Here it is! Our financial review for 2022. Below, we’ll detail how we each got on this year, including progress towards our FIRE goals.
If you want to see a more personal review of 2022, see this post by Mr Way.
Mr Way
As we’ve mentioned elsewhere, moving to the Caribbean has come with some significant moving costs. We’ve also ramped up our spending since we want to make the most of our time here. Because of this, we haven’t actually added to our FIRE funds since moving.
We did add a large lump sum in March, from the proceeds of our UK house sale.
As 2023 arrives, we do have a bit of a stash starting to appear in our Caribbean account, so we’ll look to put some money into our savings shortly.
The Numbers
Here’s an overview of how my numbers look, in comparison to previous updates.
| Account | Balance (Mar 20) | Balance (Dec 20) | Balance (Dec 21) | Balance (Dec 22) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stocks & Shares ISA | £70,400 | £108,069 | £141,578 | £133,721 |
| Workplace Pension | £17,200 | £25,630 | £34,357 | £32,425 |
| SIPP | £3,800 | £5,802 | £7,269 | £6,914 |
| Total | £91,400 | £139,501 | £183,204 | £173,060 |
This means I am now 46.1% FI!
Clearly this is disappointing, because I’m £10k below my total last year!
I’m not concerned at all because of my FIRE timeline. I’m a long way away, so if anything, a negative/sideways market just provides more opportunity to build my FIRE funds.
My FIRE goal is based on the 4% rule and annual spending of £15,000. If you keep up to date with our Monthly Spending posts, you’ll know this is quite a comfortable level of spending for me. This combination gives me a rough goal of £375,000.
Exclusions
As mentioned before, the above doesn’t take into account my emergency fund or our property.
My emergency fund is currently quite high at around £40k. This is because we think we’ll move back to the UK at some point soon and may want the money for a house deposit. I currently keep this money in premium bonds.
As for the property, we sold our house in March. The fund have all been added to a General Investment Account.
Because I don’t include housing costs in my FIRE target (I.e. I’m assuming a fully paid off property at the time of retirement), I’ve kept this money separate. We added it all to a General Investment Account in joint names. This was then invested in a global Vanguard fund (VWRA). The balance is currently £143,777
Bring on 2023!
That’s it for my 2022 financial review!
It has been a bizarre year, but I wouldn’t change it! It’s disappointing not to be contributing to my FIRE funds at the moment, but that will soon change. The major setting-up costs are now out of the way and we can focus more on putting a stash away. We’re also both earning more already so the future looks bright.
Mrs Way
The 2022 financial review for Mrs Way looks similar, in that no funds have been added!
The table below gives a summary of Mrs Way’s current ‘FI Fund’ balance. Again, this is compared to previous financial reviews.
| Account | Balance (Mar 20) | Balance (Dec 20) | Balance (Dec 21) | Balance (Dec 22) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stocks & Shares ISA | £47,400 | £68,309 | £80,748 | £77,325 |
| Total | £47,400 | £68,309 | £80,748 | £77,325 |
This means Mrs Way is now 20.6% FI!
Again, it’s disappointing to see the total lower than last year, but we know it doesn’t really matter with a long term outlook!
As in my financial review above, this ignores Mrs Way’s emergency fund and property. The property fund mentioned above (£143,777) is in joint names so is shared 50/50.
The above FIRE fund figure also ignores Mrs Way’s pension. The Teacher’s Pension is a defined benefit system. It is available from age 60. Unfortunately we don’t currently know how much Mrs Way is eligible for so far, because their system is useless!
Mrs Way is always likely to maintain some form of work, even post-FI. She finds the structure this provides benefits her mental health and general productivity levels. As such, she doesn’t technically need a full FI Fund in the same way. Considering this, she’s in a very strong position already!
Overview
All in all, it has been a very boring year for our FIRE funds! There haven’t been any additions, and the markets have meant a slight drop in the overall size of the funds.
All of that is out of our control, so we’ll just try to keep contributing and see where we end up by this time next year.
We can’t wait to see what 2023 brings! All the best to you all!
In the next few days we’ll be posting a summary of all of our spending throughout 2022.
Keep in touch, and have a fantastic 2023!