Mortgage Milestone!

We've hit another mortgage milestone today, we passed Year 26 on the amortisation table with a mortgage balance of $43,723. I can't wait to get into the 30's!

Our extra payments have slowed down a lot as we adjust to not having the extra income from my second job to throw at the mortgage but we're still on track to reach $33,000 by the end of this year. 

At the moment we're still in lockdown and working from home. I'm supposed to be on holiday this week but have been contacted every day and have two meetings to attend today - all things I can't say no to in this management role.  But the end is in sight, I just have to keep plodding along for a bit longer.

Our next mortgage goal is $34,066.

Choosing the date!

 DH and I have been having lots of discussions about when to actually leave work and how best to spread out our leave for the best tax advantage. I've also talked to one of my managers at work about leaving who was so supportive and excited for me. It's starting to feel real!

I've just updated my countdown in the sidebar to my new date - 220+ days earlier than my original five-year plan. So I'll work first term plus the holidays next year so I have time to hand over and finish up my work projects. If I do decide I want to leave earlier than that (if covid gets bad here) then I can just bring my date forward.

Eleven weeks of that time will be student holidays - I will have four of those weeks off over Christmas)  and twenty-one weeks will be term time. I have only 32 weeks until I retire and twenty-eight weeks left to work!    Doing a little happy dance here :) 

More Good News !

 I'm feeling much better than I was a few days ago after our appointment with the financial planner yesterday. After running the numbers and doing various projections he assured us we have enough to retire now if we want to and we will be OK. Seeing our costs and spending projections in detail, with dates up until age 105 was really helpful. We will not run out of money on our current spending.  I felt relieved, now we can start planning the income details and thinking about retirement dates. 

 There is still a lot of detail to be sorted out and I will work at least till the end of the year to complete this contract and possibly for a few months next year to finish up and handover. But it feels so good to know I could actually finish working when I choose to.

So I am excited and relieved today after seeing the projections. The end is in sight! This time next year I won't be working or worrying or feeling tired all the time. I'll have time to read, sew, garden, cook, go for walks and do whatever I want all day long. Now I need to start planning what needs to be done before I leave work and when to actually leave. I'm sure work will not feel as stressful now as I know there is not long to go!

Progress Report: August - the covid edition

August has been a really tough, and stressful month. I haven't posted because my posts would just say 'worked all day, worked extra, fell asleep on the lounge". 

Too much work, not enough staff + covid + being a mental health professional dealing with vulnerable, at-risk youth, & currently in lockdown has just been too much some days. 

I've been working from home for most of the last month due to covid cases in our town and all my team are also in areas under lockdown due to covid cases. Sadly, we have had several young people take their lives which impacts the whole community.

So I am very tired but OK, just two more weeks until a short vacation period and then one more term to go. I am seriously considering if I retire earlier than planned though as I'm watching these covid cases go up and up each day. We are meeting with the financial planner again next week to look at various projections. It would be wonderful if I could finish up this year instead of next - I feel like covid has changed everything. I'm just so grateful that we have been saving so I am now in a good position to leave if I decide to.

Heres the numbers:

Mortgage

• current balance: $45,990
• down from: $47,650
• total reduction: $1,660

Superannuation

• current balance: $678,595
• up from:$665,116
• total increase: $13,479