Review my finances and give me some advice — feeling stuck despite doing okay
29M, single, no dependents. I’ll keep it anonymous but everything’s converted to USD with roughly equivalent taxes and cost of living.
Circumstances:
-137k base salary pre-tax + 20k in overtime/allowances
-75k in retirement savings (locked, not accessible)
-Investment property: $653k value, $420k mortgage, $233k equity. Rents for $410/week but is cashflow negative
-No other debt whatsoever
-Minimal liquid savings
-Modest $10k car
I work 3 days on, 3 days off (10hr shifts) in an extremely specialised career. I live in one of the most remote, isolated cities in the world. My qualifications are genuinely niche and non-transferable. If I moved or changed careers I’d likely take a 50% pay cut. Realistically this is the ceiling of my earning potential, with only modest annual increases.
My goal is to move into the investment property once the mortgage is at a level manageable on a lower income or fully paid off in 7-10 years. It’s near a beautiful beach, sentimental to me, and where I’d want to eventually raise a family. I’d want \~$50-70k set aside for renovations before moving in.
What I’m torn on:
Should I be aggressively paying down the mortgage like I currently am, or building liquid investments instead? My instinct is the mortgage but I genuinely don’t know.
Also open to the broader life question — Should I be travelling more, even at the cost of slower financial progress? The dating market where I live is genuinely terrible and I’m aware that meeting someone I’ll like probably requires putting myself in better environments.
I know I’m in a relatively strong position and I’m not complaining. But I can feel the tension between optimising financially and actually building a life worth living.
Curious what this community thinks :)