Welcome back to the Monevator den! This time we’re talking to ‘Part-time Analyst’, a longtime reader and newly-minted very early retiree who was able to quit work when his employer was acquired. What happens when you make work optional many years before your 40th birthday?
A place by the FIRE
Hello! How do you feel about taking stock of your financial life today?
I feel good. Getting into this position has taken a lot of work – at times probably too much work. But the outcome feels a good one.
Looking forwards, my goal is to have a good enough financial situation, and for life to be more enjoyable again.
How old are you?
I’m 35. The young’uns will consider me old. But for many older readers I’m probably still just a baby.
I’m at that age where my body starts to hurt if I don’t look after myself – and where that third pint requires deep consideration!
Do you have any dependents?
No. This could have happened by now without much change in circumstances, but it hasn’t.
Whereabouts do you live and what’s it like there?
I live in the north of England. Near one of the fairly numerous national parks, but in a suburban area. Houses are cheap, but I would like to move somewhere more rural at some point. The south might have its fancy jobs, but the north is a beautiful place.
I did not grow up here. I moved for work, but there was no real plan. I was open to opportunities, and this is what happened.
I graduated after the financial crash, so it was a brutal graduate market. You just had to find a job wherever someone would take you.
It felt a lot easier once I had that first job and had ‘paid my dues’.
When do you consider you achieved Financial Independence and why?
I entered that territory in the last couple of years. It helps that I prefer to spend time rather than money.
I got a boost two years ago as the company I worked for was sold, and stock options were a key part of my renumeration.
My final year of work was a strong one financially, which was a helpful boost too.
Since then I’ve had over a year without employment. I broke even when considering income, investments gains and expenses in the financial year to April 2025, but things have been much more positive since.
Mr Trump’s tariff obsessions impacted the year-end, and everything has since bounced back. All the same I hope there will be less silliness going forwards.
What about Retired Early?
I guess I ‘retired’ one year ago. I was worn out by work, needed something different and the whole 9-5 thing wasn’t working for me.
I don’t think I could have continued working without some sort of break or extended time off. A sabbatical was discussed, but I just wasn’t feeling it. And so the more nuclear option.
I have a nice routine beyond the world of work – and to be honest a return from here back to a 9-5 would be intolerable. I can pursue whatever projects I want and I get to enjoy the sunshine even if it fails to come on a weekend.
It took a bit of adapting, but this new world is a world of increased freedom.
I could return to doing projects without doing the whole 9-5 thing, but while the skills are still there, the fire has gone out.
To quote The Matrix: “You have been down there, Neo. You know that road. You know exactly where it ends.”
I feel I’ve experienced all I wanted to experience in that world. Time for something new.
Did you expect to get an outsized early payout from joining the startup? Were there any trade-offs, such as the potential for a higher starting salary elsewhere?
No. I don’t think I can stress enough how little companies wanted to employ me upon graduating.
I had a very good degree and so I found that frustrating. But in the end I just started searching for roles with few other applicants.
This one had very few. It wasn’t the best role or salary, but it was a starting point.
I worked for quite a number of years before there became a possibility of any outsized payout. In the early years I didn’t worry too much, and never pushed for more salary. I was developing rapidly and the company was developing rapidly too.
As time went by, it was obvious that I was able to perform at a much higher than normal level. Then stock options came along as a way to keep me tied to the business long-term.
Assets: altogether now
What’s your current net worth?
I retain a small stake in the company that bought the one I worked for. That will provide additional capital one day. But I’m no longer close enough to have a feel for a realistic value.
In all honesty, I’m happier to treat it like it doesn’t exist, rather than speculate on it. In a Bleak House sort of way, that type of speculation can make you unhappy.
Otherwise at my assumed rates of returns I should cross over the £2m threshold this time next year. This includes all my non-company assets, including my home.
The latter was relatively inexpensive, and so the majority of my assets are productive, and income-generating.
I ultimately got into this position through career success, and by not having much in the way of wasteful spending. I didn’t really have any spare energy to focus on investing money and there are no abnormal returns in my backstory.
It was tiring enough just getting through the working week.
What makes up your net worth?
Using the latest value from Zoopla, 17% of my wealth is in my home.
If I use the cost price plus interest paid, then 15% of my wealth has gone into my home.
I could have moved somewhere nicer, but it’s pleasant to live here. I’ve been very happy.
Excluding the home component:
- 41% of what remains is in some form of cash
- 25% in passive investments (Vanguard funds)
- 20% in active investments (outside of tax shelters)
- 10% in a pension or LISA (both with active investments)
- 5% in an ISA (active investments)
If I go back two years the same percentages are:
- 56% cash
- 23% passive investments
- 10% active investments
- 8% pension (Nest at this point)
- 3% ISA (active investments)
I have historically focused on cash. A year from now, I’m expecting the cash percentage to drop to 24%, and for the active investment allocation to have risen considerably.
I want to be sure about active investments before I push that allocation further. Otherwise it will go towards passive investing.
What’s your main residence like?
It’s nice. It wasn’t that expensive. Just over a quarter of a million pounds.
I own it outright. I paid extra each month on the mortgage and paid it off reasonably fast, so the total interest payments were not high.
It probably wasn’t financially optimal but it felt good to pay-off the mortgage early. That had some motivational value.
The garden is large for a suburban area, but it needed a lot of work. I mostly did it myself.
It’s the nicest house I could have hoped for in this price range. I could stay here forever and be reasonably happy. The house is just about big enough to accommodate whatever turns life takes.
