Almost every blog talks about cutting out streaming services, reducing expenditure and not going out to eat.   I have a slightly different take on it.  

​There is almost an air of resignation when I ask people about how much money they make.  It is as if they earn what they earn and that is it.  Well I am here to tell you that there maybe a floor to how much you can reduce expenditure but the is NO ceiling to the amount of money you can make!  You want to pull a lever that is going to supercharge your finances and your path to financial independence?  This is the one!

As you walk down the street there are messages on the bus signs, billboards and shop windows.  There are adverts on the TV, the radio stations we listen to and if you log onto social media there are endless targeted adverts directed at you. 

There is a war raging around you.  Some of the smartest, best trained and well funded people in the world are trying to crack the code to your purse/wallet.  Who is going to win?  The marketeers or you? 

This is a post about the Donegans and what they have been up to.  There will be ideas and inspiration but this post is mostly about us!  I always feel a little weird writing about us as most of my articles focus on giving value to you but I think you might still have fun........

I am wondering how the heck we got here.  Will we get the phone back?  Has it already been sold on the black market?  What will happen to the person I know stole it?  Is the building administrator in on the whole theft?  What is going to happen next?

For years I have felt as though companies are working against me. They try and sell me insurances I don't need, give me credit when I can afford to buy it without it and try every trick under the sun to squeeze a few more £££s out of me at every single turn. 

But who can blame them?  They are just trying to turn a profit aren't they?  Or are there teams of the smartest people in the world working for multinational companies scheming how to increase profits, make products addictive and get more money out of you?

I originally wrote this on the 26th of May 2020 and updated it this week for you on 15th of June 2021.   Has the advice changed following the pandemic? 
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So here are all your questions about the 4% rule, early retirement and financial independence answered!  Let's jump straight into "How much does it take to retire? The Q&A" with Alan...…..

I came across an incredibly simple formula for knowing when enough is enough. I will show you the straight forward maths behind calculating how much you need to invest to retire.

This was first written on the 26th of August 2019 and updated on the 15th June 2021.  I am now 42 years old now!  How time passes. We have reviewed and updated the article given everything that has happened since I wrote it in 2019!

This is a warning against unscrupulous companies that are going to try and take advantage of you during this time.  They are going to do it under the guise of helping you through the pandemic but in reality they are going to leave you far worse off in the long run than if they didn't help at all!

A year after I wrote this last paragraph I have now begun to realise that it is not just in moments of crisis that they will try and take advantage of you.  They are out their right now taking advantage of people; it just feels more shocking at the height of a pandemic.   There are teams of people currently working out the best way to get you to take on more debt. 
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Update 25/08/2020: This  was written just as lock down was starting on the 25th of March 2020 and this is still going on now and always will do.  Car dealerships make more money on the financing and insurance than they do the car itself.  Online catalogue companies offer you "anything you want" buy now, pay later at 39.9% APR. Companies that lend money make more, when you pay slower!  The debt warning isn't just for the height of a pandemic it is something you need to be wary of always! 

Update 18/05/2021: They are still after you.  Nothing has changed.  In fact they are getting smarter at putting you into debt.  This warning is needed now more than ever.  I get the feeling when I review this article in a year's time I will be writing that it is even more needed then.

This post is about lifestyle inflation, conscious spending and buying the future you really want!  We all earn money and then make decisions on what we spend that on.  My desire is to help you become conscious of your spending and make conscious decisions on future spending. 

If you do this you will either get comfortable with your current spending or change it to buy more happiness.  After all isn't happiness the goal?

How do you calculate your net-worth?  The first step to change is to take a good look at where you are right now.  If you don't know your starting point it is difficult to know if the change you are creating is moving you in the right direction or not.  If you can't clearly give a £ or $ figure for your net-worth then this article will help you figure it out.

Updated 27th April 2021

How can this be possible? How can we have more money than we earnt? Does that mean that we have lived for free for our entire life so far? Is this normal? Could you do the same? Do you have anything to show for your years of labour?

After recording a podcast together Katie and I decided that we needed to get some energy. So we headed out for a walk in the forest on a grey August day in England. As we walked and talked about the podcast we had just recorded, the conversation turned to the question “how quickly could we get back to financial independence if we started again?"

