# Journey to $3 Million Net Worth



## Calgary_Girl (Apr 20, 2011)

Hi everyone!

I'm going to start tracking our net worth again and have decided to start a new money diary to track our progress. I've been a member of CMF since 2011 and have enjoyed reading everyone's journey.

Hubby and I recently paid off our mortgage and HELOC so we'd like to start saving aggressively towards early retirement now that we're debt free. We've set an ambitious goal of having a net worth of $3 million by Dec. 2019 when hubby turns 50 (I'm 46 and DH is 49). I'm not sure if it's realistic but we'll give it a shot without hopefully depriving ourselves too much of the things that make life enjoyable!

Here's our Feb. 2019 net worth:

*Assets*

Cash: $67,100
Stocks: $561,600
Retirement: $1,048,400
Home Value: $1,055,900
Cash Value of LI: $32,000

*Total Assets*: $2,765,000


*Liabilities*: $0


We also have $89,800 that's saved in RESP's as well as $69,800 in our oldest daughter's RDSP (she has special needs). I don't include those accounts in our Assets since I consider that to be their money :smile:. 

Thanks for reading!


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## hfp75 (Mar 15, 2018)

235,000 between now and the end of the year. Growth and contributions.... 

You dont include anything about your selves ? Do you both work ? Income ? 

It might be doable but it is not a small goal.

All the best with getting there...


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## agent99 (Sep 11, 2013)

One thing - you can't live off your net worth! 

You still need a home to live in. You also need a secure cash reserve in case of unforeseen events. Market value of stocks can vary. 

Looks to me like you would have realistically about $1.5 million to live off, if you were to retire now (~$50-60k/yr? ) Not bad, but you wouldn't be rich! Saving more from now until retirement is a good idea. At some point CPP/OAS will kick in and that will help. Any other pension income would be a plus.


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## Earl (Apr 5, 2016)

What's the difference between your stocks category and your retirement category? Wouldn't your retirement fund be mostly in stocks?


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## jargey3000 (Jan 25, 2011)

....dont get caught counting all your chickens before they, you know, ....hatch.....


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## Calgary_Girl (Apr 20, 2011)

hfp75 said:


> 235,000 between now and the end of the year.  Growth and contributions....
> 
> You dont include anything about your selves ? Do you both work ? Income ?
> 
> ...


Thanks and I agree that it’s definitely not a small goal so we’ll see how close we can get to it in 9 months. 

A bit about ourselves: I’m 46 and hubby is 49 and we have two girls, 12 and 9 years old. I’ve been a stay at home mom for the past nine years since our oldest daughter has special needs. Hubby works in the energy industry but his company’s fortunes don’t really depend on oil (thank goodness) so there haven’t been any layoffs at his company. His base salary is $200K and bonuses usually range from 40% to 70% depending on how the year went. 

On a side note, I was reading your money diary and you said you’re American? My hubby is as well...he’s originally from the Boston area.


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## lonewolf :) (Sep 13, 2016)

Cash value of Li do you mean life insurance, If so would not buy any more I do not think you need it.


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## Calgary_Girl (Apr 20, 2011)

Earl said:


> What's the difference between your stocks category and your retirement category? Wouldn't your retirement fund be mostly in stocks?


The stock category is separate because it’s in a non-registered taxable account.


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## Calgary_Girl (Apr 20, 2011)

lonewolf :) said:


> Cash value of Li do you mean life insurance, If so would not buy any more I do not think you need it.


Yes, I agree.


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## scorpion_ca (Nov 3, 2014)

What is your husband going to do once reach the goal? Retire or keeping working? Do you track your yearly expenses and ROI? Is your ROI enough to cover the expenses now?


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## NorthernSlave (Oct 21, 2018)

Do you see real estate in yyc rising, falling or staying stable?


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## My Own Advisor (Sep 24, 2012)

Calgary_Girl said:


> Thanks and I agree that it’s definitely not a small goal so we’ll see how close we can get to it in 9 months.
> 
> A bit about ourselves: I’m 46 and hubby is 49 and we have two girls, 12 and 9 years old. I’ve been a stay at home mom for the past nine years since our oldest daughter has special needs. Hubby works in the energy industry but his company’s fortunes don’t really depend on oil (thank goodness) so there haven’t been any layoffs at his company. His base salary is $200K and bonuses usually range from 40% to 70% depending on how the year went.
> 
> On a side note, I was reading your money diary and you said you’re American? My hubby is as well...he’s originally from the Boston area.


Great to see your money diary here  Long time no talk!

