Milestone Reached!

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I don’t normally check my portfolios before the end of the month but recently, I’ve been itching to because I knew I was close to a big milestone.

I logged onto my investment accounts this morning to see that my Future Fund (ie my FIRE pot) has finally surpassed £200,000! Woo hoo!

Back in June 2017, me and John Kingham of UK Value Investor blog were in a friendly ‘race’ to see who would hit £200k first – I lucked out and got there the quickest.

I had predicted that it would take me 5 years; it’s actually taken me around 3.5 years to get £100k.

Eleven Years

This milestone has been more than 11 years in total in the making!

The first £100k took me around 8 years – 5 years for the first £30k, when I had no plan and no direction, then 3 years to get £70k after I’d devised my plan to aim for FIRE.

Yes, if only I’d made a plan earlier, I could have reached this milestone in a fewer number of years, but I can’t dwell on what I could have and should have done in the past.

I feel quite giddy and am very pleased with myself, that I’ve patiently stuck to my plan over the years and did not get distracted or fall off the rails.

Of course, by the time I run my September-end numbers, it’s possible that the stockmarket will have fluctuated and I may be back below £200k but I think I’m allowed to celebrate this small win now, when there’s not a lot to celebrate in the world currently.

Anyway, thank you readers of this blog for helping me get there in the first place!

Onwards to the next £100k!

67 thoughts on “Milestone Reached!”

  1. Congratulations Weenie!

    What an achievement! It must feel great to look back and see that pot grow over the years. Now here comes the exponential compound interest and growth!

    I think this calls for a celebratory drink?

  3. That’s amazing

    well done just shows what can be achieved with discipline and time and without the advantage of stupidly high earnings too

    can you remind me is your fi fund your non pension saving? Or does it include both?

  5. Hi Weenie
    Congratulations on reaching your milestone. You deserve it and I want to thank you for all your posts. I have been reading your blog for over 2 years and when I start to wobble and think that this investing stuff is too much, your posts calm me down as you never deviate from the plan and keep your head. Roll on 300k.

  6. Congratulations, Weenie. At this rate, you can bring forward your stop-working date.

    If it had been me then, per your remarks, I’d have waited till the end of the month lest the market falls/corrects itself before then. I’m surprised how much the markets have risen this week: I’m sure it can’t last! Back to my half-empty glass…

    • Thanks NewInvestor!

      I know what you mean, I was tempted to not say anything but if it was back under £200k by the time I did my update, I’d have not been able to mention that I had gotten there this month! Fingers crossed it holds on until the end!

  8. It is impressive how your pot has snowballed. It demonstrated how worthwhile it is to struggle through the early years. Well done!

    Could I ask what size pot you are aiming at, by when and why? I am also saving for retirement but the more I think about the amount I need the more unsure I become! There seem to be so many uncertainties and downright unknowables. One day I will feel confident and the next wracked by anxiety.

    • I can relate I am sure when I get there I’ll suffer from one more year syndrome.

      The snowball definitely kicks in once you have the first hundred k which makes sense I guess but great to see it in action. I have breached that amount in my isa and more in my pension and its quite surreal to see the difference (yes I look more than I should but mainly from an education pov I don’t change my strategy) between the two even small changes in the market make on your networth

    • Yes, once I’d gotten the first £100k, it did snowball and well worth the initial struggle.

      I’ve been playing around with lots of spreadsheets and scenarios recently and my number waivers between £350k and £400k. At this point, I should be 55 or 56 and ready to leave FT work if I choose to do so.

      Yes, lots of uncertainties and unknowables but going for FIRE is very much a leap of faith.

      After all this time, I do still veer from confidence to anxiety, although the former usually wins the day, that what I’m doing is right for me.

  10. Congrarulations on reaching such a milestone. It has been said each successive £100k becomes easier and faster since you now have “wind in your sails”.
    A celebratory drink definitley needs to be raised.

    • Thanks Lynx and yes, subsequent £100ks should be easier. Must ensure that I keep my focus. I don’t drink on a ‘school night’ so I shall be partaking in a few this weekend! Cheers!

      • I challenge you to not check your valuation for 3 months. Unless there’s an emergency.

        As i see it, you’ll only get upset if you see it dip below 200, but if you can build up a bit of a buffer in the near future then the odd fluctuation won’t seem such a big deal.

        Appreciate that your regular portfolio update reports, minus numbers, might need to become a little bit more ‘creative’!

        • Hah, I can’t accept the challenge as that would mess up my monthly update reports! However, the last time I checked was yesterday and now I will ‘surprise’ myself come month end to see if I’m still at the 200 – I’m a big girl, I won’t get upset! 🙂

  17. Well done on your progress to date. The early years are the most challenging and those are behind you now. In the later years progress is more rapid, markets permitting.

