Been Supple (with plans and goals)

Curious to hear how others have dealt with changes in circumstances and adapting plans around this, as we have just done - see below.

This past 12 months has been a big one for many reasons (engaged, planning wedding, planning kids etc) which has required our plans to become slightly more flexible.

Our plan to purchase around MGE in Brisbane has been shelved and instead we allocated the equity to the purchase of shares. This required us taking on less debt, nil risk of additional vacancies which my partner thought might make her uncomfortable given our potential change in circumstances. I struggled with this as my mindset was set to our long term plan of a property a year on average and the performance of MGE also played on my mind which we have no exposure to.

This all got me thinking about the pros and cons of changing things up. The loss of focus could definitely hurt the long term goal of financial independence, especially not knowing, or having a set date/time when our focus will return to acquiring more property. It also made me realise that my want to acquire that property an stay on track was almost unhealthy. I shouldn't be that distressed as we have acquired a solid asset and our repayments have actually reduced even with the further lending due to getting a better rate on existing lending.

 

Sounds like you are about to experience the best parts of your life. Don't sweat it.

 

The old cliché "life got in the way", guess what sometimes it actually does and we all need to be flexible and adapt as required.

Perspective for me is-Am I and my loved one's healthy and happy..

 

Whenever unexpected things changes, I try to remind myself why I'm investing in the first place. i.e. to enjoy life more with important people (reasonable, within means). This take precedence over any plan.

I then plug the changes into excel, do comparison of before and after (e.g. 2 year delay for my goal). See if I can accept the new timing - if not, then I'll start thinking of way to move the the needle (e.g. maybe new job, etc etc).

That said, seeing my 3rd year progress and 10 year goals make me quite depressed, so right now if I'm looking mainly for 2 years in advance - as long as I'm making progress every month then I'll be happier.

 

A property is a year sounds hyper aggressive unless you're a 1%er income wise. Maybe talk to your spouse, work out when you think you want to retire & on how much, then work back from that.. No point building a huge empire if you don't need it to be that big.

 

when I started my investment journey I too wondered why so much effort for so little gain.

Once the capital grows and start to learn skills to help speed the process the journey becomes much easier.

If life gets in the way it will be short lived if you have the passion and desire to succeed and make it happen, I know cliche, but true.

I am "the come back kid", losing $1m - my partners business never stopped me reaching my goal.

mtr

 

Change is as good as a holiday!

The more you do, the more you learn. Go with it! andd you have to just work as a team to get through it. Weddings are a pain in the ass to arrange so best not to involve the in laws!

And if you sit around waiting for "the right time" youll be waiting a very long time! Go with it and be ready for the opportunity to buy when it comes