Life Situation:
Married, filing jointly, both mid thirties, 1 child age 7 years old (no plans for additional children), living in Alberta Canada
*All numbers are in Canadian Dollars and are approximate (income and paycheque deductions vary slightly month to month)
Income:
Gross Salary/Wages:
• Me: $7600 monthly (~$91k annually working 4 days per week)
• Husband: $10,600 monthly (~$127k annually)
Individual amounts of each Pre-tax deductions:
• Company Pension Plans:
Me: $460 (6% matched by employer)
Husband: $640 (5% matched by employer)
• Company Medical Insurance:
Me: $80 per month
Husband: $90
• Parking:
Me: $130/month (I am trying to reduce this cost but have limited options)
Tax Deductions (Federal, Provincial, CPP, EI):
• Me: ~$2,200
• Husband: ~$3,700
Adjusted Gross Income:
• Me: ~$4730 per month
• Husband: ~$6170
Other Ordinary Income:
• Bonuses: ~$10k per year
• Tax Returns: ~$5k
• Employer Share Program profit sharing: ~$10k
Note: All “other income” gets reinvested to buy more shares and hence isn’t incorporated into our monthly income/expenses tallies.
Total (excluding Ordinary Income): ~$10,900
Monthly Savings:
RRSP savings (Me): $550 (8%)
RRSP savings (Husband): $610 (6%)
RESP (child): $200
Investments: $800 (we need advice on where to put this!!!)
Total Monthly Savings: $2,160
Monthly Expenses:
Mortgage & Insurance: $3700 ($3200 to principal, $500 to interest)
Property Tax: $220
Condo Fees: $340
School Fees and Before and After School Care Fees: $800
Medical expenses (beyond those covered by insurance): $20
Gas & electric: $200
Cell phones: $50 ****
Internet & Netflix: $80
Car Insurance & Fuel: $420 ***
Clothing:
• Me: $90
• Husband: $90
• Child: $70
Entertainment: $250
Groceries: $600
Misc: $50
House Maintenance & Electronics Replacement: $125
Vehicle Maintenance & Registration: $150 (for 2 cars)
Gifts: $65 (we don’t typically spend all of this)
Sports fees and gear:
• Me: $50
• Husband: $50
• Child: $50
Life Insurance $35
Savings to Replace Cars in the future: $535*
Travel: $700**
Notes:
*We save this much each month to allow for replacement of our 2 cars every 8-10 years
**Yes, we love to travel. We save $700 each month so that we can do a short trip somewhere warm each winter, some weekends occasionally throughout the year, and a bigger overseas trip every 4-5 yrs. Insert face punch here!
***2 cars, while husband doesn’t commute he and I share duties dropping and picking up our son from before/after school care. We both have unpredictable schedules and need the flexibility.
****We have two cell phones which are partially paid by employers)
Total Monthly Expenses: $8,740
Liabilities:
House: Value: $525k, Mortgage: $216k remaining (3.2% with 6.5 years to go)
Total Liabilities: $216k
Assets:
Home Equity: ~$310k
Cars: Two vehicles, one 7 years old, one 5 years old (combined current value maybe $10-15k?)
Company Pension: Me: ~$75k, Husband: ~$55k
RRSPs (Mutual Funds, Big Bank): Me: ~$90k, Husband: ~$85k
Shares in company (Me): ~$57k
Emergency Stash: $12k*
Money to Invest: $30k*
Savings for next car: $23k*
Savings for next vacation: $9k*
*currently sitting in high interest savings accounts (awful, I know), partially TFSA
Total Assets: ~$700k
Specific Question(s):
1. Our goal is to FIRE between age 45 and 50 (in 10-15 years). We would appreciate your advice on how to make that happen.
2. We feel that we are good at saving money. Obviously there is still room for improvement there. Where we feel fail is investing, both long term savings (e.g. retirement, overall wealth building, etc.) and shortterm savings (e.g. monthly savings for buying more company shares, replacing vehicles, long term travel plans, etc.). Advice on long-term and short-term investing strategies (relevant for a Canadian) would be appreciated. We have been considering Vanguard ETFs (TFSAs, RRSPs, unregistered, etc.), but we really lack confidence in making investment decisions.