Money, investments, and other financial stuff

[Johnnymac]

This was something that we discussed from time to time on the old autos.ca website.  As I was digging into our investments and doing a checkup on where we currently are in our savings goal, I figured I'd share some of the good stuff and see how others are doing.

So a number of years ago (Feb. 2013 to be exact), I started my investment journey.  At this time we had some money saved and my work was doing a "retirement allowance" payout, this was basically a bonus cheque that you got at the end of your work that equaled 1 week of pay per year you worked maxed out at 25 years.  I chose to take the payout rather than wait for the end (as the number of years was never going to increase as they suspended the program), as I figured my salary likely wouldn't keep pace to the returns that I could get in "the market". 

So I dumped this money into mostly mutual funds in a RRSP/RSP account at the bank.  I chose a bunch of the mutual funds and had a somewhat small amount put into some managed investments.  The plan was to just dump this money in there, not withdraw any money until retirement, but maybe do some buying and selling along the way and making adjustments.  So the initial amount I put in was $10,114.37 which today sits at $29,333.39, no more money was put into the account but a few things have been sold and bought during that time.  In just under 13 years, it has made 190%!  The last statement for end of December stated an annual return of 8.21% which is above my initial targets and expectations. 

This is a big year for us as our mortgage will be fully paid off at the end of November, that's 17 years from the date we opened the mortgage.  It probably would have been paid off a few years ago but we did take out around $30K a number of years ago to fund some home renovations.  We currently pay $1,050 biweekly simply for the mortgage (not factoring in the property tax), the plan is when the house is paid off we take $800 biweekly that we were paying on the mortgage and split that between our two TFSA's to max those out, so roughly $20K per year.  The other $250 biweekly that we will have access to will likely be split between a number of things like house renovations, travel, etc.

As both my wife and I work for government entities, we both have defined benefit pensions.  I'm treating these pensions as our "low risk" portion of our investment portfolio, I'd also lump CPP as "low risk" as well.  Thus we can focus the vast majority of our investments into higher risk stuff and still have a very solid safety net.

I'm turning 45 next month and my wife turned 45 this month.  I'm thinking at a minimum I'll be working until I'm 55, but as my wife loves her job and has no hobbies I'm thinking she'll probably work into her 60's.  It helps that she actually makes a bit more than me currently (has been for about 5-6 years).

How are people doing in their goals for retirement and other financial goals along the way and what are your plans?

[Blueprint]

We paid off the house after 18 years, and enjoying the freedom of extra money by boosting our TFSA's and RRSP's. We got bundled in a "prime client", private advisor service at our bank thanks to the in-laws being there, and without lifting a finger on anything the portfolio made 19% in 2024, net  Being closer to retirement than you, we gradually un-spread our finances and are now at a single bank and results speak for themselves. I will be eligible to our retirement program in two months, but with 7 year's worth of penalties, so I will hold on for a few more years before going 100% on what is now "The Hobby" as my wife calls it 

[Johnnymac]

We paid off the house after 18 years, and enjoying the freedom of extra money by boosting our TFSA's and RRSP's. We got bundled in a "prime client", private advisor service at our bank thanks to the in-laws being there, and without lifting a finger on anything the portfolio made 19% in 2024, net  Being closer to retirement than you, we gradually un-spread our finances and are now at a single bank and results speak for themselves. I will be eligible to our retirement program in two months, but with 7 year's worth of penalties, so I will hold on for a few more years before going 100% on what is now "The Hobby" as my wife calls it 

Nice, our pensions are pretty heavily penalized if you take it before 65, to the tune of 5% per year penalty.  You can retire and start pulling from it at 55...but at a 50% reduction.  So the plan for us is to build a "bridge" to sustain us between when we stop working to the point of getting not being penalized for our pension.

Once our mortgage is paid off, one of us could stop working or lose our job and our lifestyle wouldn't be impacted.  Living well within your means for a long period of time can really set you up later in life and at the same time build the tools one needs to be financially responsible in all stages of life.

Do you have an age you are targeting for retirement, for you and your wife? 

Does your work offer a program where you can reduce your hours when approaching retirement?  Ours does, you can reduce down to 50% time but it needs to be approved by management and starts the clock on retiring within 5 years.  The best part of the program is you can continue to pay into the pension plan as if you were working full time and the time counts full.  I probably will attempt to do this at the end, figure it'll make the transition to retirement easier, both mentally and financially.

