opinions wanted

[Frosty]

we are 56 and 44 years old with 2 kids under 6 and a very large mortgage - which has always been a bit of a drain but since we have started our own business has become a bit of a struggle. Weve sold one investment property to get some cashflow and are now considering selling a second and then selling our home to downsize and buy something for cash - we are struggling with this as our plan was to never ever sell - if we liquidate our assets now and have either no or a small mortgage not only will it take the pressure off but perhaps we will be able to re invest for retirement in the next 15 years??? any one have any thoughts on this........

thanks

Frosty

 

[pennyk]

Hi Frosty,
We were in a similar situation to yours a few years ago. We sold off our IP to enable us to get through.
I guess my question to you is about the business....how long have you been in business? Is it working? Is it worthwhile continuing? Would you "retirement savings" look different if you stopped the business and took up regular employment again?
I don't want to seem harsh, but many people think going into business will secure their financial future, but most businesses close down within the first 5 years and people end up far worse off that when they began. The sooner you ruthlessly evaluate the business and take action, the less likely you are to find yourself in deep trouble. We certainly didn't do this soon enough, and as a result lost around 100K in the last 3 months of the business and narrowly missed losing everything.
So, please take a deep breath and a really long hard look at where you are going, and whether its worthwhile going there... 56yrs old is quite old to be losing the investments that you've made over the years.
cheers
pen

 

[BayView]

we are 56 and 44 years old with 2 kids under 6 and a very large mortgage - which has always been a bit of a drain but since we have started our own business has become a bit of a struggle. Weve sold one investment property to get some cashflow and are now considering selling a second and then selling our home to downsize and buy something for cash - we are struggling with this as our plan was to never ever sell - if we liquidate our assets now and have either no or a small mortgage not only will it take the pressure off but perhaps we will be able to re invest for retirement in the next 15 years??? any one have any thoughts on this........

thanks

Frosty

Don't ever be afraid to sell if the finances get tight.

Nothing worse than living with the sword of financial stress over your head.

You've already had experience buying IP's, so do what you need to do, get back on your feet and go again.

If the business needs a bit of short term cashflow injection to get it through, and you think it has the potential you want, then do it.