Update - January, 2016 - Minimilism

What a difference a couple of months makes. 

• Two months ago we were living in a paid-off house.
• Now we live in a paid off 29' R.V.(2006 bumper-pull trailer).

This is a move toward a more simplified, liberated, freer lifestyle.  What's really amazing is that my wife is totally on board (though not without having had to overcome some typical reservations, i.e. Where will we put all of our clothes?  Where will you put your office?  Where will I go when you start to snore?).  We've been able to resolve everything but the last concern.  That will resolve itself when I drop ten pounds.  Now I have no excuse since we are literally parked across the street from a gym...dang it!

We currently own seven houses.  We've lived in two of them over the years.  But now, living in what amounts to a "tiny home", we couldn't feel more content.  That's due in part to the fact that we have a reason, a purpose for this life-style adjustment:  We want maximum mobility at minimal cost.  We want to be able to travel and move around at the drop of a hat.  We want to live on a small passive income.  We don't want chaos and clutter.  We don't need a lot of room to be happy.  And you know what?  It's working.  For example, we just returned from a couple of weeks in Costa Rica and we're getting ready to fly to California for another week and a half to visit my wife's parents.  I'll likely do some volunteer work in New York this Spring for a month or so, and the list goes on.

We are beginning to reap the rewards of our rental mortgage payoff journey.  But that goal has always been combined with the reduction of spending and increase of savings.  As our budget now stands, we live on just under $2,000 p/mo.  That includes $670.00 per month for a high-deductible health-care plan.  Our cost for the ACA plan rose 50% for 2016.  That was a shocker and one that caused me a mini-fit.

Mind you, this is all completely voluntary as we still reap the rewards of a business we own and draw about 75k a year from.  This money has largely been earmarked for the rental mortgage payoff plan that is the subject of this blog.  We have that business on the selling block and are readying ourselves for the loss of most of that income going forward.  If it sells, than we'll pay off the balance of this final mortgage.  If not, then we'll stay the course with the high monthly principal payments and just invest the rest until things change. Either way, it's all good. 

Speaking of that final mortgage balance...

Jan 1, 2013 (Beginning Bal).                                           January 1st, 2016                                Amount Paid Off

==========================================================================

House #1 - $70,908                                         House #1 - $24,733                      $46,175
House #2 - $57,619                                         House #2 - $ 0                              $57,619
House #3 - $49,123                                         House #3 - $ 0                              $49,123
-----------------------------                                    -----------------------------               -----------------------------

Total:       $177,650                                                          $24,733                     $152,917 (-86.07%)

Looking back over last year, we have paid off nearly $40,000.  The balance last January was $63,163.  It now stands at $24,733.  Wow!  That's a lot of smackers thrown at the mortgage!

While we sent an additional $4,000 to the principal this month, that's not as much as we should've sent.  We decided to maximize the tax advantages of sending the final contribution of more than $2,000 to finish out the 2015 HSA contributions.  I feel good about that.  Also, we had tiled the floor and shower and replaced the water heater of our house before moving out.  We also paid for the Costa Rica and California trips on top of everything else.  That set us back a bit.  However, I believe we are looking forward to a hefty principal payment for next month as we'll dip into the rental monies to add to our payment.  I relish the thought of getting that balance under $20k.

This is the final stretch.  Three years ago when I started this blog we said we would pay off $177,650 in just forty-two months.  We are now down to the last six months and it looks like a checkered flag I see waving in the distance.  Once we pay that last house off, I will officially declare ourselves FI!  The additional $1,476.46 added to our other previous rental real estate income will be more than enough to make that declaration.  We're turning the page to a new and very exciting chapter of our lives.

In the meantime, let's all make this a productive year and stretch forward toward the realization of our goals.  I know we're not the only ones out there working hard, making sacrifices and displaying resolute determination to achieve financial freedom.  Let us know how your doing.

Countdown to FI

10...9...8...7...6...Financial Independence!!!!!!!!!

FI is fast approaching. The "Countdown" has begun.  That's the day when I can and will officially declare myself "Financially Independent".  What does that term mean to you?  It's certainly better than "retirement". Why?  Because retirement often evokes a picture of someone in his 60's or 70's lazing about, playing golf or bridge all day long.  For many, it can even create a negative image of someone who has no real purpose in life, drifting along in a life raft of leisure (Wait a minute!  What's wrong with that?) 

