Author Topic: New Mustachian  (Read 3515 times)

MrMyMoney

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New Mustachian
« on: December 09, 2013, 09:55:33 PM »
Hello everyone,

I have been working for 3 years in China and I'm done paying off my students loans and misc debts. I'm completely debt free at the moment and after reading MMM's blog and this forum, I absolutely decided to turn my life around. While in China, I acquired a taste for frugality (there is almost nothing to buy where I live) and send back great deal of money back home every month (proportional to my income). I make about $1.5k a month and spend at most $150 so I saved $1,350 a month.

Unfortunately, I don't think such a little sum of money would allow me to build a proper investment for early retirement OUTSIDE of China so I'm planning on going back to Canada. I have a teaching degree and I'm working on a Masters atm (at 3k/year, online, will be 9k when all is said and done).

My new plan after reading the blog and forums is to go work with an old friend on oil rigs in BC or work on construction sites. I want to begin investing in stocks asap and once I am better at doing renovations (if I end up working in construction) start investing in real estate for renting.

I'm currently 28 years old and I'm both sad and thrilled. I'm sad because I'm a smart guy but it never occurred to me I could retire early if I worked hard early on and lived on little. I made the mistake of spending too much money on useless things when I began working, most of them I don't own anymore being in China anyways. I'm thrilled on the other hand because this month I am finally debt free after 3 years here and by March my contract ends I am free to go anywhere I want. I love teaching and research, but if spending 10-15 years of my life working on oil rigs or doing construction work would allow me to be FI , then that's the best investment I could make for myself. After retirement, I could get back into "full-time" teaching whenever I felt like it, or more likely I would be still teaching part-time while working towards my retirement.

Any advice for someone who is absolutely new to investing and living in Canada? Living on very little I can now manage. I can have a single bedroom apt and a smile on my face if it means I'll be retiring 10-15 years from now.

Thanks,

-MrMyMoney


Edit:

Also want to add that over the past 3 years I:

-Went from 100kg to 70kg.
-Learned to bike in Winter (Chinese people bike year round and don't afraid of anything).
-Learned to love lifting weights.
-Learned I love to read and listen to music as my fav pastimes outside training at the gym.
-Acquired a taste for frugality and now know being debt free is the greatest feeling in the world.
-Have a new life goal (early retirement). There is always a chance I might not make it, but what are the alternatives anyway?
-I got rid of my NEED for the latest gadgets and iPads. Human value is equal to your wealth (or how much you can display) in China and the way people look at you in awe and envy when you take out a gadget now makes my stomach turn.
« Last Edit: December 09, 2013, 10:06:25 PM by MrMyMoney »

Stache In Training

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Re: New Mustachian
« Reply #1 on: December 09, 2013, 10:10:07 PM »
First off, Congrats and Welcome!

I don't know too much on investing in canada, and their tax laws/implications.  However I'd look towards the canadian branch of Vanguard. Low fees =  :)

Also, one thing you may not have though of yet, is to advertise your ability to speak Chinese (Mandarin, or whatever).  I'm assuming you know it, since you've worked there for 3 years. (If not, work on it like crazy while you're still there.)  Even if you only have a basic understanding, businesses may keep you on in an on-call basis, and pay you to translate.  I'd look to businesses that deal with everyone, and/or are bigger ticket items.  So car dealerships, city hall, real estate offices, etc.  Of course this will only work if there are a lot of Chinese immigrants in your area.  But could be a great side job.

My other thought is, if you can live on so little, teaching still pays pretty well, and your FI won't really be delayed too much.  I'd rather work 15 years on a job I like, than 10-15 on a job I hate.  So while an oil rig may speed up FI, if you enjoy your job (i.e. teaching), I'd go with that.  Remember, if you can find a job you like, you'll never have to work a day in your life.

Hopefully others can give you a better answer to your actual question, but just thought I'd give my 2 cents for your situation.  Good Luck!

MrMyMoney

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Re: New Mustachian
« Reply #2 on: December 09, 2013, 10:26:48 PM »
Thanks for the quick reply,

First of, I can speak Chinese now, but it is on such a low-level that it wouldn't be good enough for work-related enterprises. Unfortunately. On the other hand, I'm from Quebec and a native French speaker so I guess there could be a market for that too.

I may be wrong, but the Canadian branch of vanguard won't let me sign up like the US one would. It seems you need to go through a  broker yourself in order to be eligible: https://www.vanguardcanada.ca/individual/home.htm

As for working on the oil rigs or in construction, I really don't see this as something I would hate. Before coming to China, I worked as a CNC operator/programmer on a Paolino Bacci 5-axis production center for 8 years (1 month short of 8 years tbh), 50 hours a week, on top of studying full time in college. I'd say 50% of my work was physically intensive and I miss it quite a bit. Also had to do some construction work with my father in the past on his homes and apt buildings and I enjoyed this. Also built my own full-size arcade cabinet 5 years ago and that project was awesome.On the other hand, I don't want to go back to the CNC job because it was paying too little relative to my skills ($15/hour after 8 years), but it was an amazing job to have and brag about as a student.

I'm currently alone although I do have short-term girlfriends now and then. I don't want kids to be honest, although I love children. I recently broke up with my girlfriend of 6 months because she insisted she needed iPads to be happy and that we HAD to raise our hypothetical child in China - an idea I am completely against. If I were to meet a like-minded woman I might change my tune.
« Last Edit: December 09, 2013, 10:33:43 PM by MrMyMoney »

Petari

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Re: New Mustachian
« Reply #3 on: December 11, 2013, 05:32:36 PM »
I recently set up a portfolio with Vanguard funds. I went through Questrade, a discount broker that seems to be pretty popular. They do not charge commissions on ETF purchases, which makes it easy and cheap to add money regularly. The account opening process was really straightforward: just had to fill out my information, then do an online banking bill payment to them with my initial funding and my account was activated.

finiki.org is a great resource for personal finance/investing information for Canadians.

MrMyMoney

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Re: New Mustachian
« Reply #4 on: December 11, 2013, 10:37:28 PM »
Thanks for the info.

shamelessHedon

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Re: New Mustachian
« Reply #5 on: December 12, 2013, 02:03:59 AM »
What and where is your Masters?  That's way cheaper than I am looking at. 

MrMyMoney

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Re: New Mustachian
« Reply #6 on: December 12, 2013, 05:00:31 AM »
My Masters is in education with the Open University.

I am looking at my bank statement right now and the first course cost me $3,311.51 CAN and the two other courses should cost about the same.

http://www3.open.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/education/index.htm

MrMyMoney

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Re: New Mustachian
« Reply #7 on: December 12, 2013, 09:07:53 AM »
Update (for those who care aha!):

I just gave my father a call and told him I'll be quitting both my Masters and education in general to get into a trade. He basically told me he's proud of me for having the courage to do a 180 and make a career switch and he would help me even if I told him I'd want to be a truck driver like him.

I may not be home for Christmas this year, but that will do.