[Blueprint]

We paid off the house after 18 years, and enjoying the freedom of extra money by boosting our TFSA's and RRSP's. We got bundled in a "prime client", private advisor service at our bank thanks to the in-laws being there, and without lifting a finger on anything the portfolio made 19% in 2024, net  Being closer to retirement than you, we gradually un-spread our finances and are now at a single bank and results speak for themselves. I will be eligible to our retirement program in two months, but with 7 year's worth of penalties, so I will hold on for a few more years before going 100% on what is now "The Hobby" as my wife calls it 

Nice, our pensions are pretty heavily penalized if you take it before 65, to the tune of 5% per year penalty.  You can retire and start pulling from it at 55...but at a 50% reduction.  So the plan for us is to build a "bridge" to sustain us between when we stop working to the point of getting not being penalized for our pension.

Once our mortgage is paid off, one of us could stop working or lose our job and our lifestyle wouldn't be impacted.  Living well within your means for a long period of time can really set you up later in life and at the same time build the tools one needs to be financially responsible in all stages of life.

Do you have an age you are targeting for retirement, for you and your wife? 

Does your work offer a program where you can reduce your hours when approaching retirement?  Ours does, you can reduce down to 50% time but it needs to be approved by management and starts the clock on retiring within 5 years.  The best part of the program is you can continue to pay into the pension plan as if you were working full time and the time counts full.  I probably will attempt to do this at the end, figure it'll make the transition to retirement easier, both mentally and financially.

I'm public sector, eligible for the retirement program with the "80 factor" (age + years on the job), with a 3% penalty per year prior to 30 years of service or age 65 - both coincide in my case. Pulling the plug this spring means a 21% penalty, costly and a bit early. Target is to clock in an extra 4 years, retire at 62 with 9% penalty. Of course our work contract has been expired for 2 years now, and the new bosses would like to cut 1,000 positions in their 1st mandate (we're a small city on staff, not a freak out number to cut) so we may get early retirement / progressive deals such as yours. Either we're in or out, no in between. Wife will stop in a year or two. No pension plan, but tough physical work in the health sector taking its toll.

[Blizzard]

I work in the private sector, so I knew the day I started my career that I'd be basically on my own retirement-wise. My employer contributes 2% of my base salary to an RRSP, and matches a additional 2% if I contribute as well. So right now that RRSP is being funded by employer at 4% of my salary, plus 2% by myself. The 2% is given to everyone, and the matching amount ranges from 0-5% depending on seniority and level.

Outside of that, my TFSA is maxed so I'm contributing bi-weekly to a non-registered account. On January 2 this year, I transferred $7,000 from my non-registered to fill up my TFSA. I don't have an RRSP outside of my work account, since I'd prefer to save the tax deduction benefit to when I'm in a higher tax bracket. Eventually, if/when I'm in a higher tax bracket and want to reduce my taxes owing, I'll make a large lump sum contribution to my RRSP that year and generate a huge refund to either invest or take into cash flows.

Apart from the work RRSP, I'm fully self-managed and overall, my TFSA and non-registered accounts are split 50/50 between ETFs and stocks. On the ETF side I hold XEQT and VFV, and for stocks I have largely Canadian banks (RY, BNS, TD) along with a bit of telecom, American tech stocks, SHOP, and a bitcoin ETF. The strategy has been working pretty well for me I'd say since in 2025 my returns were 20% and 12% respectively in 2025, and my TFSA has returned 12.2% on average since I started investing in 2017, with very little active management on my end (mainly buy and hold). It's pretty high risk in general since I'm 100% in stocks, but since I'm young and have no plans to sell anything, I'm not worried.

My job/field is pretty demanding both in terms of time and mental energy, and I don't see myself wanting to do this forever, so I'd love to have the option to retire around 55-57. Realistically I'll probably work until 60-62, but I'd like to have the option by 55 where if I'm completely fed up, I can just say screw it and leave. I have many hobbies that I don't pursue enough, so I'm not worried about being bored in retirement. Right now I'd say I'm on track for that goal, as long as I maintain my contributions and get a few more raises that will allow me to further increase them, but I'm only 29, so a lot can happen in between.

The one thing that might throw a wrench into these plans is buying a house in the next 1-2 years. Houses in my desired area are pretty expensive, but I've been paying down the mortgage on my condo aggressively (contributing extra straight to the principal biweekly), so right now my equity is sitting around 60% of market value. I'm hoping when we're ready to buy a house, that equity will cover my portion of the down payment, and I won't have to draw on my investments. I haven't decided if I'm going to sell the condo or remortgage it and have a tenant.

