# Goals for 2013



## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

Looking in quicken the past few months I have a huge amount of income from various sources ,Rental income ,Business income and I do not hide the fact I am a serious poker player that gives us huge swings in available cash if I hit a good luck streak .
Lately I am have been playing with many financial calculators and realizing we have huge potential to significantly boost our savings if we change few things.A sample of this is :
cash$4345 a month ,Average shopping $2311 a month ,eating out $613.11 a month.I don't plan to disclose our monthly income nor our networth except to say at 45 we are doing very well for ourselves.I have identified $10,400 a month that we can cut back and my plan is to save this money in a CIBC account we just opened away from our everyday accounts at TD Bank
I am honest here that i keep about $60,000+ in my poker account which is nuts when you think about it but rather than have no plan and go by seat of my pants I have set a goal for myself in 2013 .By leaving my poker account as it is I know there wont be any unexpected things in 2013.Before you judge me , I earn money from poker so my poker budget is like a mechanic who needs to allow for new tools.
For January 2013 we have to invest $37441.66 in TFSA and RRSP so unless I get some miracle I cannot see myself being able to save beyond this amount.
I will update the thread each time I make a deposit including the RRSP and TFSA.This is a one year plan as I am removing many things from our budget that I look forward to so I think one year I can do this 'extreme saving' but it is not realistic to do this year after year.Be gentle with me 

Marina


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## Pennypincher (Dec 3, 2012)

Cash $4345/month means you SPEND that per month in unaccounted items with cash? Just clarifying. 

Definitely no judging on the poker account. Just more fascinated. I didn't realise people earned money with poker in the long run....


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## andrewf (Mar 1, 2010)

Poker is just about the only thing you can do at a casino that can have a positive expected return. Assuming you are good, of course. This is because you aren't playing against the house, but rather other players.


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

Cash withdraws from our bank account some of which are used for playing at live poker games.I will update this hopefully tomorrow ,have to figure out the RSP thing first .Deposited $5500 in my TFSA HISA account today ,my husbands will take a little longer to figure out.


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## crazyjackcsa (Aug 8, 2010)

Simple goal for 2013. Increase total net worth by at least 10%. The "stretch goal" is 15%.

That's been my goal for the past 5 years, and I've managed to do it each and every year except 2012.The bulk comes from paying down the mortgage and house appreciation. The rest is DC pension growth and added savings.
2012 was only a 4% increase, paying for a new car, new roof and large pre-planned vacation ate into savings considerably.


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## My Own Advisor (Sep 24, 2012)

I'd love to see 10% NW increase and about 15-20% increase in dividend income via investments and reinvesting existing distributions. More net worth and more cash flow would make 2013 a great year.

@marina628: "...keep about $60,000+ in my poker account..." Yeah, that is nuts 

But if you're making money on it, that's all that matters. If you're making that kind of cash playing poker, I'm definitely never playing you!!


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

Cashed out $7400 from poker account this morning which was my net for last 72 hours play .Back to the plan ,deposited hubby's $5500 in TFSA this morning.Put an order in for 12 shares of AAPL at $510 as there is a bit of cash balance in hubby's acct.


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## YYC (Nov 12, 2012)

What levels do you play at, if you don't mind saying? Do you mostly play cash games or tournaments online? I used to play quite a lot of poker, made some money at it, but never got to levels like you are describing.


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

I play mix of cash games and tournaments but I am usually playing 20 games at once .I tend to play the $100+ or higher buy in games .I am Supernova level on Poker Stars.I was offered a sponsorship in 2010 from another poker room but declined.


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

Put $10,000 into Hubby's RSP AND Bought 400 shares of ipl.un-t $23.45 ,first time he has bought this stock.For rest of his RSP thinking to split it between Telus and BCE.We are overweight in Financial Stocks so this will be first year we do not buy any bank stocks in our registered accounts.


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

So I realized I am doing things exactly opposite for maximum tax effect.Darn USD Dividends lol ,Put $12,000 more in the RRSP today(didn't buy anything yet).Cash balance taking a beating had a 0% credit card coming due Feb 6 and paid that out today.Once January clears UP will be smooth sailing from then on ,decided to put money for 2014 TFSA acct on a monthly contribution into my non registered account and will transfer it out in 2014 to TFSA.Paid $3466.73 down on mortgage ,this gets me Mortgage free Feb 1 2016 ,my 50th is Feb 5 , 2016 so we will be having a party !
BTW I am using quicken 2011 so the software worked the mortgage payment out for me which is why it is such a weird amount


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## Pigzfly (Dec 2, 2010)

Marina, if you ever need a different account to deposit money into, let me know ;-)

Well done. Nice catch regarding changing things for best tax effects.


