and it may take 11 years to achieve.
The Backstory
In September 2021 I turned 49 and whilst I am (generally) OK with this it did come with the realisation that in 11 years time I will be 60, again not overly old, but certainly something to consider. I have worked full time since I left school in 1989 (I actually worked the whole summer holiday of 1988 on a building site as a labourer), I had a military career, I am a qualified carpenter (Army apprenticeship) and have spent the last 18 years in the Insurance industry as a surveyor/loss adjuster.
I know this isn't remarkable or unusual by any means and can be said by many. Its the path over the last 33 years where I may differ slightly from the norm.
My life has had its fair share of up's and downs, mostly as a direct result of my own actions and decisions.
As a result of me leaving my wife, I also gave up my share of the home we had created and although I took the money due from it, this only served to clear debts accumulated and I was living in rented accommodation after 13 years on the property ladder.
Not the end of the world, as at that stage I did think that I would end up living with the ex girlfriend I had given my old life up for and we would make a new life together.
We didn't.
Not long after that, I met a lovely lady, much younger than me, but we clicked and moved in together, away from my home county of Hampshire, got a dog and were happy.
In time we managed to secure a property in Shropshire to buy and we moved in May 2019. This was it, I was back on the property ladder and we started to make plans for the works we could do to the home and the life we were going to create.
By October 2019 we had split up and at the end of February 2020 I moved out and into a van I had converted.
This period is covered in the below link
Covid then took the world by storm and I moved to Kent for the winter of 2020 and lodged with an old school friend, the rent was a help to her and I had a proper roof over my head again.
It was only ever going to be short term, my heart is not in Kent, despite it being a gorgeous part of the country.
Shropshire is my new found home and I adore the town of Shrewsbury that I now live in, I have superb friends here and the locale is stunning.
I rented a flat in the town centre in February 2021, started a new job with a significant pay increase that left me with disposable income. This is dangerous!
My father always had a saying about me, "if he has a fiver in his pocket, he will spend fifteen".
There is the crux of this, I find myself in the middle of the summer of 2021 I am about to turn 49, I do not own any property, I am single (separate blog on the trials and tribulations of Pauls relationships to come), I have no children, I have little in the way of savings and my private pensions are pot less.
I know that I can spend money easily, am a terrible saver and unless I made a choice I would end up with little to nothing by the time I turn 60. I needed a Plan...