On the road but destination seems so far away

[spider1800]

Im 34 yrs old, underpaid, underemployed and have been looking for some time for something better.

I have two degrees, one in Political Science (I know kinda useless) and a degree in Law (Quebec Civil Law).

For my law school I live in Quebec city for 4 yrs and I racked up about 60k in debt.

I have paid close to 20k back.

I am trying to cut costs wherever possible, my car (2004 Mazda 3 paid for long ago) is rarely used since I use public transportation, I no longer eat out for lunch, I stopped bying over priced coffee and make my own at home. I have not been on a vacation since 2007, cancelled my gym mebership and use the gym at work (15$ a month).

I put 1000 dollars a month to my student line of credit (40% of my net salary)
I put 300$ a month into modest investing (tax free savings account based Mutual Funds and RRSP mutual fund).

My girlfriend, A professional Ballerina earns about 50k and has started a side business that she hopes to start growing before she retires from dance in 3-5 yrs. We are thinking of tying the knot.

Aside from getting a higher paying job (currently making 43,000 gross in the highest tax jurisdiction in North America), what else can I do to get rid of crippling debt and start investing towards a reasonable retirement?

Thank you in advance

[neo von retorch]

First, if you change nothing, by August 2018, you'll have paid off your student loans and added $14,000 to your investments. (assumptions - 4% student loan interest, 4% gain on investments.) That's some great progress. Going forward, you'll add $15,000 each year! So assuming you make $35k net you're saving 43% of your income! With $20k annual expenses, you'd need about $500k to be financially independent. On your current course, you'll be there in maybe 24 years, assuming nothing gets better and also with just 4% interest in my 8 year math formulas and assuming you have $0 total saved up now.

Where else does your money go? We can't advise you on improving your expense budget without knowing what your expenses are.