    • Thanks Getting Minted! The early years were indeed challenging, especially when I was comparing myself to others who were ahead of me in their journeys, it felt like I was getting nowhere.

      Yes, Markets permitting – need to ensure I keep a diversified portfolio to ride out any storms!

  18. Well done Weenie – a great achievement!
    Now you just need to keep on keeping on.

    As a lot of other commenters have mentioned if the markets permit your subsequent progress will accelerate. On that theme, Mike R’s snowball post from earlier this year may interest you, see: https://the7circles.uk/the-36-year-snowball/

  19. What exciting news Weenie! So good to have some positive updates in a difficult year. I’m finding the savings really racking up this year even with pay cuts at work. Lack of holidays (boo!) and commuting (hurray!) have boosted the numbers.

    • Thanks PWF! Yes, work costs and holiday costs are down but more has been spent on the house and garden but am keeping those under control.

  20. Major Congratulations Weenie. You’re an inspiration.

    Here’s a thought, a portfolio of FTSE 100 stocks is currently yielding around 4.8% pa, so your pot could be earning you £9,600 pa. 31% of retired people in the UK have no pension other than their State Pension. The maximum SP is £9,100. (This simple example ignores tax and inflation but hey). So through your own efforts you’re already more financially independent than about 1/3 of the community….

  22. Wow! Congratulations! What a great achievement and another inspiration for someone like me at the start of the journey.

    It’s also another great example of compounding and how the first X amount is always the hardest, but when the ball starts gathering momentum, it really starts driving forward 🙂

    Well done Weenie!

    • Cheers AMM – yes, it was tough in the early days, almost like I was barely making any progress so it will be good to see things speeding up even more!

  23. Oh, yeah yeah!! Congratulations!

    I love these blog post celebrations types weenie, they are positive and encouraging for planning and getting results.

    I remember reading John’s post to a million £ journey and your challenge right when I started my blog. It must be a good fun to look at it after this long!

    Good luck towards your next 100K! 🙂

    • Thanks Tony – yes, it’s good to look back on past posts and it’s a good feeling to know that focus and perserverance got me to the milestone, which had seemed so far in the future back then!

  24. Congratulations!
    Once the ball is rolling, won’t be long to reach the next double!
    Within the next 5 to 7 years, you will reach 400k!

  25. That’s brilliant weenie, congratulations. You have bet me to £200,000 also hahaha. Did you do anything to have a mini celebration? Extra wine or take away?

    TheFIJourney

    • Thanks Guy. Currently, most of the money is in ISAs (around 55%), around 35% in my SIPP, the rest mostly in premium bonds. I might stick a bit more in my SIPPs to balance things out a bit but the intention was always to have more in my ISAs for flexibility.

  27. Congrats on achieving this milestone. I haven’t swung by for a while but glad I did now. I love your positivity and it makes me more committed to my own journey. Keep it going and keep us in the loop.

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  31. Congrats Weenie! It’s interesting to me that we’re at a similar stage in our journey to FIRE. Although I note you don’t talk about/include your pension pot/s in you equations.

    My pension pots are essential to me FIRE-ing at 55. I’ve just checked in on the progress of my first ever pension. I paid into a company pension from 1988 to 1992 and it was a very modest amount back then. When I checked it in the early 00’s it had only doubled. But my God I don’t know how they’ve done it but this pot is pretty much my ticket to FIRE-ing at 55!

    Just goes to show that it’s time in the market and the magic of compounding that can create so much wealth. Also some pretty nifty fund managers help…

    • Thanks ChromeBaby!

      My Future Fund does include my SIPPs (about 35% of the total), so like you, my pensions are essential to me FIRE-ing in my mid-50s too. What it doesn’t include is my DB pension which I won’t get until I’m 65, but I still consider it as part of my retirement plans of course.

      Well done to you paying into that company pension back in he 80s – it looks like you’ll be reaping the benefits of time in the market and compounding!

      • Ah right. Sorry I missed that. Yes, you’ve mentioned your SIPPs numerous times!

        Interesting comment about your DB pension. I have one of those so will have to double check when I’ll be able to access it.

        I’ve been doing a bit of life admin today. Due to me having been working from home since March, and missing out on my wonderful 72 miles a day commute… Shame… I upped my pension payments a few months ago to soak up the lack of fuel spend. I‘ve calculated that my savings rate is currently fixed at 52.5%! And that doesn’t include my employer’s contribution. Which I’ll have to try and work out how that affects my savings rate.

        I don’t comment very often, but always keeping an eye on your blog (and others) and I find it very inspirational and encouraging.

        Cheers Weenie!

  32. Very remarkable journey, you did that all by your self! Thanks weenie for sharing the stories.

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