Canadian Dream: Free at 45 Details

Interview with Derek Foster
2007-09-06 15:09:49
In case you haven’t heard Derek Foster, author of Stop Working, has come out with a second book called The Lazy Investor. So out of curiosity I sent Derek an email requesting an interview and he was kind enough to give me a call (I should point out I did the interview before I [...] ...
Interview

The Costs of a Pet
2007-09-05 14:42:01
I’ve embarked on a new journey last night in which two new beings are now under my care. They depend on me and I’ll do my best not to kill them by accident and then have to send them on to that great white place in the bathroom. Yes, we bought fish. I find myself curious [...] ...
Costs

Am I Saving Too Much?
2007-09-04 14:15:58
Am I saving too much?I think everyone on the path to retirement has asked themselves this question at least once. I recently was reading a new blog for me called Lonnies and Sense and he asked the question when do I stop feeling like I’m living from paycheque to paycheque? The answer is: never. [...] ...

Analysis of your Spending
2007-08-31 14:54:36
As the Wealthy Canadian pointed out in his comment to yesterday’s post: planning is only the first step to financial independence. The harder part is doing an analysis of your own spending. In order to do this well I typically suggest people track every penny of their spending for a month. Only when you [...] ...
Analysis

You Are Poor From a Lack of Planning
2007-08-30 14:31:02
I come to a realization lately. I’m extremely weird in my ability to perceive time. I really didn’t think about it until one day I was talking to my wife and she pointed it out. I can easily talk about anything that happens at any point in time with little to no [...] ...

Net Worth - August 2007 Update
2007-08-29 14:50:48
I know I’m a bit early on this post, but I slept in this morning and it’s my only draft that was close enough to a complete post to use. So here we go. Assets House $299,000 RRSP $13,200 Old Work Pension $11,600 New Work Pension $2300 Wife’s RRSP $5500 Wife’s Investment Account $8400 High Interest Savings Account $2100 Debt Mortgage $145,700 Line of Credit [...] ...

Reader’s Question #8
2007-08-28 14:58:02
Yesterday I got a question from our long time commenter Will, on a topic I have yet to really touch on. Q: I was wondering if you’ve heard of the Smith Manoeuvre and, if so, what your thoughts on it were. A: Yes I’ve heard of the Smith Manoeuvre. For those who are not so familiar let [...] ...

The Harvest
2007-08-27 14:14:57
This year my wife and I planted a small garden in the backyard. Harvest time has started and I just pulled out our first little row of carrots and I’m impressed. I had actually forgotten how good garden fresh carrots are compared to those you buy in the store. They are much sweeter [...] ...
Harvest

The Mask
2007-08-24 14:24:31
Well today’s post will be fairly off our usual PF theme again. Today I wanted to start an open debate on an idea I’ve had. Do I really need to blog anonymously or is there a time to step away from the mask? In the PF blog world we have both sides: some with masks [...] ...

Blogroll Contest
2007-08-23 14:30:11
As you might have noticed I’ve yet to update my blogroll yet since switching to Wordpress. Actually I have yet to update it from my last site for a while now. I know there are lots of great PF blogs out there since my last update so here is the deal. If you have a [...] ...
Contest

Saving Money on Home Repairs
2007-08-22 14:54:22
Around the house my wife has developed the belief I can fix just about anything. This is a lie. I actually can’t fix anything, but I do have a rather good sense developed of what jobs I can handle and what needs to be hired out. That is one of the best [...] ...
Money Saving Money

Have We Hit Bottom Yet?
2007-08-17 16:12:02
The blogsphere seems alive and well with advice on what to do about the current market situation. So I’m going to provide a few suggestions. Doubt will happen. It is normal and don’t worry about it. I don’t think there is a person alive who watch the TSX index drop 1500 points without any emotion. [...] ...

Update Now in Progress
2007-08-16 14:15:23
Welcome back. After much pain and errors I’m finally switched over to Wordpress. That’s the good news. The bad news is I’m still transferring everything. So please let me know of any problems you find on the site as I’m still updating everything and playing around with all these new settings. For [...] ...
Progress

Riding the Drop of Doom
2007-08-15 14:44:00
The last few weeks have been a little nerve racking for just about everyone. I don’t think many people like riding roller coasters that the markets have become in the last few days. Up 200 points by noon and closing down another 30 points by the end of the day. Or just up 50 points [...] ...