Do you consider your home an asset, an investment, or something else?
You have to live somewhere – so the part of your home that covers somewhere to live and basic maintenance is a liability and cost.
Beyond that it’s an investment of excess capital in your personal happiness.
Unless you have a lodger, you have no cash yield from a home. So it’s not as useful as other investments financially.
Earning: a little then a lot
What was your job?
Aside from summer jobs, I only ever had one employer. I would largely just slot in wherever I was most needed at the time.
This meant a very diverse role. I was happy to do anything and would focus on whatever added the most value to the business.
The company was incredibly small when I joined it. While it had customers and revenues, it was a modest setup. I came in after the founders of the business, but as time went by I earned a special status from having been part of the early efforts to establish the business as something more substantial.
Fundamentally, I was a good analyst, who at a secondary level could take to anything to a reasonable standard. A blend of software, analytics, and sales was where I focused – and where I would encourage any younger reader to position themselves. If you want to be effective and/or well-paid, you shouldn’t skip the commercial capability.
The software side has been made much easier by AI. That largely replaces a site called Stack Overflow, which us oldies used for learning or getting something to function properly.
Focusing on software without analytical or commercial skills is possibly risky these days. But I have a lot of admiration for the elite top-tier software guys.
What was your annual income?
The structure of my renumeration was I’d get a relatively low level of guaranteed income. Then I’d get stock options and bonuses based upon the overall business performance.
So, basic salary for most of my time in employment averaged around £40-50,000 – increasing in later years as cost-of-living rises fed through. Bonuses were highly variable and could push me up into six-figures. But ultimately renumeration was weighted towards stock options.
Options have very favourable tax implications – especially as my scheme was eligible for Entrepreneurs Relief – but on the flip-side there are emotional implications to having your income focused down such a route. Towards the end I felt the weight of the uncertainty.
It was an unusual approach, and I don’t remember there being much discussion about how it was structured. It just evolved over time. The business valued me. It wanted to keep me around and motivated. In return I took the success of the company seriously.
Once I knew a sale was a strong possibility, I focused all my energies on helping the company through the sale process as smoothly as possible. This took a lot of effort, but the additional effort put in at this time also helped when it became time for me to leave.
It was stressful for everyone involved, and not something I’d be excited to repeat again.
How did your career and salary progress over the years?
I was good at my job and progressed quickly. But I was better at making decisions than being told what to do, which could cause issues. When I was told what to do, I often suffered with selective hearing. But I got enough right to get away with my approach.
Despite otherwise having a natural aptitude for the work, I found it tiring and overwhelming. I found it hard to work without maximum intensity, so being able to step back was always on my mind.
My original plan was to seek reduced hours, rather than to stop so soon. But in the end I felt too tired to go down that route.
In my role I took a lot of responsibility for making sure that everything was progressing, everything was working, and that customers were as happy as they could be. There are financial benefits to this sort of role, but it’s a lot tougher mentally than one where you come in and perform a function.
If I had done a more functional role, I would almost certainly still be working – but I’d probably also be happier to still be working.
Maybe I also would have picked up investments earlier as a sideline and worked my way out via that route.
Did you learn anything about building your career and growing income that you wished you’d known earlier?
Not really, no. I was well-informed. I did additional accountancy and management modules at university, which were incredibly useful. So I was well-prepared.
It really does help if you can build that core skill base early.
Do you have any other sources of income?
All my income is from assets and investments. I have some projects that might ultimately produce an income, but which so far just consume time and effort. I don’t take them particularly seriously. They are just fun to do.
In cash terms I have a consistent post-tax income of around £50-60,000 per annum – and my belief is I should average about £80-90,000 post-tax per annum, including gains.
The gains component is very up and down. Last year was terrible, this year feels like it will be excellent – although now as we head into September the market has its negative hat back on, so we’ll have to see. Overall it will be unpredictable!
You have to adjust to the emotional impact of the volatility. As humans I think we find it hard when things are not progressing in a linear way.
The reality is that over a few months you can see a drop in asset values that exceeds what you expect to earn annually. Those months can feel uncomfortable. You have to find something else to do – other ways to keep your mind busy.
Did pursuing FIRE get in the way of your career?
No – it was all tied in as one neat package. Success at work was the biggest step towards financial independence. I went all-in for that success.
Saving: modest outgoings
What is your annual spending? How has this changed over time?
The last three years – including an estimate for 2025-26 – total spending sits in the £20-22,000 range. The prior two years it was about £15-16,000.
If I ignore one-off items, over this five-year period there has been a steadier climb from spending £11,000 in the first year, to £13,000 two years ago, before a jump to £18,000 in the last two years. That’s more reflective of the underlying changes in my spending activity. Going further back my pre-rent or pre-mortgage spending was about £10-11,000.
There are no mortgage costs in any of those figures to maintain consistency. If added on, the first two years would be increased by £3,000 and £2,000. I’ve spent a chunk of money fixing things around the house in recent years. These have driven a lot of the one-off costs. But everything is now in very good condition, so these costs should not continue.
The last two years I’ve also spent more on food and travel. Extra travel adds around £4,000 per year, so that is the main uplift. I’ve made lots of trips out over one, two, or sometimes three days. I find these slot into life without too much disruption and add a lot of joy.
I’ve always been increasing spending on food. This has been about buying better quality produce, rather than due to the impact of cost inflation.
Do you stick to a budget or otherwise structure your spending?
