for inflation this year, I realised that I hadn’t reviewed my FIRE goal since meeting my partner. Joining our finances affects both our expected expenses, as well as the taxation of our income in retirement. If I take my original target of $70,000 after tax or $92,000 pre-taxContinue reading “FIRE Target Review”
2024 Goals
Another year, another set of goals! Hopefully this year is more successful than the last! Also an update to the inflation adjusted FI target – inflation was high again last year at 5.6%, bringing the FI target up to a whopping $3.01million from $2.85 million! Non-financial Goals Financial Goals