Wow, you're doing great....very well done. I suspect if the market co-operate you'll come close to reaching your goal this year. I hope you nail it. With > $1.5 M invested now, you should be able to "live off dividends" to the tune of at least $60k per year.

Will your DH work part-time once you reach your goals?

Again, congrats. Killer work.


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## hfp75 (Mar 15, 2018)

NS:
I see Ab RE staying where it is +/-2%. With the exception on condos, they could fall again.... way to many here in Calgary.

Calg_Grl:
Yes born in LA but have lived in a few places. My last home was in the great state of Alabama ! Can you believe it.... neat place, just to hot.

You are a few years ahead of us, I am envious. We just had our last child at Christmas and thus will be working for a while.

Hope you can reach your goal, so far markets have been supportive. If recession fears grow, it could hurt...... be careful.


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## Calgary_Girl (Apr 20, 2011)

Hi Mark!

Thanks for the words of encouragement! I still follow your Blog  We restructured our portfolio a couple of years ago when oil started tanking since we had quite a bit of exposure to oil and are now mostly invested in growth ETF's with a smaller amount in income ETF's. We're currently getting about $29K/year in dividends.

Right now, the goal is for hubby to make it to 55 and then we'll re-evaluate where we stand, but it would be nice to say "Freedom 55"


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## Calgary_Girl (Apr 20, 2011)

March was a good month for us financially: Hubby got a $9K raise (salary is now $209K) and a bonus of $140K (although almost half went to taxes).


Updated Mar. 2019 net worth:

*Assets*

Cash: $123,800
Stocks: $573,900
Retirement: $1,062,500
Home Value: $1,055,900
Cash Value of LI: $32,000

Total Assets: $2,848,100 (A gain of $83,100 vs. the previous month and closer to our NW goal of $3 million by year end).


*Liabilities*: $0


We also have $90,300 that's saved in RESP's as well as $73,000 in our oldest daughter's RDSP (she has special needs). I don't include those accounts in our Assets since I consider that to be their money. 

Thanks for reading!


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## Calgary_Girl (Apr 20, 2011)

April was another good month.


Updated Apr. 2019 net worth:

Assets

Cash: $127,400
Stocks: $583,700
Retirement: $1,085,000
Home Value: $1,055,900
Cash Value of LI: $32,000

Total Assets: $2,884,000 (A gain of $35,900 vs. the previous month and closer to our NW goal of $3 million by year end).


Liabilities: $0


Note: We also have $91,800 that's saved in RESP's as well as $73,600 in our oldest daughter's RDSP (she has special needs). I don't include those amounts in our Assets since I consider that to be their money. 

Thanks for reading!


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## Calgary_Girl (Apr 20, 2011)

Happy New Year! End of year update and we hit our personal goal of $3 million NW by the time DH hit 50. 


Updated Dec. 2019 net worth:

Assets

Cash: $111,400 
Stocks: $740,800
Retirement: $1,151,870
Home Value: $1,055,900 
Cash Value of LI: $32,000

Total Assets: $3,091,970

Liabilities: $0


Note: We also have $100,900 that's saved in RESP's as well as $81,000 in our oldest daughter's RDSP (she has special needs). I don't include those amounts in our Assets since I consider that to be their money. 

Thanks for reading!


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## heyjude (May 16, 2009)

Congratulations Calgary Girl, you are doing great! I remember you from ER.org as well. I always enjoyed your posts.

I think the next step is to start focusing on where you are and where you want to be in what I call “investable assets”. That is, funds in the markets, that can sustain your expenses. You have over a million dollars tied up in your home. Of course you could sell it, but it’s not liquid. And I understand that property values in Calgary have decreased in recent years. So how about setting your next goal as $3 million in investable assets?


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## Walksing (Oct 16, 2012)

Just curious your hl insurance, is it whole life insurance? How did come to decision for it if so?


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## Calgary_Girl (Apr 20, 2011)

Hi everyone! Well, these are definitely crazy times we’re currently living in. Luckily, DH is still employed and has been working from home for the past couple of months. I’ve been busy with the kids and doing the whole home-schooling thing. In my opinion, teachers don’t get paid enough! 

I’ve decided to only update our net worth every 6 months because the swings in the market are too crazy. Our investments have taken a beating but have slowly been coming back over the past month. DH received a big bonus at work, which is sitting in cash at the moment. We might leave it there until the economy is a bit more stable (he’s in the energy industry).


