# Annual Review



## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

I normally tally up my annual spending in January, but I won't be home in Jan and I'm not supposed to enjoy myself tonight anyways (yellow fever vaccine..) So, as a general goal I aim to save half of my net income. I move it to savings immediately but I often dip into it for less frequent purchases. I had a lot of these big ticket purchases this year from moving and I've loosened the "purse stings" a bit lately (it's harder to shop around when you don't even speak the local language)

Gross Income Breakdown
22% Income tax - kind of hard to pinpoint until Feb but close enough
10% Pension, EI, death/disability benefits
10% Rent, mortgage, home ins
6% Utilities - heat, elec, garbage, telcos etc
5% Food - I'm not that frugal with food but it's also provided on work trips
10% Auto - high considering I bike to work!
6% Entertainment - some electronics, travel and racing
6% Household - new furniture, appliances etc from moving
1% Clothes - I buy clothes that last

25% Gross Saved vs 43% Spent
Next year I should be able to get closer to my goal by spending less on appliances and electronics


Investments - it took me a few years to get my accounts looking anything close to a typical asset allocation. I'm not bent on any asset allocation but it's a general guideline to work towards

39% Cdn Stocks Tgt 40%
14% USD Stocks Tgt 20% (mostly RRSP)
17% International Stocks Tgt 20% (RRSP)
2% GICs Tgt 5% (from 2007 before rates dropped)
28% Cash Tgt 15% (doesn't count savings)

No bonds because they suck

Networth +26% 12 months


My goal now that I'm playing with is to take a year or two off to travel by motorbike. The timing is right and it is a very frugal way to travel (reliable versatile mode of transport, 60MPG, free parking and no waiting in traffic, camping/hostels off the tourist paths) The biggest downside is the opportunity cost of income that I can save per year. I've calculated that I could spend less travelling than I usually do if I put everything in storage. This means if I can save 50% of net income for the next few years, 1 year travelling would set me back about 2 years in savings..


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## heyjude (May 16, 2009)

I do an annual review too, based on March 31 numbers. This year I moved to a new province and a new job, and had several months without income, so I did another update on September 30 to get a new baseline. My net worth dropped by about $50K. Some of that was moving related, but some was due to the erratic behaviour of the markets. Things are more settled now, so I hope NW will increase each year while I am still working. I usually save about 40% of income.

Current asset allocation:
Cash and GICs 13.43%
Bonds and Preferred Shares 24.35%
Canadian Equities 23.09%
US Equities 6.74%
International Equities (including Venture Capital) 6.79%
Real Estate (incl including residential) 23.31%
Precious Metals 2.27%


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

Yes luckily my core expense of moving were covered by work. There's still a lot of costs to moving when you change vehicles and appliances etc. You should get a nice tax return if you claim your moving expenses for work.

I have about 11% REITs and 4% metals. Some Gold would have been nice a few years ago though!


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## Sherlock (Apr 18, 2010)

Are you gonna keep some kidn of blog or diary of your traveling? I'd love to travel around europe (and maybe russia) by motorcycle but don't have the courage (also I've never rode a motorcycle).


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

The travel blogs are what really got me considering this actually. The stories about their trips are such a unique glimpse of different places. It's interesting how motorbikers will help and associate with each other pretty much anywhere. So much info is shared on the internet now it makes planning a lot easier. I would write a blog to at least give back to the community and share the experience.

The most interesting ones I've read about places like SA, Russia and Africa etc. I'm an experienced biker but I'll take the next few years to sort out my travelling skills/gear in developed Europe haha. There are people who start travelling/biking at once you just take it easy. The hardest part is really just getting away from all your normal obligations for that long!


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## slacker (Mar 8, 2010)

I have friends who had done cross Canada bicycle trip (the pedalling kind). It only took 2-3 months. It's the kind of thing that you should do while you have the opportunity and the energy.


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