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The Money Stuff<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Right – let’s quickly talk cash. Cutting to the chase, we’re more financially secure now than we were when we quit work. This is how:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Our rental properties have been almost fully occupied.<\/li>
- The sun’s shone on our two roof-mounted solar arrays.<\/li>
- Our share funds have continued to pay dividends.<\/li>
- Our bonds have thrown off some interest.<\/li>
- We’ve (shock, horror) done some paid work, which has bumped up our bank balance.<\/li>
- And finally we still live below our means. Even in ‘retirement’ we save and invest around 25% of our post-tax income.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
So, enough cash has flowed in to pay the bills, and enable us to have fun. Our assets are mostly appreciating in value, to fend off the effects of inflation. We’re also a few years closer to being able to access our private pensions. These aren’t huge, but will further secure us in about 9 years time. In theory we’ll get state pensions in 2039, 21 years from now, and are currently still paying NI contributions towards them, although we suspect this pension might be means-tested by the time we’re 67.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As stated above, there are no guarantees, and we’ve a few strategies up our sleeves to cope with unexpected difficulties:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Our income comes from roughly 10 different places and, as we don’t spend all of it at present, we can easily handle a few of ’em drying up at any one time.<\/li>
- We hold a fairly large emergency fund in cash and bonds, which we can quickly access in the event of a big outlay being necessary.<\/li>
- We have the option of using the motorhome to further reduce our costs – by renting out the room we’ve retained at home in the UK and staying at free aires in France, for example.<\/li>
- In extreme circumstances, we could go live in Thailand or somewhere equally low-cost, to ride out the storm.<\/li>
- And of course we could simply look for paid work in the UK, or set up a small business of our own. Our skills will age as we do, but we’re both able to think rationally, and we **should** be capable of working for another 20 years at least.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
The Fun Stuff<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Over the course of the past three years, we’ve spent 24 months on four tours<\/a> of Europe and Morocco in our motorhome, heading as far south as Icht on the edge of the Sahara<\/a> and as far north as Nordkapp in the Norwegian Arctic<\/a>. This, as you might imagine, has been a lot of fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"Motorhome](\"https:\/\/ourtourmedia.s3.eu-central-003.backblazeb2.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/IMG_20170305_110132371_HDR-1024x576.jpg\")
In the Ait Mansour Gorge on the drive to Icht in the Moroccan Anti-Atlas Mountains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n We’ve done some exercise too, with Ju completing her first half marathon in Marrakech<\/a> and me pulling in some charity cash running up a big hill in Switzerland<\/a>. As a general point, our focus on physical well-being’s hugely improved since quitting work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Ju and Jules after running 13.1 miles around Marrakech<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n The Not-So-Fun Stuff<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
It’s not all been plain sailing though, of course! We’ve had a few rough patches over the years as we’ve made this huge change in lifestyle. I’ve been the main culprit here, as I struggled to relax into a counter-cultural way of living. Anxiety was the main issue for me, which I’ve eventually defeated through a combination of exercise and reminding myself that life is too short to worry about the opinions of others. It took me around 2 years to stop feeling guilty about not being at work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another reminder of the shortness of life was our wee pooch Charlie passing away this summer<\/a>. He slowly declined over his final years, which was a source of continual worry. His passing wasn’t the relief we thought it might be in our darker moments, it was just dreadfully sad. We miss him, we miss being ‘pooch parents’, but won’t commit another 10 or 15 years to another dog just yet, there are other things we want to do first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"Beach](\"https:\/\/ourtourmedia.s3.eu-central-003.backblazeb2.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/IMG_20180208_153218588_HDR-1024x574.jpg\")
Charlie on the beach in Staithes. Rest in peace our wee man.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Paying it Forwards<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
We were extremely lucky to meet folks seven years ago who opened our eyes to other ways of living, where we spent less, invested and enjoyed life more. It seems appropriate and fair that we should do likewise, and encourage anyone thinking of doing something similar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over the past three years, as well as publishing Funding Freedom<\/a>, we’ve written a few posts on OurTour.co.uk, and contributed bits and bobs to various media outlets, starting with local newspapers and radio. After that we were (briefly) on Channel 4’s ‘How to Retire at 40’ (which turned out to be dire), with a supporting article in the Daily Mail<\/a>. Finally we ‘topped out’ by being in a video on the national BBC website about ‘Our 30 Year Retirement<\/a>‘ which went live in 1 January and attracted something like a million views.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"OurTour](\"https:\/\/ourtourmedia.s3.eu-central-003.backblazeb2.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/BBC.jpg\")