Updated net worth as of May 31/20:

Assets

Cash: $235,900
Stocks: $773,800
Retirement: $1,085,000
Home Value: $1,037,800
Cash Value of LI: $32,000

Total Assets: $3,164,500

Liabilities: $0


Note: We also have $93,900 that's saved in RESP's as well as $75,600 in our oldest daughter's RDSP (she has special needs). I don't include those amounts in our Assets since I consider that to be their money.


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## Calgary_Girl (Apr 20, 2011)

Walksing said:


> Just curious your hl insurance, is it whole life insurance? How did come to decision for it if so?


Hi there. Yes, it is Whole Life. Took it out when I was 22 and before I got married and had any dependents. I’ve had it so long now that the policy dividends cover the cost of the insurance. Probably wasn’t the best financial decision I’ve ever made but my accountant says to hold onto it because it’s paying for itself.


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## milhouse (Nov 16, 2016)

Now that you have it and paying for itself, the cash value of the WL insurance policy might eventually come in handy in from an integrated retirement strategy perspective. I've been reading some of Wade Pfau's papers and listening to some of his interviews from the last couple of years. One of the methods he suggests for managing sequence of returns risk is using buffer assets like Insurance and Home Equity that aren't correlated to your main retirement portfolio. If the markets do take a hit, during the early part of your retirement, you can draw on your WL policy's cash value (in additional to your home equity) temporarily to let the equity portion of your retirement portfolio heal. It might be a handy asset for you to continue to hold now.


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## Walksing (Oct 16, 2012)

Calgary_Girl said:


> Hi everyone! Well, these are definitely crazy times we’re currently living in. Luckily, DH is still employed and has been working from home for the past couple of months. I’ve been busy with the kids and doing the whole home-schooling thing. In my opinion, teachers don’t get paid enough!
> 
> I’ve decided to only update our net worth every 6 months because the swings in the market are too crazy. Our investments have taken a beating but have slowly been coming back over the past month. DH received a big bonus at work, which is sitting in cash at the moment. We might leave it there until the economy is a bit more stable (he’s in the energy industry).
> 
> ...


thank you for sharing! home schooling is very tough. we have a very similar net worth and are in the same age group. just wonder if you can share your retirement plan and projected income for retirement?


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## scorpion_ca (Nov 3, 2014)

Walksing said:


> just wonder if you can share your retirement plan and projected income for retirement?


Perhaps you could also share with us about your retirement plan and projected income for retirement.


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## Calgary_Girl (Apr 20, 2011)

Happy New Year everyone! Well, I’m personally happy that 2020 is over and keeping my fingers crossed that 2021 will be a better/less turbulent year (it can’t be any worse right?!).

Financially, things are looking quite good and hubby is planning to retire on Jan. 1/26 at age 56 so the five year countdown has begun. Either that or he’s hoping for a severance package if things go downhill and then he’ll call it quits than and there. 

Updated net worth as of Jan. 1/21:

Assets

Cash: $205,200
Stocks: $907,600
Retirement: $1,222,500
Home Value: $1,037,800
Cash Value of LI: $38,000

Total Assets: $3,411,100

Liabilities: $0


Note: We also have $111,600 that's saved in RESP's as well as $89,600 in our oldest daughter's RDSP (she has special needs). I don't include those amounts in our Assets since I consider that to be their money.


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## Calgary_Girl (Apr 20, 2011)

Well, life is still crazy busy but luckily we’re all still healthy and hubby is still employed. 

Financially, things are quite good and hubby is still planning for early retirement on Jan. 1/26 at age 56 (unless he gets a severance package). Received a decent bonus last month and a small raise. 

Updated net worth as of Apr. 1/21:

Assets

Cash: $233,306
Stocks: $1,007,057
Retirement: $1,290,590
Home Value: $1,037,875
Cash Value of LI: $38,000

Total Assets: $3,606,828

Liabilities: $0


Note: We also have $118,514 that's saved in RESP's as well as $95,489 in our oldest daughter's RDSP (she has special needs). I don't include those amounts in our Assets since I consider that to be their money.


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## milhouse (Nov 16, 2016)

Calgary_Girl said:


> Well, life is still crazy busy but luckily we’re all still healthy and hubby is still employed.



We all joke about "having our health!" but current times illustrate how having good health is important.


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## CAP (Apr 20, 2021)

Incredible work Calgary Girl! Total Assets north of $3M including invested assets >$2M and you are set. 

Stay well!


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## Calgary_Girl (Apr 20, 2011)

CAP said:


> Incredible work Calgary Girl! Total Assets north of $3M including invested assets >$2M and you are set.
> 
> Stay well!


