I spent most of my 20s saving for a deposit for my first flat. Prices had been increasing and I thought if I don’t get a property now I might never be able to. In the summer of 2007, after eight years of saving, I finally had enough for a 10% deposit on a shared ownership flat.
Within three months of going ahead, the credit crunch hit, which turned into the Great Recession. For years I was in negative equity and because I had put everything into that flat, by age 30 my net worth was below zero.
Coming from a family where we were told hard work pays off, I was struggling to see how. But through a combination of advice from my dad, my own research and doubling down on my savings, I started to make headway again.
My approach was messy: buying stocks, chipping away at my mortgage, renting my property (and renting somewhere else to live), buying actively managed investment funds and index funds, and even trading S&P futures directly on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
I’ve tried a lot, had plenty of failures, and some wins along the way.
Now, at 45, I have gone from below zero to building an investment engine of over £1m. This now contributes a meaningful amount into my annual growth, along with savings from my employment income.
My plan is absolutely to continue growing this into the future and reach £2.5m, enough to support around £100k a year, which is more than enough for the life I want.
I’m here to share the approach and the tools I have used to get to this point and help you avoid the mistakes I have made along the way.
Head over to the Financial Freedom Roadmap to see the basic structure behind my thinking and the pathway to financial freedom.
Alan