I use Snoop to keep track of what I spend. It automatically categorises most spending. I feed that into software that I also use to track investments, asset positions, and to do tax calculations.
I like to see what I am doing, but I set no budgets. Without spending money pointlessly, I’m happy to increase spending.
Are you using the 4% rule or similar to manage your drawdown and spending?
The cash kicked off by investments and other assets covers spending and leaves an excess that can be fed into new investments. So long as my investments don’t make a loss bigger than that excess I’m in growth mode.
What percentage of your gross income did you save over the years?
I’ve always saved some money – otherwise you are working for nothing on a net basis.
Initially this was about 10-15% when my income was low. It stayed flat for the first few years. As my income grew, the percentage climbed significantly. However it would vary year-to-year with overall income levels.
On a cash basis I retained 37% of income last year. But on an overall basis, including investment gains, there was nothing saved, as losses offset that net income.
This year I expect to retain 49% in cash terms – and including investment gains I expect to retain about 70%. This second figure will change and cannot be predicted accurately.
I’m still getting used to this new way of doing things, but the reliability of cash returns does make it all much easier to manage.
I have learned not to read too much into investment gains. They can come and go in very extreme ways.
What’s the secret to saving more money?
If your income is low, you might be able to maximise your situation by not having a daily coffee. But everything comes down to personal priorities, and not spending money where it doesn’t contribute anything.
If a daily coffee means a lot to you, go out and buy it. But if it’s a habit that stems from laziness, then there is a potential improvement to be made.
If you’re being lazy out of tiredness, you may also need to go easy on yourself and accept your situation. It’s too easy to shout advice from an ivory tower and to be critical.
Do you have any specific hints about spending less?
Probably just don’t buy that thing you will use twice and never use again! Save your money for things you will use regularly. Sometimes spending is more a habit than a requirement.
If you have something you’ve spent good money on and never used, maybe put it in the hallway as a memorial to your earlier stupidity. We all have these items in our homes somewhere. I also find giving them away helps to stop me being so wasteful in future.
Do you have any passions or vices that eat up your income?
Mostly trips out. Those are trips I really enjoy though.
I do short trips on a regular basis from April through to October, weather permitting. The winter months are my time for doing anything productive.
My trips are mostly spent walking. Over the past year I’ve been lucky enough to explore numerous new areas of the UK. I’ve gone further afield for some trips, but it generally fits better alongside day-to-day life if I stay within the UK.
Investing: exploration mode
What kind of investor are you?
As a young lad in my twenties I was very interested in active investing and it was what I wanted for a career. But I went and did other things.
Throughout employment I had a Nest pension, which I’ve been impressed by in terms of its relentless consistency.
I also wrote an investing blog at this time. Thankfully it was deleted, and no record exists. I find it hard to look back on anything I wrote in my early 20s without cringing. I don’t think I would like meeting younger me.
The success of my Nest pension has moderated my active tendencies somewhat, and I’m much more cautious these days. But equally I still have that arrogance and belief in my analytical capabilities – if given enough time and energy. This may be my downfall, or it may be the further making of me.
My passive investments are my best performing investments so far. I’m now heavily UK-focused, with a 78% allocation.
Until a year ago I had more of a spread across the world, and an even stock-bond split. But I perceive risks in other markets that I just don’t see in the UK. The UK market also has a lot of exposure to globally active companies. You aren’t really losing anything except exposure to the big tech monstrosities.
My passive investments are now also 100% stocks. This helped reduce my tax bill without much change in the overall yields.
The rest of the investments are active. I have specialised in taking positions that others find uncomfortable – with positions generally sized around £20,000. But my largest investments can be much bigger, and my smallest can be tiny.
I don’t mind paper losses, and although I do sometimes change my mind, I have more trust in my analysis than in Mr Market’s emotional struggles.
It’s too early to say if I am good at this though.
What was your best investment?
So far, Direct Line. The yield looked strong when I bought in. Although the share price went on a bit of a rollercoaster ride, I’ve pretty much doubled my £20,000 investment.
I didn’t do much investment analysis. I was more just targeting the weaknesses of the insurance market due to cost inflation, particularly the car insurance market. A company just had to look sufficiently solvent.
If there hadn’t been a takeover – Aviva has just acquired Direct Line at a good price – I suspect I would probably still be net flat on this investment.
Your best investments are the ones where the stars align most easily.
Did you make any big mistakes on your investing journey?
Many! Mostly around very small companies on the AIM market – a.k.a. the pirate kingdom.
AIM has some good and promising companies, but there are also chancers and charlatans. It can be hard to tell the difference, which is a shame. Part of me still wants to try and find the good ones, but I think that is more about the challenge than any rational strategy.
My biggest mistake was investing in an early competitor of WhatsApp back in 2010. It was too speculative for my position size, and their approach was wrong. Obviously, WhatsApp went on to do okay… but I lost a lot of money.
In the early days when you have little capital, it’s tempting to push the risk profile. But you need to trust the process and take it steady – or just get out of investing completely.
What has been your overall return, as best you can tell?
I always had a Nest pension and that always had decent returns, so my first big shift back towards investing was via passive investments, about three years ago. These returned 8.8% in 2023-24, 6.1% in 2024-25, and as I speak are up 9.3% since April 2025.
Active investing has grown more slowly over time, with more experimentation initially. In this experimentation phase I returned 1.3% over a one-year period to the end of April 2024. I saw some big losses in small AIM companies in a side portfolio. The worst investment was a 100% loss of invested value, and I now avoid these types of companies.
