The year passed by so quickly with the world being ravaged by COVID-19. We were limited to traveling to groceries, local trips and work. But I'm not complaining. I am privileged enough to be able to feel safe in the comfort of my home. Financially, it did have its own advantages.
Goals
For our 2021 goals, I am so proud of myself for hitting 100% that it feels like I was sandbagging. At the start of Q4, we decided to our daughter a trust fund. It was opened by us, but she owns it, legally. We will be holding it "in trust" until she reaches the legal age of 18. I hope she would appreciate this gesture when she grows older and independent.
Allocation
We're still quite cash heavy, with 36.6% of our total net worth. This consists of our family's emergency health fund and our one year's worth of expenses abroad. Most of our family members are not insurable anymore, so we had to set aside a large amount in the event of immediate hospitalization. We're still at 85% of our total goal, and we'll create another goal for next year to complete this.
We've also cashed out our Actively Managed Fund investment and transferred all of it to my husband's newly opened Pension Plan. Ireland Pensions give us a nice tax relief and zero tax on gains, too. The only downside is that we may not be able to access the fund until the age of 60. We've both maxed out our allowable tax credits, that's why it's the second-largest chunk of our Net Worth. Given that we're aiming to 'retire' earlier than 60, I've removed this category on my calculations on our FIRE goals.
Our Philippine Investments are still just through Pag-ibig MP2 and FMETF. We plan to increase our positions on MP2 next year, but I may not be able to add more to FMETF until the next years to come. I'm still unsure on whether I should pay our real estate investments in cash or just take out a loan. I'm still leaning in paying it in cash on turn over. Due to the pandemic, I would assume that the turnover would also be delayed which could be advantageous to us, so we have more time to save.
Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE) Goals
Based on my FIRE Calculator, we would be able to retire by the age of 50 with our current net worth allocation. As I have mentioned above, I have removed our Ireland Pension on the formula since we won't be able to access it til' a certain age. The formula is now only based on our Philippine and US investments, which still yielded a nice ~5.5% this year. This isn't including our gains from MP2, yet.
I will be less aggressive on our FIRE goals next year due to our big goal for 2022: our own home in Ireland.
2022 Goals
Our main goal for next year is to buy our own house/apartment in Ireland. With the crazy housing situation and growing fear of getting kicked out by our landlord, we want to be able to secure our own. This would require a large amount of cash for downpayment, processing, broker fees, etc. We're also preparing to pay off one of our condos in Cebu which will be turned over in 2023.
Personal Learnings
This year was tough-- going through all the Latin letters as the Covid variants continue to emerge. I was too busy forecasting our misery, that I forgot to live a little. Eventually, I grew resentful and anxious. Sometimes, we do really need to stop and just give yourself a pat on the back and say, "You're doing fine".
I still feel privileged and happy of where I am despite the darkness that we had to go through. Live in the 'now' but don't forget the 'later'.
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