While "Financial Independence" tends to simply say that you no longer have to earn a living.  You're no longer trading hours for dollars.  You've already earned it.  You now get to pursue  whatever work, passion, hobby or [insert productive activity here] you darn well desire.  Full-time, part-time, what is time for that matter? Heck (pardon my language), do whatever you wanna do!  You're the master of your time.  Unlike many people's vision of retirement, you've not punched your last timecard and now ride off into the sunset.  No!  You are just getting started, but now YOU call the shots.  YOU decide how you'll spend your time without a job or a boss's interference, (unless you so choose).   That's the flipside of our reason for having undertaken the goal to pay off our last three rental property mortgages.  The other reason was to relieve ourselves of ALL, that's 100% of all debt.  What steps are we taking to live on our rental income?

New budget - Categories with amounts.

We have refined our budget to include all the little incidental expenditures that can bust a budget. Clothing, Property Taxes, Home Insurance, Home and Auto Maintenance to name a few. Beginning this month, we are attempting to live on the amount of income we anticipate from our rentals.  How much is that?  Approximately $2,323.00 per month or $27,876 per year.  That's the conservative figure.  It already takes into consideration the cost of Taxes, Maintenance, Insurance, Vacancies and professional property management.  This number could even improve by several hundred dollars a month if we decide to rent our personal residence and live in our 31' RV.  Decisions, decisions... 

It gets even better because we haven't even considered the passive income we'll be receiving from our Commercial Janitorial Company until we decide what to do with it.  Right now that additional income is fairly significant.  We'll likely convert that money to dividend growth equities and further add to our passive income with another income producing stream. 

Minimalism a.k.a. "Simplification"

What else will we be doing during the remaining nine months counting down to FI?  I'm taking a real interest in the Minimalist way of life.  No, I'm not talking about extreme minimalism where you own 100 items or less.  But I am talking about really simplifying and culling out those things that take up space.  Everything we own has a price attached.  You either have to clean it, maintain it, insure it, protect it, think about it or at least make room for it.  All those items big and small add up to a lot of clutter, mental and otherwise.  I want to minimize those things and add to my new-found sensation of freedom.  I want to have more time and energy to devote to things that are important to me, the things that have the most meaning for me.  Minimalism sounds like a worthwhile path to pursue during this countdown to FI.

Practice and refine for the next nine months

Nine months.  Wow!  It could possibly even be sooner than that.  Either way, this will be a lifestyle transition.  It's a big deal.  Like all other worthwhile endeavors, why not prepare and practice living my future right now in the present. I will have to show more self control with my spending habits than before.  Up to now, I've been able to buy anything and everything I wanted.  That's certainly not realistic when living on a fixed income.   

August Payoff Stats:

Jan 1, 2013 (Beginning Bal).                                                         August 1st, 2015                                Amount Paid Off

==========================================================================

House #1 - $70,908                                         House #1 - $39,824                      $31.084
House #2 - $57,619                                         House #2 - $ 0                              $57,619
House #3 - $49,123                                         House #3 - $ 0                              $49,123
-----------------------------                                    -----------------------------               -----------------------------

Total:       $177,650                                                          $39,834                     $137,816 (-77.57%)

This month I was throwing money at this balance like a man on fire.  Every time I had available monies, they barely had time to register in the checking account before they were quickly transferred.  I made seven separate additional principal payments totaling $9,307.39.  Add to that amount the additional principal portion of  my August payment totaling $415.56 and you see a total reduction to the balance of  $9,722.95.  That's just stinking awesome!  The ability to apply monies that previously went toward mortgage payments is really helping the snowball efforts here. 

One way to highlight that is to look at the Principal/Interest ratio just a few short months ago:  May's principal & interest payment broke down to $340.24 principal / $213.64 interest.  Whereas with the snowballing of payments in May, June and July totaling $20,807.39 the August principal/interest ratio was $415.56 principal / $138.33 interest.  That's $75.32 more towards principal and less in interest every month (before compounding) going forward!  In short, if you divide the saved interest x 12 months then divide by the total principal invested, you arrive at your loan APY (Annual Percentage Yield) interest rate as the rate of return or just over 4.125% APR (Annual Percentage Rate).  Link to APY vs. APR

Compounding debt payoff is almost as exciting and fulfilling as compounding interest income.  The effect on net worth is the same, just different sides of the ledger except that often your trading a lower ROI (Return on Investment) or a lower reward in exchange for removing market risks.  And while that's a calculated trade-off for most who chose to pay off a mortgage over investing those monies, I can't wait to reverse the two sides of the ledger.  ;-)

The countdown has entered the final stage...

Update - May, 2015

It's all downhill from here.