Since May 2024 I’ve had more time to focus on active investing – and I feel I’ve been improving – but the numbers don’t yet report anything too positive.
Weighted for capital deployed, I am down 6.0% since May 2024 – having peaked at +9.3% in November 2024 – and bottoming at -11.9% this April.
I’m happy with how things are going. But I will track active versus passive over time and adjust allocations accordingly.
How much have you been able to fill your ISA and pensions?
I didn’t use the ISA contributions anywhere near as well as I should have. It just wasn’t a focus, but that is no good excuse.
These days I use every possible allowance religiously. I also have a LISA to correct for my now more limited pension contribution capabilities.
It’s a lot easier to do the right thing when you have more time on your hands.
To what extent did tax incentives and shelters influence your strategy?
I’m more willing to sell a gain inside a tax shelter. Outside I’m more likely to hold and take the yield.
Otherwise, I try and factor tax into every decision I make. For example, a 3.5% savings bonds yields 2.8% after lower-rate interest tax of 20%, while the FTSE 100 at 3.5% would still yield 3.24%, after the lower-rate dividend tax of 8.75%.
This is something I consider when deciding what to hold. Along with other relevant factors of course.
I also hold Premium Bonds and use tax-free allowances to help keep me below higher-rate tax thresholds.
How often do you check or tweak your portfolio or other investments?
These days the whole process is much more rigorous, but with very few changes to held positions.
When I come across a potential new share of interest, I add it to a list. When I have time, I work through each of the shares I’ve listed to see if they are worth spending more time on.
If something looks promising, I’ll eventually get round to doing a half day of analysis. I’ll then come up with a buy point, a tax-free sell point, and a sell point. These prices are based upon the underlying profits, cash flows, and the overall asset position. The tax-free sell point applies both to tax shelters and whether I can sell without capital gains, be that through my allowances or offsetting against losses.
This lengthy process slows down the rate of my taking new positions. But I can do a lot of half days of analysis during the cold winter months.
How do you set those various points?
My buy point generally targets 10% underlying cash generation from the business – although I’m increasingly targeting 12-15% as this seems to be more where the market hits lows. The sell point is usually at a 5% underlying cashflow yield.
My buy and sell points may change with company updates. But they generally don’t move much in the near-term.
I don’t re-invest dividends. Instead, the cash cycles into my bank account. From there it goes into new investments – whether expanding existing positions or taking new positions.
Software recalculates all the positions each day, and shows an update of which investments are in range to buy or sell. But while some weeks I might be looking at things daily, on others I won’t look at all. It depends on what I am doing at the time – and often on what the weather is doing!
With bigger positions I do a lot more re-analysis on an on-going basis. The cost of an error on these is more significant.
If a big holding is rising, I have a bad habit of watching it go up. But if it’s falling I seem to not have this problem.
How strict are you with these allocations and the process?
Each month I have a calculation which tells me how much – if anything – can be added to the investment pots. This is what ensures a minimum cash buffer is maintained.
I run this as low as I can based upon the next 12 months of expected cash movements. So if I go against it, I’ll likely end up having to dismantle positions to get through the month.
The buffer is usually about £10,000 and currently earns 3.3%. So it’s not a big issue to maintain and I stick to it well.
The focus on yield is ultimately a focus on cash and cash flow. For an individual business I am not quite so strict, as I can go deeper and look into underlying cash flow, extract one-off items, and get a picture of how much underlying cash is being generated by a business. The goal is then to buy at a good multiple to this cash flow – ideally less than ten times – in businesses that should grow and thrive over time.
In some cases this cash will get re-invested by the business in a way that is clearly one-off. But normally there will be a level of yield from the payouts.
My largest individual holding doesn’t actually pay a yield and I don’t require a yield. But I do expect a healthy yield from all investments in future years.
Shifting to the level of an index fund, overall yield is my indicator of the quality of the index. This may not be perfect, but if businesses can between them pay out 3% of my invested funds in dividends, then between them they are probably well run from a cash perspective. Whereas with a yield at 1% I’m not sure how I really know the same thing.
The cost of this approach is that it will downplay the contribution of re-investing businesses. But from the passive side, I want businesses generating and distributing cash in the here and now, not those relying on what might be at a later date.
In my head some of the businesses must be in a phase where they have excess capital. So a low yield suggests over-retention of funds, or hyped valuations.
Why aren’t you pursuing a total return strategy, where you sell a proportion of capital to generate an income? I wouldn’t either – but it is the standard approach nowadays.
As a way to extract money from capital, dividends are ideal, because at the lower band the tax rate is only 8.75%. If I were selling holdings to get the same money I’d either use precious capital gains allowances, pay higher capital gains tax, or be selling a holding below cost. So it definitely helps to get money out this way.
Interest has been less good because that comes at a price of 20%.
Wealth: big up north
We know how you made your money, but how did you keep it?
The big win for me has been the low cost of housing. This means I haven’t spent much on mortgage interest – and I’ve maximised working capital. This increases the amount of cash flowing into my bank from those assets.
It has helped living up north, as down south the same house would have probably cost at least £500,000 – which could have easily added £250,000 in interest costs on top. You benefit from higher house price appreciation in the south, but it still would have made what I’m doing far more difficult. It helps that I prefer the north.
A photo from FIRE-facilitated summer wanderings. We could write ‘Part-time Analyst opened a gateway to a new life’ as a caption. But we’ll resist. Sort of.
Which is more important, saving or investing, and why?