<\/a>Us three on the BBC news, 1 Jan 2018<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n I say ‘topped out’, as we’ve made the call not to do any more of that ‘mainstream’ stuff. The message we’re trying to get across is simple really: spend less, save money, invest, simplify, live life on your terms. Does this message go down well with the general public? Nope, the online comments are clear on that point. Can journalists, who themselves are waged, not personal finance enthusiasts, and under time pressure to get articles out, do an interesting, even-handed and accurate job of writing about the subject? Not really, not from what we’ve seen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I also had a stab at being a financial independence blogger a couple of times, but it just didn’t float my boat (you can see the all the posts in the money section<\/a> of this blog). Being honest, I’m not all that interested in personal finance myself, just enough to enable us to live the way we want to live, and the blogs didn’t go anywhere as a result. There are some fantastic blogs already out there though, have a look at the links at the end of this post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How are we Feeling about Financial Freedom?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Our feelings over the past three years have both differed between the two of us, and have changed over time. In terms of cold, hard doubt about whether our financial plan would work, I probably had more of that than Ju, being more of a pessimist. Neither of us are much worried about it at this point in time though. We keep a close eye on our spending still, tracking each pound and penny coming in and going out, which we review together monthly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Perhaps the biggest surprise for us was the level of anxiety having a ‘blank page’ presented to us would induce. We never really thought of it while working, but the need to dedicate 50 hours each week to the office was a subliminal excuse for not doing things we really should do (since we only live once), but might be otherwise afraid to do. Suddenly having this open future in front of us was difficult to handle. To accept that we’re not Tim Ferris or Tony Robbins, to accept that it’s OK not to be chasing every possible goal in the world, took a while.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It’s certainly an odd life we have. Each day has the same value: no more do we await Fridays or dread Mondays, or mildly celebrate ‘hump day’ Wednesdays. We live ‘off peak’, so don’t drive in rush hour or shop at the weekend. We can exercise when we want: sometimes I’m in the gym at 7am, sometimes 3pm, depending on when I wake up and how I feel. We have no bosses to boss us around, and no office politics to wind us up. The few TV adverts we get to see look simply bizarre through our eyes: why would you want to buy *this shiny thing* when life is so much simpler and fulfilling without it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yep, we’re odd. Do we enjoy this quirky life though? Oh yes. Would we go back to corporate jobs? No chance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What’s Next?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Good question! We’re currently at home in Nottingham in the UK. Ju’s editing our next book, The Motorhome Touring Handbook, which aims to sum up all the practical stuff we’ve learned about touring the UK and Europe over the years. Once that’s done we’ll get it proofed and published, hopefully later in September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Our next book being red-penned. Once all the changes are made we’ll publish it on Amazon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n I’m pottering about like a retired old gent! One that spends an hour or three a day training that is. I’m booked onto the July 2019 Zermatt Ultra Marathon<\/a>, a 29 mile uphill run, climbing a vertical mile to Gornergrat at over 3000m. As I’ve never run more than 22 miles on the flat at sea level (and that was 20 years ago), I’ve got a job on. A while back, I realised I need this kind of challenge to keep me mentally healthy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In terms of travel, we’ve a few short trips lined up, including a nip south to Cornwall with our mates and their fab nippers, and a jaunt up to Scotland in Zagan to see an old mate of mine. If the weather holds, we’ll spend a few days nipping round the North Coast 500. We’ve invested in a copy of the Lonely Planet Guide to Sri Lanka<\/a> too, thinking we could nip there for 2 or 3 months over the winter. As yet we haven’t managed to decide whether or not to do it. Yep, versus staying in cold, dark, snowy Blighty, Sri Lanka might sound no contest, but we’re quite liking being at home for a while.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
More In-Depth Information<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
If financial freedom’s something you’re curious about, there are a number of fantastic free and paid resources out there to help you. In the USA, the Money Money Mustache<\/a> (MMM) blog is perhaps the single biggest influencer in this area (competing with the likes of Early Retirement Extreme<\/a> and The Financial Samurai<\/a>). The UK ‘equivalent’ to MMM is The Escape Artist<\/a>, entertaining, and written by an accountant who retired at 43 with 3 kids. None of these blogs pull any punches by the way, unlike the mainstream media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I also found Meaningful Money<\/a> to be a fantastic free resource, with Pete (a UK-based certified financial planner) using short videos to explain lots of mystical subjects like pensions, ISAs and income tax in layman’s terms (he’s publishing a book too<\/a> if you want all the info in your hands).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In terms of other books, there are a ton of great resources out there; here are a few of the very best. I’ve read all of these except ‘The Simple Path to Wealth’, as most (if not all) of the information is available for free on the author’s jlcollinsnh blog<\/a> (his Stock Series of posts is well worth a read).<\/p>\n\n\n\n