Hi folks!
Long time follower of the blog, new poster. Over the last few years, I worked hard to get my spending down and paid my debts. More recently, I took a job in a remote area, selling my overvalued Toronto condo for a tidy profit, purchasing a real nice actual house in the middle of nowhere (more or less).
I must say that an increased income (which still isn't huge) went a long way to making savings possible. It is tough to build wealth on $40k/yr as a single person in a major urban centre, even with frugality. And I suppose a good deal of moral fortitude is what made the move possible - it wasn't an easy thing to do on my own.
Anyway, I have found myself for the first time, with a sizeable chunk of investable cash, even after making a large mortgage pre-payment and moving 1700 km.
I'm 38 now, and while I would've loved to start earlier, it's great to have this cash to jump-start things, and now be able to make regular contributions. I've also held for the last 8 years (and continue to hold in my new position), a defined benefit pension plan, which helps my situation a lot. Right now I'm being conservative and aiming for retirement in 12 years, at 50, but if my career continues to grow as I hope, maybe I will be able to push that down.
I'm now getting started with index investing and have a few questions, so will be checking out the "Investor Alley" forum next!
Happy savings :)
FFinC