Initially saving and then investing. You need to get that first real tranche of capital before you start getting meaningful results from investing.
Investing can be a bit pointless until you have enough capital. Also you can get tempted into high-risk opportunities when you don’t have enough money.
When did you think you’d achieve financial freedom – and was it a goal with a timeline?
Five years or so ago I knew I’d pay off the house, and then get enough capital together to have a second income stream. My goal was a phased reduction in work hours, stretching it all out a bit longer – but the faster approach that transpired has worked out so far.
In many ways financial freedom became more of a goal once I actually stopped working. When you do stop, you suddenly realise just how much you had been doing.
My belief now is we get through the working week more on adrenaline than anything else. Once I stopped, my body seemed to realise it could start to pay down that debt of energy.
It’s only now that I am back to full energy levels again.
Did anything unexpected get in your way?
Not really, no. It was all pretty smooth in the end.
And you are still growing your pot?
I’ll be positive: the pot will grow this year.
Do you have any further financial goals?
It would be good to move to a house in the countryside rather than living in the suburbs. I can’t do this with my currently accessible capital without going back to work but I think it will be possible longer term.
What would you say to Monevator readers pursuing financial freedom?
Once you have got enough working capital, the transition from a regular income isn’t as big an issue as you would think.
- I pay dividends and interest into my main account. Then if my main account is short, I top-up from a buffer.
- If I have an excess in my main account, it first refills the buffer, and then additional excess goes into new investments.
- I calculate the buffer required for the next 12 months. That tells me what actions to take.
What you do need is enough of a cash yield from your investments to keep money flowing through the system. If those all fall at one point in the year, that’s fine and you just need a bigger buffer. If not you can get away with a smaller buffer.
On a more negative note, while work is not everything, one thing you realise when you step away from a 9-5 is how much society and people’s lives are centred around the workplace.
Not working a 9-5 can set you apart. I often find it easiest to bend the truth about what I’m doing. So I spend some of my time roleplaying a normal working person, just to fit in.
Hah – how so? Do you claim you’re a consultant? A self-directed investor?
Generally people don’t ask too many questions, although it’s obvious that some aspects make them very curious. Particularly in summer, as then I’m often out and about enjoying the outdoors.
People I know well understand the situation, but to everyone else I just imply that I have flexible working, and if there are questions I normally just say I do software work. No one asks more questions once you say you do software work!
There is something people don’t like about this way of doing things. If people know about it, you tend to get a lot of explanations about how you need work to give you structure and blah blah blah. As a species we seem to like the whole ‘going to work thing’, and don’t like people to venture outside the lines.
So generally I let them wonder. I find that things go a bit smoother – with a bit less life advice – if you’re more controlled in terms of how much you share.
In the weeds: thinking fast and slow
When did you first start thinking about money and investing?
I’ve always been analytical. There is a side of me where I like to prove how smart I am, even if just to myself.
I got more focused on investing at university, thanks to courses on investments. Initially it felt like a good way to prove myself. These days it’s a way to give me what I want from life, and to keep myself entertained while doing something that feels productive.
It strikes me you were set on a good track in terms of saving and investing, and then your strategy was effectively ‘derailed’ by the windfall.
A nice kind of derailed, sure! But do you ever wonder how things might have progressed along traditional long-term ‘snowball’ lines?
The work I was doing was intense. Really, you don’t do that level of work without some sort of payoff on the horizon. If I’d been the same employee, but without being willing to take on the same responsibilities, then yes – for sure I would have been able to achieve a traditional long-term snowball. I could also have spent more time on side activities.
Under that alternate path, I wouldn’t be so far along yet – but it probably would have been an easier journey.
Maybe it would be fun to start over and do it via the slower route. But a work career is never predictable – as we saw with Ermine’s FIRE story – so I feel it’s probably best just to take the fast route, whenever that becomes possible.
Did any individuals inspire you to become financially free or succeed in your career?
No, it’s more about how I’m wired. My natural instinct is to work too hard – and that is a big negative. The balance is much better now I’ve stopped working.
Can you recommend your favourite resources for anyone chasing the FIRE dream?
To cover the basics, a book I recommend to everyone is a Financial Times book: The Definitive Companion to Investment and the Financial Markets. This gave me my initial grounding for investments and finance. It’s a great starting point.
For more detail, the resource I’ve used the most is Monevator. I find it particularly useful for reference on obscure rules. There isn’t much else that helps you.
More conceptually – and as a motivational starting point – I would recommend The Richest Man in Babylon. This focuses more on why you should set some money aside each month, and why you shouldn’t worry too much about losing money as you start out. It’s a bit corny in places, but you can read it for free on the Internet these days.
Going deeper into investing, I think the final recommendation would be Devil Take the Hindmost. It’s a history of bubbles through time. Bubbles are fun to invest in as you get incredible share price appreciation, which looks great on your socials. But it’s also a fabulous way to lose money when the bubble bursts.
What is your attitude towards charity and inheritance?
I don’t know. I’m not ready for mortality yet.
What will your finances ideally look like towards the end of your life?
Again, I don’t spend time on this!
Very early retirement still presents challenges, but I think most of us would take our chances. So congratulations to Part-Time Analyst for winning the game before some even understand they are playing it. Thoughts and reflections welcome in the comments. But do remember Part-Time Analyst is not a seasoned blogger like me – nasty comments or petty gripes will be deleted. And be sure to read all our FIRE-Side Chats to hear about more types of journeys.