Thanks CAP. Hubby would love to retire tomorrow (if I’d let him) but I’d feel more comfortable if we had $3 Million in investable assets (not including the house). If hubby does get a severance it could bring us close to that magic number. Until then though I guess we have to do it the old fashioned way through diligent budgeting 😁.


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## My Own Advisor (Sep 24, 2012)

LOL. Yes, you can hope for a severance or achieve your goals the traditional way. 

Any big plans for retirement?
Also, are you changing your investment approach in retirement? More conservative? Less dividend payers? More? etc.?

Curious.

I know for myself, I plan to keep the same boring 20 or so CDN and 5-10 U.S. stocks (along with a few ETFs) that got me this far. Just a higher cash wedge per se.








How much cash should you keep?


How much cash should you keep? Inspired by a number of reader questions over the years, I thought I would chime in on this subject: how much cash should you keep including our plans when it comes t…




www.myownadvisor.ca


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## james4beach (Nov 15, 2012)

Calgary_Girl said:


> Thanks CAP. Hubby would love to retire tomorrow (if I’d let him) but I’d feel more comfortable if we had $3 Million in investable assets (not including the house). If hubby does get a severance it could bring us close to that magic number. Until then though I guess we have to do it the old fashioned way through diligent budgeting 😁.


Can either of you also work independently on contract? Here's my pitch for this, and it's exactly what I'm doing myself.

You currently have $2.6 million in investment assets, so you're not far from your target. Instead of continuing to exhaust yourselves with full time work, you could potentially scale back towards partial hours, maybe as self-employed consultants. You will gain more spare time and it will be like semi-retirement... but you'll keep bringing in the income, and your investments can keep growing.

For example I haven't been doing this very long, only about 2 years, and my investments have grown. I'm about 150k wealthier than when I quit my regular job. This is a result of my new self employment income + investment gains exceeding my living expenses.

I think part of the beauty of this approach is that you also don't face a huge, daunting, all-or-nothing retirement event. Speaking from experience I can say that it gives you a bit of a flavour for retirement, while you still have the safety of paycheques coming in.

If you're also able to reduce your work hours or work as contractors, I doubt it would take you much time to get to $3 million (excluding the house).


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## agent99 (Sep 11, 2013)

Calgary_Girl said:


> Updated net worth as of Apr. 1/21:
> 
> Assets
> 
> ...


Those numbers are quite good! Made be think back to where we were 18 years ago. I am sure you are quite capable of figuring these things for yourselves, but perhaps what I have learned may be some help?

You will need to fund many years of retirement, especially if your husband retires, say by 60. This will require you to earn enough over and above your draw rate to allow the investments to grow at or better than the inflation rate. Your draw rate may have to be lower than you would expect. Especially with current low yields on fixed income. CPP/OAS will help eventually.

Some would advise that you could gradually draw down your nest egg over the next 30+ years. That might not be a good idea - yet! You could try and maintain and grow the portfolio value at_ least_ in step with inflation for the first 20+ years. Life, markets and inflation can throw us all sorts of curves. 

We found that a draw rate of 3.5% to 4% plus CPP/OAS was enough to fund our reasonably comfortable lifestyle over past 18 years. After withdrawals, our 'less than conservative' dividend oriented balanced portfolio has beaten inflation by about 1%. Indicates we could have had a slightly higher draw rate. But that is only in hindsight! We have had almost no mutual funds or etfs and limited trading, so fees haven't been a factor. 

Another factor to consider when retiring early, is that you won't get CPP/OAS initially. For a couple, this could be $40k pa that will in effect increase your initial required draw rate.

Good luck in your journey!


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## prisoner24601 (May 27, 2018)

We were in a similar situation when raising our kids on one income. What has worked out nicely for us in the run up to retirement is a spousal loan I made many years ago so income and gains from our non-registered portfolio is split 50/50 at tax time. I collect interest on the original loan amount every year and pay taxes and she claims carrying costs for the interest which reduces her net investment income. The lower net income usually allows me to claim a decent spousal deduction. This year for example we had about 30k of non-reg income that would otherwise be payable at my 54% marginal rate. So, I paid tax on 3,000 interest from the loan which was offset by the spousal amount, no tax on her 15K (under personal exemption plus carrying costs) and the full rate on my 15K at 54%. So about $8k saved in taxes on $30K of non-registered income which is a nice little bonus every year. This strategy works best for single income families otherwise the savings is too small to make it worthwhile.


