By Not long ago, I moved out of London to a new house up near Peterborough. This is going to be a multi-generational family home. It gives Holly and I a nice big house, and we’re converting the out-buildings into a two-bed property for my mum and grandpa, and adding an extension on for a two-bed property for Holly’s mum.
Yes, I’m probably slightly insane for having both mothers on-site. But it’s going to be great for child care 😛
Before we moved out of London, we’d sold our London properties, and were living with one of my best friends in Battersea.
One night, we got to having a few drinks (which isn’t particularly unusual), and ended up in a rather heated debate.
He works on the old-school principle of… mortgage yourself up to the eyeballs when you’re young, so that you’ve paid everything off by the time you retire and can enjoy your retirement.
Well, my opinion on that is…
Absolutely no f****n way!
There’s a number of issues, for me, with living life that way. The two biggest are…
- I want to do shit before I’m 65, that doesn’t include spending every penny I earn paying off a mortgage.
- Loans, in any format, are stressful. I’ve been there, done it and… it wasn’t worth it.
Being maxed out on a mortgage made me feel like my eyes were bleeding. Literally. I was permanently stressed out by the possibility that if I got ill, there was no way Holly would ever be able to pay the mortgage.
So here’s how I believe things should be done…
- Live to the level you can afford.
- Pay off all loans as fast as possible (including mortgages).
- Spend the time you were making ten bucks an hour to pay the mortgage, setting up your own business that will pay you hundreds of dollars an hour.
Number one is where most folk fall down. We all want the shiny new stuff. Me too. I frickin love it. But to be honest… I don’t need it. And when I’ve decided I’m not going to have it, about a day later I’ve pretty much forgotten all about it.
You need a home, heat, food and a healthy family. Everything else is secondary. Focus on the important things first, get the extra bits later if and when you can afford them.
Then build a business which generates you as much money, in as little time, as possible.
Like this one…
https://michaelwilding.com/business-ignition/
Michael
What do you think?