I was interested in your advice to younger readers. You said ‘A blend of software, analytics, and sales was where I focused – and where I would encourage any younger reader to position themselves’. My 15 year old son is doing GCSEs in May 26, so it’s early days – but could you share your A level and degree subjects? You said that you did management and accountancy modules at uni. With AI I have no idea what to advise my son, but he loves maths and business.
Now that’s inspiring, up and out in half the time it took me. And with a healthy approach to the much-overrated value of work.
Interesting approach to travel, too, little and often, you have the great countryside. Not so much the great weather, but you can’t have everything. Fantastic – enjoy your well-deserved early retirement, you took the chances, a well deserved win!
Enjoyed this one very much. Its good to hear alternative ways to financial independence.
“I’ve always saved some money – otherwise you are working for nothing on a net basis.” – I think this is a great quote, strangely in all these years saving/investing I’ve never really thought of it like that – a motivational perspective for saving.
Thanks for sharing!
@FayS at GCSE or even A-levels I don’t think you can go far wrong if they are STEM. For me it was the decisions at university that mattered the most. Consider if the IT department is any good at school, as it could be an opportunity cost to do Computer Science under a bad teacher vs. another subject for example. Internships, apprenticeships and placement years are good ways to gain the practical experience.
Thanks all, and hopefully it gives a bit of encouragement to anyone looking to do something off the traditional path – although just to be clear there was a lot of luck involved!
@FayS – I did a major/minor course with the major being maths, then other business modules to round that out – I chose maths because I was good at it, and felt it would be less effort to do something I was good at. A Levels was Maths + Sciences. Data analysis and coding would have been useful additions, but in reality you can fill in any gaps along the way.
In terms of AI, I would also say don’t overthink it. A lot of technical subjects have been getting progressively easier for a long time pre and post AI (I imagine the internet was a big shift in the olden days). These things allow amateurs to do things that previously sat in an expert’s domain, but the world still needs smart people who can operate effectively. I see no dead ends for someone who is open to learning and new things.
@ermine – I was originally more ambitious, but ‘enforced fun’ became almost another job so it took a bit of time to find something good for me. If it had all taken a bit longer I might have enjoyed it all a bit more so speed isn’t everything – but you just have to make the most of what you have in front of you.
Your comments on bending the truth about what you’re doing in order to fit in, so very relatable. I left an intense career in the city at a similar age and have been living a variant of a financially independent, early retired-ish, life for a few years now (would struggle to clearly and succinctly define it even in this forum). Articulating a truthful definition of “what you do” that doesn’t confuse, distance or outright provoke people is, I still find, a real challenge.
p.s. @TI, the fireside chats are a great series. If you’re amenable to input from the crowd, it would be super interesting to see people’s portfolios if they were comfortable disclosing them, or possibly even as a separate series to do a sort of portfolio review for people and invite constructive feedback.
@Part-time Analyst- Thanks for this, you’ve done amazingly well to get to your current position, and seem to have developed a good sense of how to use your time now in this post employment phase.
@Frags #4
I enjoyed this quote as well, it reminded me of a lunchtime conversation with a former colleague where he told me ‘but your salary is the money you have to spend- if you get a raise then you can spend more’.
Agree, this series is a real highlight of the site.
35 is very good going so chapeau!
Are you going to employ any of Ermines wheezes to make up the NI shortfall to get your state pension? Probably worth it right?
As an aside, it is a shame that modern jobs tend to be so tough they burn you out. I was thinking back to it not being the case so much for my parents generation. They were a bit more human centric in the past. Even over the course of my career, jobs seem to have become noticeably nastier.
Interesting to hear that a return would be intolerable. I can believe it. I went part time a few years ago and going back to full time would be similarly so. It’s a one way street for sure..
A great read -thanks for your very clear description of your trip to financial independence
As a 79 year old with my oldest grandchild (22) a medical student and her partner coming to stay with us for a few days I will be once more be discussing pensions /the workplace with next generation
The current working environment for my 3 x 50ish years old kids seems to be a tough place especially for vocationally minded types -currently a doc,prison governor and deputy head teacher
Having a vocation seems to be excuse for management to abuse-sadly
There do however seem to be some workplaces where there is good practice so there is hope -you just have to find them!
Well done becoming financially independent at such a young age-hopefully this gives you the chance to tackle something fulfilling without having to worry about the bottom line
It would be interesting to know what you are going to do with the rest of your life -35 is very young and your “retirement “ could be 50 years or more
Filling these many remaining years is perhaps one of the hardest parts of FIRE
Congratulations and thanks for sharing.
What a huge achievement – I know we shouldn’t compare, but at your age, I was still recklessly spending money I didn’t have and adding to my credit card debt. Well done! At such a young age, with house paid off too, the world is your oyster!
Great story, PTA. The advice for first time job seekers was gold.
Re: AI. My thinking is that those studying STEM subjects will be just fine. STEM based organisations/companies will likely focus on outsourcing to AI anything not core to their focus like HR, Finance etc. The principles and mindsets will remain (mostly) the same, but they’ll move up the stack. Learning management, validation and supervision of AI could be useful.
Decades ago I went to a school reunion – 25 years after we left. One couple there consisted of an old classmate (therefore about 43) and her husband – probably a couple of years older.
They had done awfully well in business and retired a year or so before. Now they found themselves bored and had resolved to start a new business.
I draw two lessons.
(i) It takes all sorts …
(ii) Know thyself.