If we lost everything, but kept the skills, the knowledge, the attitude we have today, how long would it take us to get back to financial independence?

With the skills that we have and the opportunities that we have created over the last few years we felt that it would only take us about five years to get back to Financial Independence from scratch! So why do most people never get there?

How did you end up in Mexico? Aren't you worried about Covid? Isn't it illegal to leave the UK at the moment? Let's start from the begining..........

We were worried about Trump getting into office in November'16 because we thought the market would drop, we were worried about Brexit and potential currency risk.  We worried about investing and the market crashing immediately and loosing a fortune.  We worried about EVERYTHING!  This worry stopped us from investing.  The question we have only just asked ourselves is "What did this worry cost us?  What did we miss out on through our indecision?"

For an overview of which Index Fund to choose start here.  This article is to help you decide whether to invest in the Vanguard Developed World Ex. UK Fund or the Vanguard FTSE Global All-Cap Index Fund and what the differences are!

​We are going to break down the differences between the two funds and, given that nearly all of our money in invested in the Developed world fund, whether we are going to change that going forwards. 

I didn't notice the weight slowly piling on week by week. A year passed and I was obese!  I hadn't noticed the small change each week until it was too late. ​

Fees are very similar.  They are small enough that you don't really notice them at the time, they are hidden from you and they just gradually erode your wealth over time.  You wake up a decade or two later and you aren't worth what you thought you would be!  Fees are the hidden element in investing that makes everyone else wealthy apart from you! Let's tackle fees together

You panic, close the laptop and go back to watching Netflix! When Katie and I started to look at the Vanguard site to choose which fund we had several false starts and were nearly put off investing!  Open up the Vanguard site and let's go through it line by line together...... (this is the UK site but most of the terms are the same globally)

In fact all of us have access to this knowledge.  We have YouTube, the internet, podcasts and a wealth of knowledge that our ancestors could only have wished they could have access to.  So why aren't we all millionaires with Lamborghinis and philanthropic foundations that cure diseases?  Is more information the answer?

I wandered around the counters in a trance, staring at an incredible selection of food.  I didn't know what to choose or even where to start!  After what seemed like 20 minutes of wandering I decided I needed to limit my options.  I decided to have soup and headed to the soup section.  There were 20 different soup flavours to choose from.  I nearly had a melt down.  I was just hungry and tired! I needed food!

This is the paradox of choice.  The more options there are the harder it is to make a decision. This was just deciding what to have for lunch!  Can you imagine how I felt looking at investment options for the first time?  Maybe you can?

What is an index fund? The language of investing can be hugely complex at the best of times! Even a simple term like index fund takes a lot to properly explain.  If you want to feel confident investing then the first step is to build your investing knowledge and financial vocabulary. The more you understand something the more confident you will feel starting!  Writing this article has doubled Katie's and my knowledge about index funds!  We hope it does the same for you!

The short explanation: Index funds give you an easy and cost-effective route to diversify your investments across the globe and partake in the growth of the global economy. Sounds sexy; but what the hell does it mean! What is an index fund? What is contained in an index fund? Which index funds should I buy? Why do I care? Let's get geeky together!

Updated: 22nd June 2021

He worked for a multi-national logistics company in aviation.  His area of expertise was airlines.  So he had taken his money and invested it into airlines, aviation and travel companies.  In March 2020 when Covid-19 knocked the stock market sideways his stocks plummeted.   When the stock market recovered in May; his stocks didn't.  He had the opposite of a diversified portfolio! 

​What is diversification? How do you do it?  Is investing in one thing diversified?

First Written 09/11/2020.  ​Updated 01/06/2021

One of the most interesting questions I have been exploring this year is "If things continue as they are am I happy with the direction?" 

To be able to answer that question you need to be able to know whether you are going in the right direction or not.  The only way to do this is to measure something...….

The first thing I did was create a graph obviously.  Scroll down to see which way my belly is heading!  And FAR more importantly to start to think about where you are heading? Where's your destination is likely to be? Are you are going to like it or not!???

This photo was taken on the exact spot where, in Spring 2018, and over the course of about 200-300ft or so of run, my life totally changed. The “a-ha” moment came while stumbling across Alan Donegan for the first time on a podcast.

Nine months later, I quit a 100k / year job, never to return.