What is your desired Retirement Income compared to Current Wage?

True.... but also keep in mind that pensioners get concessions on things that self-funded pre-retirement age people don't. So one couples $31k is another couples $40k.....

 

Yes true - public transport, car rego, electricity and gas etc.

 

Retiring means no longer having to work for someone else. So hopefully you CAN imagine yourself retiring before 65. I did it at 35 and never looked back!

 

'Fudge' no. I'd walk tomorrow.

I've been at work all weekend after an 80ish hour week. Id rather be spending time with my kids.

 

Nice way to consider it!

Problem though is that if your passive income as same as work income then by continuing to work your total income would actually be double. This was the delimma I faced and struggled with for a while (albeit a nice problem to have).

 

Many people seem to face this dilemma.

 

Sorry Bran, I don't undestand - are you say you would quit work tomorrow if you could?

 

For us to achieve passive income of approx 65k, that would be roughly 3 properties fully paid off at today's rental income amounts. That's not considering expenses. The only way I can see I will have enough to do this is by paying down the equivalent of the principal on my IP and any future ones in the offset.
Right now I'm 29. I have just bought my first IP at 392k, I also have a mortgage of 290k on my PPOR which was just valued at 550k.
It's daunting to think that if I have any future IPs all set to IO that 30 years later I would have to sell some to pay out mortgages.

 

If you aim is 3 properties fully paid off you could start with 6 and gradually sell 3 to pay down the others (or heaps of variations strategies such as to sell and invest in index funds instead)

 

My

my 2 cents..... it's not about number of properties as they all have different capital value, different ROI / yield & different CG.

It is about passive cashflow, security of capital and limiting your risk exposure.

anyhow, like I said, my 2 cents....

 

Question for those who have lived overseas, if 70k net is "comfortable" in Sydney/Melbourne, what would the equivalent be in other countries (personal opinions)?

 

Australia is one of the more expensive countries.

I have lived in Japan and Thailand. In Japan you would probably need about 80% of what you need in Australia.

In Thailand you would probably need about 1/4. But this depends where you live as there are large variations between Bangkok and hte provinces.

I know an Aussie guy that he been living in Thailand for about 5 years now and he lives on $12,000 per year. And $1000 of this is for a school to enable him to get the visa.

 

Please be more specific... I've lived in the US & found not only do costs vary but the exchange rate at the time is a significant factor. Are you comparing 70k AUD on a fluctuating currency exchange basis? If so, it is almost pointless because factors such as exchange rate at the time will make comparison almost meaningless today. Note, AUD was at one time worth $1:10 USD and it is now ~76 cents.... that's a massive difference.

In general though, I can say that daily living expenses in the US are comparable (although petrol is about 20% dearer here), cars are cheaper there by 25-40% (can be even more for US models), Real estate is comparable at today's exchange rate but cheaper in general to Australia if only considering actual value rather than compared to incomes.

70k net in general, will allow for a reasonably comfortable life in most (if not all) developed countries. The biggest variable to purchasing power is exchange rate fluctuations.... having transferred 100's of thousands overseas over numerous years, that has been the single biggest issue.... Of course, if you earn income in the local currency, that is not the main concern.

Enjoy the journey,

Indi

 

www.numbeo.com answers this question for most cities in the world

 

This has been an excellent discussion so far.

Another question though; who here would fund said retirement income with IPs alone? And who would diversify to multiple income streams/asset classes? I'm thinking along the lines of dividend stocks, small business, part time work etc.

Also, with regards to cost of living, I find we are very fortunate. My answer to the original poll is therefore much less than I earn working full time, once the asset base is built up.

 

Yes. Given I'm on call for another 48 hours, and have been on the last 72, I wouldn't wait till tomorrow. I'd walk now.

 

When I started this thread I was thinking I would need less money because my kids were younger then and i was spending a bit. But now 5 years later I am spending much more money than before. Lockdown is holding this back a bit but the spending will take out when it opens up again.

Has anyone changed like me?

 

Depends. Will the kids leave?

 

Interesting. So your spending has increased but the question is on what? Are you buying more stuff or spending more on experiences? Or should I say when we can do experiences, if they let us out of our cages.

Over the years our spending has grown but I can say it has reached a Plato more recently. Going through a period in which I don’t feel like I need to keep accumulating stuff. Trying to be more picky and make sure any things I do acquire will add something to our lives. Definitely want to spend more on travel when we are released.

 

Are you spending more comparative to income, in percentage terms versus what you keep?

I think if your personal circumstances haven’t reached a stable life stage, then fluctuations are inevitable. Our spending has increased due to inflationary pressures (real inflation not that BS figure the Govt spews out) but otherwise remained fairly stable.