Confessions of a Personal Finance Blogger
2007-08-14 14:17:55
Perhaps there is something in the air or perhaps my frustration at working on switching to a new hosting service that has me thinking about my limitations and failures. So in the interest in proving I am not a personal finance guru all the time I present a brief list of confessions.With the recent market correction even I have had the thought "Did I make a mistake and is this investing with index funds a good idea?" I bought a stock when I was a teenager with no knowledge of what the company did or anything else other than I liked the name of the company. Sad but true. In the end the stock fell so much that I could barely cover the trading fee to get out of the stock.I've gotten to the point of reading so many personal finance books over the years I can now pick up new ones and skim entire chapters after reading two paragraphs in a chapter. You can only read about this great concept of 'living below your means' so many times before your brain starts to turn to mush.I do enjoy i ...
Blogger Finance Personal

Confessions of a Personal Finance Blogger
2007-08-14 14:08:00
Perhaps there is something in the air or perhaps my frustration at working on switching to a new hosting service that has me thinking about my limitations and failures. So in the interest in proving I am not a personal finance guru all the time I present a brief list of confessions. With the recent [...] ...
Blogger Finance Personal

Houston, We Have a Problem
2007-08-13 14:38:31
Well actually there were several problems so far with changing domains over the weekend. So I'll be posting at the backup domain location until further notice.Actually all these little technical issues reminded me of life in general, it doesn't ever seem to go according to plan. This is why many people often say you need an emergency fund. As many of you know I don't keep a fund, but rather a line of credit which I can tap into instead.Why don't I keep a fund of cash? Partly it is I keep enough cash floating around various saving accounts that I have about $1000 slush fund at all times which can cover my insurance deductible if I truly have a major problem. Also because I don't consider the car or house insurance coming due an emergency. Actually I don't consider anything you can plan for in day to day life an emergency.So what is an emergency? This will depend entirely where you live and possible costs you might face. For example, if you live in the US and have co-paymen ...
Houston

Houston, We Have a Problem
2007-08-13 14:29:00
Well actually there were several problems so far with changing domains over the weekend. So I’ll be posting at the backup domain location until further notice. Actually all these little technical issues reminded me of life in general, it doesn’t ever seem to go according to plan. This is why many people often say [...] ...
Houston

Domain Jumps
2007-08-10 14:33:14
Hold onto your hats everyone I'm going to try to jump over to my own host this weekend. As such I'm switching this blog back to it's old blogspot domain this weekend to act as a back up.So check your bookmarks to determine which one you have.http://canadian-dream-free-at-45.blogspot.com - This one will be the backup copy by Monday.http://blog.canadian-dream-free-at-45.com - This will be the new host by Monday.I'm going to try to import all the previous posts and fix the RSS feed as well by Monday. So check the new host address first on Monday, if there is a new post the transfer went well. If the transfers has issues I can't resolve by Monday I will post an update to the backup blog.I'm begin the switch first thing on Aug 11, 2007. ...
Domain

Domain Jumps
2007-08-10 14:23:00
Hold onto your hats everyone I’m going to try to jump over to my own host this weekend. As such I’m switching this blog back to it’s old blogspot domain this weekend to act as a back up. So check your bookmarks to determine which one you have. http://canadian-dream-free-at-45.blogspot.com - This one will be the [...] ...
Domain

How to Kill A Mortgage
2007-08-10 02:36:00
Yesterday I had a comment by Telly asking if I intend to be mortgage free by 45 (my retirement date). Yes I do want to have that gone by then. I was actually playing with a few calculators earlier this week so I will outline a few different ideas. 1) Do Nothing This first [...] ...
Mortgage

How to Kill A Mortgage
2007-08-09 14:47:10
Yesterday I had a comment by Telly asking if I intend to be mortgage free by 45 (my retirement date). Yes I do want to have that gone by then. I was actually playing with a few calculators earlier this week so I will outline a few different ideas.1) Do NothingThis first plan is the easiest. I don't pay down a extra cent until I turn 45 and then I pay out the remaining balance with some of my retirement savings.2) Mild AccelerationMy current time line to be mortgage free is 19 years which isn't too far from my plan to retire at 45 (16 years). So another option is to save myself a lot of interest costs and prepay just enough of the mortgage to ensure it is gone by the time I'm 45. I estimate I would need to pay off approximately $9000 in the next two years which is completely doable.3) Completely flatten the mortgageOf course this option was a bit fun to figure out. If I put every spare cent I have against the mortgage I can be complete debt free in just over 8 years. Which al ...
Mortgage

The Retirement Experiment
2007-08-09 14:46:48
I recently was talking to a couple that are rapidly closing in on their retirement date. They have been planning a bit around their retirement. They got a new place to live, a new car and replaced anything that was getting old to ensure they would have reduced replacement costs in retirement. Now they are completely debt free and are starting up an interesting experiment.They plan to live on their new lower income for six month prior to their retirement date to adjust themselves to their predicted spending in retirement. They call this their retirement experiment. I rather like the idea myself, so I did a little digging into my own spending.Currently after tax and deductions we take home around $3700 a month. If I deduct my current mortgage payments (principle and interest) I'm down to about $2600 and then if I drop off my extra retirement savings I'm down to $1900/month. If I convert that to a yearly amount I'm already living off just $22,800 with a small child. So if I can ...
Experiment Retirement