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## kcowan (Jul 1, 2010)

CG there have been several members here asking about your retirement plans. During the next 5 years or earlier, you will be faced with making a plan. That will help you crystallize your plans for the future. I can tell you that my experience with having our own plan made a big difference in deciding what to do. We spend half the year in Mexico after doing the planning for it. That was in 2007. After being retired for 5 years.


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## Calgary_Girl (Apr 20, 2011)

Summer is here and the time is right for my next quarterly NW update 😎. We survived the crazy school year and everyone is looking forward to basically doing nothing (well, almost nothing) for the next couple of months. 

After working from home for the past 6 months, hubby was basically told that it was time to go back into the office and he definitely wasn’t too impressed with that. He became quite used to working from home and not having to put on actual “work clothes” and commute into downtown. 😂 He is definitely counting down to retirement at this point and is willing to put up with the ”bs” at work!

Financially, things are chugging along and early retirement on Jan. 1/26 at age 56 is still on track (unless he gets a severance package).

Updated net worth as of Jul. 1/21:

*Assets*

Cash: $229,900
Stocks (Non-Registered & TFSA): $1,063,500
Retirement: $1,324,400
Home Value: $1,037,875
Cash Value of LI: $38,000

*Total Assets: $3,693,675
Investable Assets: $2,655,800 (Aiming for a minimum of $3 million in investable assets)

Liabilities: $0*


Note: We also have $122,300 that's saved in RESP's (the girls are 15 and 11) as well as $98,300 in our oldest daughter's RDSP (she has special needs). I don't include those amounts in our Assets since I consider that to be their money.


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## My Own Advisor (Sep 24, 2012)

Incredible work. *Just wow.* Well done.


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## Calgary_Girl (Apr 20, 2011)

Happy New Year everyone! I haven’t updated our NW on here for a while so I thought it was time to once again see where we stand.

On the home front, things have been quite busy. Our oldest daughter started high school this year and our youngest is finishing up elementary. After a successful start to the school year, Alberta just announced the Christmas break is going to be extended for another week due to the rising Omicron cases. I’m not sure if that will result in home learning again (I hope not) but we‘ll just go with the flow.

Hubby is still working but counting down to retirement at 56 (he’s 52 now). Things appear to be on track. Investable assets came down slightly in the past month because we topped up the kids’ RESP and RDSP balances for the year. We also moved some money from Cash over to our non-registered account and put it in low cost ETF’s.

Updated net worth as of Jan. 1/22:

Assets

Cash: $101,400
Stocks (Non-Registered, TFSA): $1,105,700
Retirement: $1,382,200
Home Value: $1,037,875
Cash Value of LI: $41,000

Total Assets: $3,668,175
Investable Assets: $2,630,300 (Aiming for a minimum of $3 million in investable assets)

Liabilities: $0


Note: We also have $131,200 that's saved in RESP's (the girls are 15 and 12) as well as $105,700 in our oldest daughter's RDSP (she has special needs). I don't include those amounts in our Assets since I consider that to be their money.


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## Calgary_Girl (Apr 20, 2011)

Time has been flying by and the market has been so terrible lately that I’ve been scared to see how much money we’ve lost. I finally sat down a few days ago to see where we stand. It’s not as awful as I thought…it could be better but it hasn’t been awful.

On the home front, things have been quite busy. Oldest daughter with special needs just finished Gr. 10 and the youngest daughter finished elementary school and will be starting Junior High School in September. I turned 50 in June (how in the heck am I 50!?!?) and my MIL passed away from cancer at age of 70 (very young IMO). She lived outside of Boston so hubby took a few trips back to see her and then we went back again for the funeral. We finally took our long-delayed trip to Maui over the Easter break after waiting for 2 years due to Covid restrictions.

Hubby is still working but counting down to retirement at 55 (he’s 52 now). Things appear to be on track if we keep our savings rate up and the market behaves. I hope to start tracking the net worth more diligently since retirement isn’t too far off (I hope).


Updated net worth as of Jul. 1/22:

Assets

Cash: $250,900
Stocks (Non-Registered, TFSA): $1,069,100
Retirement: $1,238,400
Home Value: $1,092,000
Cash Value of LI: $44,000

Total Assets: $3,694,400
Investable Assets: $2,602,400 (Aiming for a minimum of $3 million in investable assets)


Liabilities: $0


Note: We also have $117,200 that's saved in RESP's (the girls are 16 and 12) as well as $94,900 in our oldest daughter's RDSP. I don't include those amounts in our Assets since I consider that to be their money.


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