Enjoyed this one a lot. I agree with the sentiments around work and exhaustion. I sold my business in 2021 at the age of 35, so I can certainly relate to some of this. I still get the question ‘so what’s next?’ from those who do know.
My situation is slightly different as I still work part-time on fun projects/small consultancy, but I probably have enough at least to be lean fire (but two kids).
I would have liked to read more about what you have been doing since retirement. (hobbies, interests, day to day really). Furthermore, unless I’ve missed something, I am struggling as to why the move to a rural location would require going back to work. Unless I misinterpreted the numbers?
Lastly, I completely relate to the ‘What do you do’ question, and the fact that I am always on the school run with my wife perhaps makes us unrelatable in the way you describe but I think that’s more so down to the lack of depth of conversations that many don’t go past what people do for work vs what they enjoy doing.
Thanks again for writing. look forward to a follow-up.
@Rhino #9 > Are you going to employ any of Ermines wheezes to make up the NI shortfall to get your state pension? Probably worth it right?
@ Part-time Analyst is 35. Doesn’t sound like there were any Gap Yahs so let’s assume they started work @ 21, so that’s up to 14 years under the belt. Realistically, it is 35 years till their SPA, so they have 9 years where they can sit on their backside and not do anything about this.
It’s worth thinking about at some point, but who knows what the future holds. Could be worth a couple of years of class II just to get it in the bag, but I was fearful they’d can it in 2012 and it hasn’t been done away with yet.
So more something to be aware of and perhaps put in the diary fro eight years hence than something that needs fixing right now. If the SP really does become means-tested, it could be a misallocation of capital so early.
A few replies :
@AoI – Our experiences definitely sound similar (and similar in turn to @ryan). I’m slowly coming round to the idea that there would be upside to being more honest though
@Rhino – I have no plans to pay anything to boost State Pension – I work on the basis that those of us under 40 will probably have means tested State Pension
@Rhino + @xxdo9 – Maybe it has always been hard, but the workplace seems a tiring place these days, and that work-life balance has to exist somewhere #4dayweek
@xxd09 + @dearieme + @ryan – For me ‘retirement’ is an end to having a conveyor belt of tasks you must complete. I can build structure and dopamine, and so far the result is that everything is happier and my energy levels are significantly improved – which in turn makes me more engaged with the world around me. I don’t find I’m getting bored, quite the opposite – but I think that will vary individual to individual. I also don’t mind doing bits of work again (I have already done bits without pay as favors), but I don’t want pressure or must do lists
@ryan – There is a lot of variety to what I do day-to-day, but with a big summer-winter split. The big shift is I do a lot more walks, trips and I now go out for cycle rides a few times a week, plus more time spent being sociable – otherwise it is just the usual keeping on top of things in the house, garden, etc. Last winter I got a lot sorted round the house and built software to manage the admin side of investments. This winter I feel I’ll have more energy and time to fill, but my assumption is I’ll fill the rainy days with investment analysis and revert to summer activities on the not so bad days. I don’t quite know how this winter will go though
The rural locations I have in mind are more expensive because they are nice areas with lots to do locally, while where I live is especially affordable. But my thoughts are to have excess capital now, do more new things, and then once a surplus has built up make the change using the excess – and then be more focused around one really good location. I could possibly do it now, but there is comfort in having an over-sized surplus imo
@ermine – on the NI it just seemed like the class II was such an insanely good/cheap deal that it would be worth having it in the bag so to speak. A bird in the hand and all that.. plus it would be good fun coming up with the idea for the work that generated the contribution – particularly if you were a tiny bit bored after a couple of years off?
@Rhino #17
It is a good deal, but you do have to discount the time value of money. Class II NI is an easy win for someone with say 10 years to go, but it’s an opportunity cost for 35 years of compounding, which at least doubles the cost. It’s still a steal at twice the price, but the second known unknown is the proposition – what exactly are you buying?
I don’t strictly agree with @Part-time Analyst’s I work on the basis that those of us under 40 will probably have means tested State Pension – I would say probably contributions made before this will be grandfathered because there is a contractual basis to the SP. That would favour Class II now on your bird in the hand logic.
But the uncertainty doesn’t favour jumping the gun. Also given the resources held currently, perhaps the SP will not be such a large contribution to the total in 35 years time?
Good points, what do you think (full) SP is worth? About 250k? So about an eighth in terms of net worth or income. So kind of not a rounding error but at same not the end of the world if you don’t get it.. so maybe PTA analysis is right, don’t sweat it.. I’m going to go for it though, truth be told, just because I love wheezes 😉
PTA- thanks for that further info-a couple of points
Burn out / mental stress is very real-more common nowadays?
My daughter a GP was in a practice serving a poorer area-came to the point where it was all to much-very demanding patients with many non medical problems plus poor medical resources in the practice
Now working in a better off patient area in a well resourced practice and much happier
Social conscience and vocational aspirations remain quite bruised but going down with the ship helps nobody
I retired at 57 from a demanding professional job and disengaged almost entirely from any social arrangements -( though could not escape a wife ,three married kids and eight grandkids)-getting control back over my time and not having any more constant patient pressures was very life enhancing
Re engaged slowly over time (years) and on my own terms-it’s been a good feeling
xxd09
@AoI other peoples portfolios are interesting but they are always a snapshot at a point in time and can change a lot….quickly. Probably do more harm than good to see the detail, an outline is probably more helpful.
It’s interesting the question of doing nothing or something ( structure ..)