Long term goals are not easy to accomplish, especially when you are sacrificing to achieve them.  If you love working-out or running, then reaching goals just sort of happens without any real effort because you love what your doing.  This idea fits in nicely with the saying: "Love what you do and you'll never work a day in your life".  However, reaching a long-term goal involving real sacrifice like, for example,  dieting to lose weight or, dare I say, paying off consumer debts like credit cards or mortgages is certainly a different beast.  It's easy to tire out along the way or get bored over the span of several years as you trudge along ever so slowly reaching your goal.  I know, it happened to me over the past several months since paying off rental property number two in December.  I wanted more excitement, a break from the self-sacrifice we'd been exercising over the previous twenty-four months of mortgage debt pay down.  So, what have we been doing the past four months?

Investing in the stock market

It's no secret to anyone reading this blog that I enjoy buying dividend growth companies.  During the last swoon in oil prices we bought Exxon, Shell, Conoco, Kinder Morgan, BP and BHP Billiton.

We made about a thousand dollars dabbling.  It was fun and I liked the choices over the long term, but despite our success in picking some good stocks at the right time, I just couldn't get past the guaranteed return of mortgage paydown vs. the risk of being in the equities market.  More than that, the real advantage of paying off a rental property is that not only do you get the automatic return of your interest rate savings (4.125% in this case), but you get that plus principal as cash flow, a sort of  "dividend" that comes right to your bank account month after month after month.  In this case involving the third and final rental property the amount of cash flow we'll receive in approximately one more year would look like this:

          Balance on mortgage: $63,149.10

          Principal & Interest:   $553.88 monthly or $6,646.56 annually.

How much would we have to invest in dividend paying stock in order to receive a yearly dividend income of $6,646.56?  Obviously the answer depends on the yields with which you fill your income-producing portfolio.  I'll err on the high side and use the average of the stocks we had purchased above.  After all, energy companies offer some of the richest yields available:

     
Average energy portfolio yield:  4.67%

Amount of investment dollars required to produce $6,646.56 @ 4.67% yield:  $142,324.63

What does it all mean? 

     1.  It means that I would have to invest $79,175.53 more than what I currently owe on this last 

          rental property in order to generate the same return that I can get by just buckling down and

          paying off this last mortgage over the next twelve months.

     2.  If we opted for the dividend portfolio, we would have to accept the market risks and possible

          loss of capital.

     3.  It would take considerably longer to save and invest the additional $80k and reap the full

          dividend reward of $553.88 per month.

So, as you can see, it is worthwhile to re-evaluate what you want to accomplish and when.  In our case, we still want to remove this last vestige of debt and be 100% free.  We also want to get this additional income generated as soon as possible while avoiding the market risks inherent with an equities portfolio.  That day will come, but only after we've reduced or eliminated all other controllable risks to our personal financial profile.

Where are we in May, 2015?

Well, as I mentioned in my previous post and as a result of selling the aforementioned stocks, we were able to make a large principal payment totaling $11,000 this month bringing our balance to $50,809 from $62,149.  That's a wonderful chunk of equity and get's the snowball rolling downhill a lot faster.  I can't wait to see the effect on the interest saved next month and how much additional saved interest is added to that snowball.

We're back and we're as determined as ever to see this goal to its completion.  We have some medical issues looming and those costs will cut into our ability to make some larger payments, but on average we anticipate knocking this debt down by an additional $3k to $4k per month until paid off by this time next year.

Where are we in May, 2016?

Now that's a good question!  I see us claiming the glorious title of "Financially Independent".  We will begin to build our equities portfolio and do more travelling.  WooHooo!  Since our modest house is paid off, we don't have to spend any precious passive income to pay rent or mortgage anymore.  Outside of a modest amount to cover insurance and taxes plus a bit of maintenance, we keep the rest.  That means our housing costs are and will be less than $200.00 per month.  It won't take much to support our debt-free lifestyle and the additional $553.00 per month from paying off Rental House #3 will go a long ways towards supporting our Financially Independent lifestyle.  Looks like the Summer of 2016 will be an exciting one for us.  Let's reach those goals together, shall we?  

Update - December 2013

2013 is about to wind up and be retired to history.  I know it's been a tremendous year of accomplishment for many of you out there.  You've set and achieved goals:  Investing, debt reduction, weight loss...umph...ok so we didn't reach ALL of our goals, but, hey, this is a Personal Finance blog and not Weight Watchers, so we won't sweat the last one too much.

 

What have we accomplished this year?  Well, aside from nearly paying off one of my rental properties (more on that later) we travelled to Mexico and saw some really cool sights and met some awesome people.



