# Time4EarlyRetirement - Journey to Early Retirement



## Time4earlyretirement (Feb 21, 2014)

*Consolidating my old thread now that I have a sense of direction both in life (career job) and finance (investment philosphy)*http://canadianmoneyforum.com/showthread.php/17679-What-should-I-do-and-where-can-I-improve

*Age: 27-28
Income: 74-78k depending on bonus
Location: Toronto*

*Year ending 2016:*

Chequing: 22,280
Margin: 6,520
TFSA: 54,600
RRSP: 10,050
SD-RSP: 15,300

Total: 108,750


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## Time4earlyretirement (Feb 21, 2014)

*March 2017:*

Tax season meaning tax return :sneakiness:

Chequing: 15,930
Margin: 6,822
TFSA: 55,400
RRSP: 11,000
SD-RSP: 25,366

Total: ~114,500


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## Time4earlyretirement (Feb 21, 2014)

*May 2017:*

- April was mostly a write off due to a friends bachelor in Vegas. Closed a margin account and shift to chequing
- approximately 65% not finding much opportunity in the markets

Chequing: 25,144
TFSA: 56,300
RRSP: 12,144
SD-RSP: 25,366

Total: ~118,950


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## redsgomarching (Mar 6, 2016)

Looks good, unsure where to add anymore input with info provided. 

i see you have a large liquid balance in your chequing - is there a reason for this? is there job stability issues? what do you do for work?

what are your expenses like?


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## Time4earlyretirement (Feb 21, 2014)

redsgomarching said:


> Looks good, unsure where to add anymore input with info provided.
> 
> i see you have a large liquid balance in your chequing - is there a reason for this? is there job stability issues? what do you do for work?
> 
> what are your expenses like?


Sorry never had a chance to reply after having trouble logging in. I've lump some money tied up in deposits, money owed etc... into chequing that I expect to receive back within the year.


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## Time4earlyretirement (Feb 21, 2014)

Time4earlyretirement said:


> *May 2017:*
> 
> - April was mostly a write off due to a friends bachelor in Vegas. Closed a margin account and shift to chequing
> - approximately 65% not finding much opportunity in the markets
> ...


*September 2017*

- Went with the family to Iceland, partially sponsoring my parents, costing me roughly 3k
- Bought a grail watch (watch enthusiast) to commemorate earning my CFA charter for 9k...yeah yeah there is no justification on this one haha

Chequing: 25,150
TFSA: 57,500
RRSP: 13,560
SD-RSP: 25,550

Total: ~121,760

Yeah... okay thank god I have no more vacation days. It's been a good 5 months of traveling and consumer spending. Must bank for the rest of this calendar year and keep grinding. Countdown to bonus starts now!


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## Time4earlyretirement (Feb 21, 2014)

Time4earlyretirement said:


> *September 2017*
> 
> - Went with the family to Iceland, partially sponsoring my parents, costing me roughly 3k
> - Bought a grail watch (watch enthusiast) to commemorate earning my CFA charter for 9k...yeah yeah there is no justification on this one haha
> ...


*December 2017*

- What better time for an update than when bonuses are paid :emmersed:
- Prepaid for a 2 week trip to the west coast and Hawaii next February
- Will continue to save as much as possible till next update

Chequing: 35,000
TFSA: 59,000
RRSP: 15,500
SD-RSP: 26,400

Total: 135,900


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## Thal81 (Sep 5, 2017)

So you're 27k over your total from last year. Considering your salary, and that this was a year of solid returns on the markets, I think you need to save more, else you won't retire so early. You should cut on trips and expensive items. I know it's not what you want to hear, but it's realistic advice


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## Time4earlyretirement (Feb 21, 2014)

Thal81 said:


> So you're 27k over your total from last year. Considering your salary, and that this was a year of solid returns on the markets, I think you need to save more, else you won't retire so early. You should cut on trips and expensive items. I know it's not what you want to hear, but it's realistic advice


Thanks Thal. It does feel like every year I come up with an excuse as to why I don't make my 50%/50% spend/save, but... I don't think I'll be buying another Rolex anytime soon, but I also absolutely will not give up traveling neither :miserable:.

Hoping to get 2018 on the right foot. Shrunk the phone bill significantly with the 10 for 60 last week, and hoping to scale back on bought meals.


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## OptsyEagle (Nov 29, 2009)

So what you are saying is that you don't want to retire early? You just want to buy overpriced watches and travel. Why don't you start a travel and watch thread instead of this one, since that is where your heart is.


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## Time4earlyretirement (Feb 21, 2014)

OptsyEagle said:


> So what you are saying is that you don't want to retire early? You just want to buy overpriced watches and travel. Why don't you start a travel and watch thread instead of this one, since that is where your heart is.


Jeeze no need for the negative vibes, everything here is a work-in-progress. If you don't have one thing in life that you are passionate about and willing to spend money on to enjoy, I bid you no evil that you make it to retirement with the same health as you did your youth to do so. Being conscious of money is a mindset but live some.


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## OptsyEagle (Nov 29, 2009)

Just trying to help you out. I thought we should make this into an early retirement boot camp. Where we scream in your face and call you a maggot and stuff. With a $9 thousand dollar watch, I think someone should be dropping to the ground and giving us 50. Maybe some latrine duty will get you appreciating a good timex.


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## Time4earlyretirement (Feb 21, 2014)

OptsyEagle said:


> Just trying to help you out. I thought we should make this into an early retirement boot camp. Where we scream in your face and call you a maggot and stuff. With a $9 thousand dollar watch, I think someone should be dropping to the ground and giving us 50. Maybe some latrine duty will get you appreciating a good timex.