I have had several periods of doing nothing productive ( long holidays travelling for 3 or 4 months) presently a new micro business and working for someone ( I like the social engagement, it’s interesting , no stress, “ not my circus , not my monkeys” ..)
It’s the not having to do something that is the important win of FI.
The RE bit you can do lots of times !!!
Love the fireside chats and well done hitting FI on your terms. This sentence really hit me: “…we get through the working week more on adrenaline than anything else.” It has become increasingly apparent to me how drained I am. It’s such a shame working is getting more all consuming to the point we simply want out. i love the social side of work, but the drain of the actual work is becoming intolerable!
Thank you for sharing your story and congratulations on a very early FIRE. I love the fact that living up North has given you a booster, as I feel exactly the same way. I doubt I’d be in the same position of having paid off my mortgage if I lived in the South. Geo-arbitrage is real, even within the UK.
I’m interested in the fact that you have so much active exposure even when, by your own admission, your returns are much worse than your passive investments. It’s a good way to spend your time though, isn’t it?
Talking of sentences that ‘hit you’, this ‘I can build structure and dopamine’. Wow, that’s quite the insight! Very concise way of expressing the key pre requisite to retirement. Superb stuff.
Spelling error – the correct word is “remuneration” rather than “renumeration” which is used three times in the article.
Thanks PTA for sharing your story.
One question please: you say you make £50-60k post tax income, but how is this possible with such a large cash allocation? Am I missing something?
@IP – Very rough ballpark figures:
£2m – £300k for house = £1.7m
£60k / £1.7m = 3.5%
Looks well within the bounds of the possible?
A few more replies :
@23AlmostThere – Active has the greater volatility, risk and room for you to do something daft, but I like the intellectual side of it and my original background is that of an analyst, so I have ticked the box of having relevant skills/experience (we’ll see though). If the underperformance feels genuine long-term I’ll dial down the active allocation – but there is more to return in my mind than a snapshot on the latest share price, and I believe that side is doing okay.
@IP – The £50-60k is my expectation for positive cash flows into all pots (including pension + ISAs) adjusted for tax. I’m happy to share the figures for the current financial year if that is useful, just note for narrative reasons a reduction in savings interest of £7k from last year offset by more dividend and bond interest. I’m at the base of the expected range this year due to more holdings not paying dividends than my general expectation would be.
For this year the cash inflows should be £22k savings interest, £4k bond interest and £24k dividend income (of which £3k inside tax wrappers) – plus £1.5k premium bond income (no tax) and I include £1.8k cash from tax relief (LISA + pension). Of that I benefit from a £6k savings allowance (no ‘income’), £500 dividend allowance and £12,570 personal allowance, so pay £700 tax on savings, £800 tax on bond income and £1800 tax on dividends – plus currently have accumulated an extra £600 for capital gains. Net total should be just under £50k for this year.
Capital gains has been small so far, as I use tax wrappers to limit capital gains exposure not dividend or interest exposure. But while the tax system does make it hard to accumulate capital (and I have paid plenty while doing this), it can be fairly kind once you have accumulated it (assuming an income or pension doesn’t push you into high rate taxation). A flat rate on interest and dividends is maybe more suitable, but I don’t make the rules.
Very interesting. You said your income was up to ~£100k in salary with bonuses. What drove your ability to write this post were the equity options AND a liquidity event (sale of the business) at the right value.
Threading that needle is very rare. I would guess <5% of people in your situation have this outcome. The more likely outcome was either the business went bust, never grew or you left and either lost the options, were diluted to nothing or they were never realised at significant value. That would have you still working right now.
What made you stay at the company for all those years? Your earnings potential was presumably higher than £100k elsewhere.
I have friends in a similar situation who are agonising over the same question. They are also finding it difficult to find another job as all-encompassing roles at small businesses don't translate well on CVs. Incidentally, there is another cohort with rich parents who jump from startup to startup but that doesn’t sound like you!
@platformer – It was a well setup company with good people and plenty of freedom – so it did feel like if I did the right things to help it along, the company would succeed. In terms of risk, the company was re-investing into growth, but it was additionally generating plenty of excess cash – so it wasn’t a grow at all costs and pray for a 900x P/E sort of play. It felt like a good enough outcome was probable without too much risk.
On alternate earning potential – I’d say that the skills to succeed at a large business are very different to those needed in a small to medium sized one, which can be a limiter to earning potential for those suited to smaller businesses. So personally, I’m not convinced it would have been possible to jump to higher pay, and there were never any lucrative offers sent my way. The sales team tended to be the ones targeted to see if they would make a change – I only dipped onto the edge of the sales side of things.
@PTA:
Very interesting, thank you for sharing. As others have noted, you have a lot of life ahead of you and it would be interesting to also see how that develops in due course.
@TI:
Please keep the chats coming as they are endlessly interesting. I suspect each chat takes a lot of work to compile, so thanks again.
Appreciate the extra information PTA, thanks, but no need to share actual numbers. I need to read TA’s posts about decumulation more closely, but it’s interesting to see how much you’re receiving from savings accounts, bond interest and dividends. It seems that your asset allocation (high on cash but now decreasing) stems from a combination of being tax-efficient while not having enough time to focus on active investing until now.
Thanks again.
As always, love the fireside chats. Big congrats PTA, really inspiring and interesting that you have won via a different path.
@all — Thanks for all the great comments. Yep, these do take a fair bit of work on both sides, so it’s very heartening to hear that people appreciate that.
This might not be the last we hear from @PTA. Watch this space! 😉