About me
I'm Alison
I’ve been living in the UAE for 9 years, working as an English teacher. I met my husband in my first year living here and we went on to have two children. It was after the birth of my son that I started to really think long term about money.
All of a sudden, I had more to pay for and more financial responsibility – I had childcare and nappies and activities and entertainment and toys and clothes and on and on and on. We were always quite frugal and lived within our means, but I didn’t have anything by way of investments for the future.
I didn’t know a lot about how to manage or invest money back then though, so needless to say I invested in a high-cost savings plan with a financial advisor. Big mistake! I was otherwise preoccupied with having a baby to care for and working full time, so money (at least thinking about the long-term) was understandably an afterthought for a while.
After the birth of my daughter some two- and three-quarter years later, I was washing dishes one day during my 4-month maternity leave when it dawned on me – I wouldn’t have another ‘break’ of this length from full time work for, what, 20-30 years!? I wasn’t investing in a pension as working in the UAE, pensions generally don’t exist as they do in the UK – instead you are usually paid a gratuity at the end of your contract or when you leave the company. So, how exactly were we planning to retire?
I also had two children now – I wanted to take them on memorable holidays and help them out when they flew the coop. How could we do that when, yes, we were living beneath our means, but only just. Sometimes it was a struggle and there was more month than money. We were drifting out to sea, and I couldn’t see the shore. I decided to look at how I could improve our finances further – throw an anchor out of the boat.
It was around then that I discovered the FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early) movement. From that moment on, I was hooked. I learned how to calculate costs and time to retirement using the 4% rule and rule of 25, about passive index funds, compound interest and Vanguard, as well as how to cut expenses, budget efficiently and increase income.
I evaluated our current financial picture, pulled together all the balances from various accounts, worked out our net worth, began tracking our expenses and started the hard climb to reconciling my childhood biases. I reflected long and hard on my personal values, how far we were trying to “keep up with the Joneses”, and what I wanted our ideal life to look like. This can be a stark realisation as you see the gap between where you are and where you want to be. Don’t give up yet though. There is hope, I promise!
I then began applying all the tips from the books, podcasts, and blogs I was (and still am) consuming. My finances gradually became more optimised and efficient until I had enough cash flow that my anxiety eased, and I had money to invest. Woah. I honestly didn’t think I would even get to this point. I exited the savings plan and started investing in the stock market with passive Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) and the UK rental property market.
It was exciting when I discovered and plunged into this new world of financial freedom, laptop lifestyles, cryptocurrencies, stocks and shares, and people retiring in their 30s. When you start making changes, you will see rapid improvements, which will keep your motivation high.
However, as time goes on, you may reach a plateau of sorts and find it difficult to continue as the end goal can seem so far off. Or you may experience an unexpected expense or life experience that throws you off course.
This is where you need to build the persistence through habits and discipline to stay the course. You need to have faith in your plan, your budget and your investments – that everything will work out. I took the time to study the best habits for reaching challenging financial goals and am now well on my way down the path to financial independence.
Enter LEAP! My process borne out of years of hard work, learning and mistakes, laid out in a step-by-step model, so that you (hopefully) don’t make the same mistakes that I did.
Thank you for visiting my site – stay for a while, grab a coffee while you click around – hopefully you will learn something useful! Contact me if you have any questions or would like to book a coaching session.
Most importantly, take action today. Your future self will thank you for it. 🙂
Need a bit of support on your financial journey?
If you would like to book a financial accountability coaching session to help you work through these steps or stay accountable to your goals, send me an email at [email protected] or drop me a line via the contact form and we can see if we are a good match. Good luck on your financial journey – congratulations on taking the leap.