May 2023 Portfolio Update
Tuesday 6th June 2023
Hitting Flamingo FIRE
It is official! During May I hit my Flamingo FIRE number! This means I am officially halfway towards my FI number and in theory could start to embrace semi-retirement from today!
Remember the idea of Flamingo FIRE is that one reaches half of their FI number and can transition into part time work. There is no longer a requirement to contribute to your portfolio, with the idea being that one works part time to cover their annual expenses, while letting their portfolio compound in the background - likely hitting full FI in around 10-15 years time.
I am happy with where I am at with my new work schedule. I have found a great balance between work and living and we are still able to save around €5,000 per month - a savings rate of over 50%. I am also open to the idea of moving to part-time and letting savings be optional at some point - the sky's the limit!
FIRE is like Driving Down a Highway
I have said this on the podcast before, but FIRE really is like trying down a highway. While it is possible to stay driving in the fast lane, at some point it might just make more sense to take your time, take an early exit and adopt the scenic route.
In my case, hitting Flamingo FIRE is one of those exit’s. While I haven’t jumped off the highway yet, the option is now there for me.
Certainly one obvious thing I have noticed, is that the more one progresses through their FI journey, the more options that are available. There are multiple options for me to hit FI from here, which is really exciting and gives a great sense of freedom knowing that there are so many early retirement exits for me to take.
€400k Breakdown Over Time
Now that I have hit the €400k mark, I thought it might be fun to show the breakdown of time for each of the €100k’s that I have hit. This shows the power to compounding, as well as the impact of me learning to increase my income over the last number of years has had:
| Amount | # of Months |
|---|---|
| €0 - €100k | 36 Months |
| €100k - €200k | 10 Months |
| €200k - €300k | 13 Months |
| €300k - €400k | 7 Months |
Just to note, that I am planning to scale back the amount I save each month moving forward, so I suspect I have peaked in terms of time for each €100k, but this is still pretty useful to see how much easier the journey gets - and shows once and for all, that the first €100k is the hardest!
Solar Panel Update
What can I say about May but the sun shined bright! What a month for solar - we generated significantly more electricity than we used and our panels covered 79% of our electricity usage.
We consumed 257 KWh of electricity during May, buying 54 KWh's. Our solar panels covered 79% of our electricity usage, saving us €75.11 before depreciation (based on 37c per kWh). We received a credit back of €42.21 from supplying 201 KWh's to the grid. Our total savings accounting for depreciation was €94.22, giving an annual return after depreciation of 11.91%.
Here is a breakdown of our solar panel usage since they were installed in July 2022:
| Solar Panel Return - August 2022 to May 2023 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Percentage Covered by Solar | Electricity Saving (after depreciation) | Credit from Supplying the Grid | Annual Return |
| August 2022 | 83% | €29.42 | €34.86 | 7.95% |
| September 2022 | 62% | €28.90 | €7.98 | 4.57% |
| October 2022 | 45% | €22.98 | €4.20 | 3.38% |
| November 2022 | 31% | €12.05 | €2.10 | 1.76% |
| December 2022 | 24% | €1.69 | €1.89 | 0.45% |
| January 2023 | 20% | €0.95 | €1.47 | 0.30% |
| February 2023 | 38% | €14.64 | €2.52 | 2.15% |
| March 2023 | 47% | €26.11 | €6.30 | 4.08% |
| April 2023 | 75% | €49.42 | €13.44 | 7.93% |
| May 2023 | 79% | €52.01 | €42.21 | 11.91% |
| Monthly Average | 50.3% | €23.82 | €11.70 | 4.45% |
May 2023 Portfolio Report
Equities made a strong comeback during May, seeing a paper gain of over €5,000. It has been a busy time managing our properties. We had a small issue with a shower on our third investment property, which cost €430 to fix. Likewise we are in the process of preparing for our tenant to move out of our second investment property so we are doing some further renovation work there in preparation to renting it on the open market. Overall, everything is heading in the right direction, though cashflow is down a little due to the additional expenses. Next month, I plan on revaluing two of our properties which I haven’t done since we purchased them. I expect to see a significant valuation increase, but I will access this at the end of next month.
I spoke a couple of months back about a few options for us to consider as our investing plan for early retirement. We are still looking at properties and are open to the idea of purchasing another investment property. With higher interest rates, it is making putting deals together harder, but we are open to making an offer if the right property comes along at the right price.
It is a nice position to be in. We are happy to wait for the right deal, knowing that we can continue to pay down our mortgages in the event that the right deal doesn’t come along.
May was the last month we will contribute €10k per month to our portfolio. Expect contributions of €5k per month moving forward.
| Portfolio Summary (as at 31st May 2023) | |
|---|---|
| Opening Balance | €392,561.47 |
| New Contributions | €10,000.00 |
| Portfolio Growth | €6,420.24 |
| Closing Balance | €408,981.71 |
Monthly Portfolio Growth Report
| Monthly Portfolio Growth Report | |
|---|---|
| Capital Gain + Dividend Income from Equities | €5,157.36 |
| Real Estate Income | €1,262.88 |
| Total Growth | €6,420.24 |
| % Return | 1.59% |
Portfolio Breakdown
The table below shows the breakdown of my portfolio into the various asset classes:
| Portfolio Asset Breakdown (as at 31st May 2023) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Equities (Stocks) | €139,000.51 | 33.99% |
| Real Estate | €261,869.01 | 64.03% |
| Cash | €8,112.19 | 1.98% |
| Total | €408,981.71 | 100.00% |
2023 Year to Date Returns
Here is a summary of my year to date returns for 2023.
| 2023 Year to Date Growth Report | |
|---|---|
| Opening Balance | €342,734.85 |
| New Contributions | €50,000.00 |
| Equities Capital Gains + Dividends | €12,112.60 |
| Real Estate Capital Gains + Rental Income | €4,134.26 |
| Closing Balance | €408,981.71 |
| Portfolio Return | €16,246.86 |
| % Return | 4.14% |
Lifetime Portfolio Returns
Here are my returns since I started in 2018.
| 2018-2023 Growth Report | |
|---|---|
| Opening Balance | €0 |
| Contributions (Money Added) | €306,445.78 |
| Equity Release* | €41,220.21 |
| Real Estate Capital Gains + Rental Income | €50,573.66 |
| Equities Capital Gains + Dividends | €14,606.79 |
| Other** | -€3,864.73 |
| Closing Balance | €408,981.71 |
| Portfolio Return | €61,315.72 |
* In 2020, some of the new contributions came in the form of an equity release, as we turned our primary residence into a buy to let and purchased a new home to live.
** In 2018 & 2019 I made several bad investments in peer to peer lending, forex trading and unregulated investments, which resulted in losses overall.
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