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## My Own Advisor (Sep 24, 2012)

@marina628,

Paid $3466.73 down on mortgage....great work. The sooner that mortgage is paid, the more fun money for poker!

Big party when the mortgage is paid for you in 2016.

My big mortgage-free party should be in 9 more years. That's going to be a bender.


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

I am sure when Mortgage is paid off my husband will be wanting a bigger boat lol


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## mark.goldmanning (Jan 24, 2013)

I'm actually more interested in your *Poker* game!

How did you get that good?


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

Years of practice ,lots of reading and watching the big guys play.There is a small luck factor but you need to know how to handle the bubble ,playing short stack ,building a stack and of course not playing with scared money.I play high limit games and there is always a percentage of fish who have the bankroll and can't play poker.If you play as much as I do you also get familiar with others style of play .But this is a financial forum so that is all I can say on that 
Met my goal for January maxing the RSP , TFSA and other stuff but COUNTING the days til I get paid on Friday lol.To do all this we had no entertainment expenses or dining out this month with exception of our daughter's birthday party which set us back about $500 but we had that planned in December.
February will be easy month just my birthday to deal with and my brother's birthday which will be a big one and we are having a big party for him.He has terminal cancer so we want this one to be extra special for him as last year he was in hospital getting diagnosed with cancer and they gave him only 2-4 months to live.


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

I just wanted to make an update to this thread which will be my last entry.In recent months I have been approached by people who work in my niche to purchase some or all of my websites .After careful consideration and running calculators plus seeking advise of a tax planner I have decided to sell my primary Websites and client list for a mid seven figure number.I did this to reduce my own work time but also felt this was the right time to sell for business reasons.I have new concerns now , mainly choosing the best ways to invest these funds .The tax bite will hurt but that was considered in the sell price .

Marina


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## Charlie (May 20, 2011)

congrats!

That's simply awesome.


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## FrugalTrader (Oct 13, 2008)

Congrats Marina!


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## Echo (Apr 1, 2011)

Wow, congrats Marina!


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

Thanks everyone this is a very exciting yet anxious time for me , you wonder will you ever make the right choices when you are faced with having to make them.I have many other options in front of me and will still stay working .No risky moves being made with these funds though will be all invested in Dividend paying stocks and about 20% going to sit in cash as I will probably buy some more real estate outside of Canada.


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## kcowan (Jul 1, 2010)

Congratulations Marina. I know this will just create another problem" What to do with 7 figures? There are wealth managers who specialize in VHNW people. I hope you can find a good one!

Also keep up the good record in online poker. I have this feeling that you will continue your winning ways from Antigua (or wherever).


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## Plugging Along (Jan 3, 2011)

Congratualations Marina. 

I understand it is an anxious time, but you will make the right choices. Your smarts got you this far, and they will continual to serve you well.


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

No FP for me , I am very happy with what I have accomplished myself in terms of ROI in past 2 years.I just have more funds to work with.Most of my portfolio will be Vanilla(Dividend paying stocks and index funds) but I am taking 5% to play the markets which will cut back on my poker game


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## PrairieGal (Apr 2, 2011)

Congratulations!


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## My Own Advisor (Sep 24, 2012)

Marina628, you rock! Well done


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## FrugalTrader (Oct 13, 2008)

That scale of investing is hard to comprehend. Imagine creating a dividend portfolio of 20 stocks with each position being worth $250k!


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## Echo (Apr 1, 2011)

FrugalTrader said:


> That scale of investing is hard to comprehend. Imagine creating a dividend portfolio of 20 stocks with each position being worth $250k!


And spinning off $150,000+ per year in dividends!


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## Jungle (Feb 17, 2010)

You could even do an etf income portfolio and reduce the risk of some bad stock picks. I assume it would be all non-reg unless you have a lot of room in rsp? That would be a good tax question.


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## Four Pillars (Apr 5, 2009)

Kudos Marina - not many people anywhere can build up a business like that from scratch (or close to it).


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## Homerhomer (Oct 18, 2010)

Congrats Marina.
I suggest you write a book on how to start a successfull internet company.


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## NorthKC (Apr 1, 2013)

Impressive work! Congrats and I agree with homer!


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