The Retirement Experiment
2007-08-08 22:19:00
I recently was talking to a couple that are rapidly closing in on their retirement date. They have been planning a bit around their retirement. They got a new place to live, a new car and replaced anything that was getting old to ensure they would have reduced replacement costs in retirement. [...] ...
Experiment Retirement

The Retirement Experiment
2007-08-07 22:19:00
I recently was talking to a couple that are rapidly closing in on their retirement date. They have been planning a bit around their retirement. They got a new place to live, a new car and replaced anything that was getting old to ensure they would have reduced replacement costs in retirement. Now they are completely debt free and are starting up an interesting experiment.They plan to live on their new lower income for six month prior to their retirement date to adjust themselves to their predicted spending in retirement. They call this their retirement experiment. I rather like the idea myself, so I did a little digging into my own spending.Currently after tax and deductions we take home around $3700 a month. If I deduct my current mortgage payments (principle and interest) I'm down to about $2600 and then if I drop off my extra retirement savings I'm down to $1900/month. If I convert that to a yearly amount I'm already living off just $22,800 with a small child. So if I can ...
Experiment Retirement

How Much House is Enough?
2007-08-07 15:11:19
Recently I've been reading a few architecture books and interior design books on a quest to answer the question: How much of a house is enough?After all if you are in a larger house than you need you will have higher mortgage payments, heating bills as well as other utilities. Basically buying the wrong house will potentially cost you $1000's over the years for a few extra rooms you might not even use. Yet for the average person, how do you know what is enough? Here is a few steps to help you determine that.Step 1 - What do you do?First off we need to determine what you use your current space for. Do you nap on the weekend on your family room couch? Do you watch two hours of TV every night? Can you remember the last time you ate in your dining room? Write down a list with what you typically do in a week and how much space you need to do it and how long you do it for. This is a necessary step to determine what you actually use your house for rather than what you think you use ...
House

How Much House is Enough?
2007-08-07 14:59:00
Recently I've been reading a few architecture books and interior design books on a quest to answer the question: How much of a house is enough?After all if you are in a larger house than you need you will have higher mortgage payments, heating bills as well as other utilities. Basically buying the wrong house will potentially cost you $1000's over the years for a few extra rooms you might not even use. Yet for the average person, how do you know what is enough? Here is a few steps to help you determine that.Step 1 - What do you do?First off we need to determine what you use your current space for. Do you nap on the weekend on your family room couch? Do you watch two hours of TV every night? Can you remember the last time you ate in your dining room? Write down a list with what you typically do in a week and how much space you need to do it and how long you do it for. This is a necessary step to determine what you actually use your house for rather than what you think you use ...
House

How Much House is Enough?
2007-08-07 14:59:00
Recently I’ve been reading a few architecture books and interior design books on a quest to answer the question: How much of a house is enough? After all if you are in a larger house than you need you will have higher mortgage payments, heating bills as well as other utilities. Basically buying the wrong [...] ...
House

Switching High Interest Savings Accounts?
2007-08-03 14:27:11
Earlier this summer Royal Bank tried to tempt me over to their new high interest savings account yet at the time their rate was going to be dropping to 3.25% after the introduction period. So I told them no thanks I have a higher rate with my current ING account. Now it is the opposite. Royal is now at 3.75% while ING is trailing at 3.5% and I recall the last time interest rates when up it took ING a very long time to raise their rate up. Royal also has the advantage of being my primary bank at the moment, so going over to them would be very easy. Perhaps the only thing I would like to know from anyone with a RBC high interest savings account is how fast do the transfers take place? (I can't find anything on this on their website). Since that is the only thing that vaguely annoys me about ING.Or perhaps I should look beyond Royal to someone else entirely? I can do the research into other options, I'm just curious for a current customers viewpoint on the service at each place.Tha ...

Switching High Interest Savings Accounts?
2007-08-03 14:17:00
Earlier this summer Royal Bank tried to tempt me over to their new high interest savings account yet at the time their rate was going to be dropping to 3.25% after the introduction period. So I told them no thanks I have a higher rate with my current ING account. Now it is the opposite. Royal is now at 3.75% while ING is trailing at 3.5% and I recall the last time interest rates when up it took ING a very long time to raise their rate up. Royal also has the advantage of being my primary bank at the moment, so going over to them would be very easy. Perhaps the only thing I would like to know from anyone with a RBC high interest savings account is how fast do the transfers take place? (I can't find anything on this on their website). Since that is the only thing that vaguely annoys me about ING.Or perhaps I should look beyond Royal to someone else entirely? I can do the research into other options, I'm just curious for a current customers viewpoint on the service at each place.Tha ...

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