Pyramid of the Sun - Teotihuacan, Mexico
 

While I obviously think it prudent to prepare for the future, I must remind myself that I'm living in the present.  There is a whole world out there to see.  There are people we love and need to enjoy while we have them.  Here is a moving retrospective that helps put things in perspective while we zealously work toward achieving Financial Independence.  (The following excerpt has often been rumored to have been written by Comedian George Carlin, but that is apparently not the case.)

http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/c/carlin.htm

"The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but
shorter tempers, wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more,
but have less; we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and
smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees
but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more
problems, more medicine, but less wellness.
 
We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little,
drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too
little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom. We have multiplied our
possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and
hate too often.
 
We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to
life not life to years. We've been all the way to the moon and back, but
have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer
space but not inner space.
 
We've done larger things, but not better things. We've cleaned up the air,
but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice.
 
We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less.
 
We've learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold
more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less
and less.
 
These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small
character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of
two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes.
 
These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one
night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer,
to quiet, to kill.
 
It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the
stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time
when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete.
 
Remember; spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going
to be around forever. Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to
you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your
side.
 
Remember to give a warm hug to the one next to you because that is the only
treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn't cost a cent. Remember,
to say, "I love you" to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all
mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep
inside of you. Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday
that person will not be there again. Give time to love, give time to speak
and give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind."

I appreciate those words (regardless of who wrote them) as they help us to step back and meditate on whether we have our priorties in the proper order.  While I pursue my goals and ambitions, I never want to lose sight of what's most important in life:  Meaningful relationships with our Creator, our families and our friends, and the true enjoyment of life's experiences with them and not at their expense.

Now...on to this month's achievment:

Jan 1, 2013 (Beginning Bal)                           December, 2013                       Amount Paid  =======================================================================

House #1 - $70,908                                        House #1 - $67,437                        $ 3,471
House #2 - $57,619                                        House #2 - $54,459                        $ 3,160
House #3 - $49,123                                        House #3 - $  3,486                       $45,637
-----------------------------                                   ----------------------------          ---------------------------
Total:      $177,650                                                          $125,382                      $52,268 (-29.42%)

So, so close to paying off House #3.  I'm aiming to pay it off by December 31st, essentially right on schedule.  That way I can clear it off the books and simplify tax preparation for the next tax season while beginning to re-focus on House #2 starting January 1st.  Next step:  Request a "Pay off Statement" from the bank while scraping the money together to make an early final payment.

Stay tuned.  I may have a celebratory post later this month.......

Update - October 2013

October is here and a whisper of Autumn is in the air.  In my part of the world you tolerate Summer to get to Fall and Winter to get to Spring.  The weather is rarely boring, or, as they are fond of saying here:  "If you don't like the weather, wait ten minutes and it'll change".  Truer words were never spoken.

 

Something else that's changing is my percentage of ownership (or "Equity") of my rental real estate portfolio.  At the rate we're moving along I am three months away from owning House #3 free and clear!  Three more payments and it will be mine I tell you, MINE!  BWAAAHAAAHAAA!!!!!  I apologize for that moment of insanity.  That's just shy of $50,000.00 in one year.  Don't think I haven't been tempted to stray from my course...I have.  But we're so close now that it would be foolish to not see this through.  We will reap the reward of an additional $424.57 or $5,094.84 annual cash flow.  That's 10.4% cash on cash return on that $49,123.00 going forward.

 

I am thinking of adjusting the strategy beginning January, 2014, however.  While having one less monthly mortgage payment in itself amounts to an additional layer of security, I am considering lowering the additional monthly principle payments from the $3,400 range to more like $1,800 to $2,000 and banking the remainder in savings to serve as yet another layer of security going forward.  Then, when I can pay the balance of the mortgage off with the savings, I will write one check and be done with it.  This will slow the payoff process a bit because those large payments really shrink the amount of interest each month.  But it's a trade off I'm willing to consider for the safety it provides.

Here are the numbers for October:
        
Jan 1, 2013 (Beginning Bal)                 October, 2013                          Amount Paid  =======================================================================

House #1 - $70,908                                  House #1 - $68,078                    $ 2,830
House #2 - $57,619                                  House #2 - $55,044                    $ 2,575
House #3 - $49,123                                  House #3 - $10,470                    $38,653
-----------------------------                             ----------------------------                 ---------------------------
Total:        $177,650                                 Total: $133,592                          $44,058 (-24.80%)

 

My total equity for those three rental properties has increased by 25% (rounding up) just since January of this year.  It will be so exciting to pay off that property and have only TWO monthly mortgage payments totalling  $1,317.39 (Payment, Interest, Taxes & Insurance)!  I can hardly wait.

Whatever the case, rest assured, we'll keep you abreast of the situation.