No ill will taken. I knew I wanted something loud when I got it; the journey to finishing a professional designation whether CFA or CPA is a huge accomplishment and took a massive sacrifice that I felt it was deserving. Looking forward to 2018; so far looks big expenditure free and no bachelor parties in sight.


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## Time4earlyretirement (Feb 21, 2014)

Time4earlyretirement said:


> *December 2017*
> 
> - What better time for an update than when bonuses are paid :emmersed:
> - Prepaid for a 2 week trip to the west coast and Hawaii next February
> ...


*March 2018*

... everything about Hawaii was expensive :crushed: Also missed the deadline to contribute to RRSP with December bonus.

Other big spends include enrolling in a part-time semester for intro culinary classes at a college.

Chequing: 25,300
TFSA: 63,700
RRSP: 17,400
SD-RSP: 37,500

Total: 143,900


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## Time4earlyretirement (Feb 21, 2014)

Time4earlyretirement said:


> *March 2018*
> 
> ... everything about Hawaii was expensive :crushed: Also missed the deadline to contribute to RRSP with December bonus.
> 
> ...


*June 2018*

2k tax return in limbo due to CRA cough-up; resolution estimated at 6-24 months... 

Chequing: 11,500
TFSA: 58,600
RRSP: 19,050
SD-RSP: 37,510
Non Reg-RSP: 21,820

Total: ~148,500


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## OnlyMyOpinion (Sep 1, 2013)

T4ER, if you're saving about $20k-$25k/yr on a $75k income, that's pretty good, even more so if you have rent and other such living expenses. Certainly higher than average but necessary if ER is in your plans.

I'm on side with keeping the vacations. They form a big part of the memories we cherish. Life is a journey, not a destination. No point in a frugal life that has no good times to remember.

Not sure what a CRA 'cough-up' is? We've had some fairly complex returns over the years, and money owing both ways in the high 5-figures with no issues, almost instant these days with netfile and online banking.

I notice you've never mentioned your investments, which is fine, you know that a disciplined investment plan and the growth of you savings over time is probaly more important than the saving part.


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## Janus (Oct 23, 2013)

Holy cow, that's a lot for a watch. You sure know how to treat yourself... when I passed the CFA I bought a $150 special edition of Security Analysis!... and for the record I wish I'd done something way better than that, either buying something cool or doing a trip. Not judging, I don't care much about watches but whatever floats your boat.

What are you planning to do with that fancy CFA? Too many of us in toronto means that we're often seen as a dime a dozen.


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## Time4earlyretirement (Feb 21, 2014)

OnlyMyOpinion said:


> T4ER, if you're saving about $20k-$25k/yr on a $75k income, that's pretty good, even more so if you have rent and other such living expenses. Certainly higher than average but necessary if ER is in your plans.
> 
> I'm on side with keeping the vacations. They form a big part of the memories we cherish. Life is a journey, not a destination. No point in a frugal life that has no good times to remember.
> 
> ...


Thank you and much appreciated. I am a strong proponent of living life. There was some miscommunication between my broker, myself, and the CRA that led to a double count of buy/sells during the year, resulting in a large but erroneous capital gain. My investments right now are somewhat in limbo, with about 50% in equities and 50% in cash, and obviously not very efficient. My entire RRSP through work is in a target date fund, which the MER is so heavily discounted that I don't really mind. The rest are in ETFs (built a Vanguard portfolio similar to VGRO ex-fixed income) and a 100% equity portfolio based on BlackRock's 3 smart-betas (Cdn, US, EAFE). The large cash holding shows my indecisiveness... some days I feel like I want to buy a condo, some days I feel like they are a complete rip off:bi_polo:



Janus said:


> Holy cow, that's a lot for a watch. You sure know how to treat yourself... when I passed the CFA I bought a $150 special edition of Security Analysis!... and for the record I wish I'd done something way better than that, either buying something cool or doing a trip. Not judging, I don't care much about watches but whatever floats your boat.
> 
> What are you planning to do with that fancy CFA? Too many of us in toronto means that we're often seen as a dime a dozen.


I've got experience both on the asset management side (think products, not equity research) and consulting (think pension plans and endowments/foundation structuring). I think I'm well positioned to push for a role with external facing/client relation responsibilities. While I agree that CFA charterholders are seen as a dime a dozen, I think having it now will helps with a certain "image" specific roles place bigger emphasis on.


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## Time4earlyretirement (Feb 21, 2014)

Time4earlyretirement said:


> *June 2018*
> 
> 2k tax return in limbo due to CRA cough-up; resolution estimated at 6-24 months...
> 
> ...



*September 2018*

Chequing: 11,300
TFSA: 40,000
RRSP: 20,500
SD-RSP: 37,000
Non Reg-RSP: 46,100

*Total: ~154,900*

Resolved the tax issue with the CRA, not much happened otherwise. 2018 updated mortgage pre-approval amount was cut by a quarter since last year :bi_polo:


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## Time4earlyretirement (Feb 21, 2014)

Time4earlyretirement said:


> *September 2018*
> 
> Chequing: 11,300
> TFSA: 40,000
> ...


*November 2018*

Chequing: 18,600
TFSA: 37,000
RRSP: 21,450
SD-RSP: 35,000
Non Reg-RSP: 43,100

*Total: ~155,150*

Tough quarter in the markets... NW moved sideways despite decent year end bonus. Saved a lot in October, blew most of November on a Europe trip :bi_polo:


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