My partner is still in school, and when she graduates she'll be self-employed (after maybe 2-3 years in a hospital setting), meaning she'll be 100% on her own for retirement. The one benefit with her doctorate program is that she has access to a crazy amount of interest-free student loans and burseries. Since she started 3 years ago she's taken out about $200k of student loans and invested the money, and she's earned about $50k from those investments so far which is wild. They're interest-free until 6 months after graduation, so the plan is to sell investments to pay back the loans at that point. If the stock market happens to crash at that time, she would just start making payments using income from her job. Her parents help her out a bit, tuition is cheap, and she's always worked full-time in the summer and part-time during the year, so luckily she hasn't needed to use any of these loans.

That's actually my one financial regret - I did just a bachelor's degree but I wish I had taken out every interest-free student loan I could find and invested the money until the interest-free period ended.

[Johnnymac]

We paid off the house after 18 years, and enjoying the freedom of extra money by boosting our TFSA's and RRSP's. We got bundled in a "prime client", private advisor service at our bank thanks to the in-laws being there, and without lifting a finger on anything the portfolio made 19% in 2024, net  Being closer to retirement than you, we gradually un-spread our finances and are now at a single bank and results speak for themselves. I will be eligible to our retirement program in two months, but with 7 year's worth of penalties, so I will hold on for a few more years before going 100% on what is now "The Hobby" as my wife calls it 

Nice, our pensions are pretty heavily penalized if you take it before 65, to the tune of 5% per year penalty.  You can retire and start pulling from it at 55...but at a 50% reduction.  So the plan for us is to build a "bridge" to sustain us between when we stop working to the point of getting not being penalized for our pension.

Once our mortgage is paid off, one of us could stop working or lose our job and our lifestyle wouldn't be impacted.  Living well within your means for a long period of time can really set you up later in life and at the same time build the tools one needs to be financially responsible in all stages of life.

Do you have an age you are targeting for retirement, for you and your wife? 

Does your work offer a program where you can reduce your hours when approaching retirement?  Ours does, you can reduce down to 50% time but it needs to be approved by management and starts the clock on retiring within 5 years.  The best part of the program is you can continue to pay into the pension plan as if you were working full time and the time counts full.  I probably will attempt to do this at the end, figure it'll make the transition to retirement easier, both mentally and financially.

I'm public sector, eligible for the retirement program with the "80 factor" (age + years on the job), with a 3% penalty per year prior to 30 years of service or age 65 - both coincide in my case. Pulling the plug this spring means a 21% penalty, costly and a bit early. Target is to clock in an extra 4 years, retire at 62 with 9% penalty. Of course our work contract has been expired for 2 years now, and the new bosses would like to cut 1,000 positions in their 1st mandate (we're a small city on staff, not a freak out number to cut) so we may get early retirement / progressive deals such as yours. Either we're in or out, no in between. Wife will stop in a year or two. No pension plan, but tough physical work in the health sector taking its toll.

Well hopefully there is some sort of package offered that reduces the penalty and allows you to retire a bit earlier than you may have expected.  The one good thing about our work is that it's all office so not exactly laborious, maybe a bit mind numbing and frustrating at times, but not physically hard.  So as long as the desire is there, no reason either of us couldn't work indefinitely if we so choose.

[Johnnymac]

I work in the private sector, so I knew the day I started my career that I'd be basically on my own retirement-wise. My employer contributes 2% of my base salary to an RRSP, and matches a additional 2% if I contribute as well. So right now that RRSP is being funded by employer at 4% of my salary, plus 2% by myself. The 2% is given to everyone, and the matching amount ranges from 0-5% depending on seniority and level.

Outside of that, my TFSA is maxed so I'm contributing bi-weekly to a non-registered account. On January 2 this year, I transferred $7,000 from my non-registered to fill up my TFSA. I don't have an RRSP outside of my work account, since I'd prefer to save the tax deduction benefit to when I'm in a higher tax bracket. Eventually, if/when I'm in a higher tax bracket and want to reduce my taxes owing, I'll make a large lump sum contribution to my RRSP that year and generate a huge refund to either invest or take into cash flows.

Apart from the work RRSP, I'm fully self-managed and overall, my TFSA and non-registered accounts are split 50/50 between ETFs and stocks. On the ETF side I hold XEQT and VFV, and for stocks I have largely Canadian banks (RY, BNS, TD) along with a bit of telecom, American tech stocks, SHOP, and a bitcoin ETF. The strategy has been working pretty well for me I'd say since in 2025 my returns were 20% and 12% respectively in 2025, and my TFSA has returned 12.2% on average since I started investing in 2017, with very little active management on my end (mainly buy and hold). It's pretty high risk in general since I'm 100% in stocks, but since I'm young and have no plans to sell anything, I'm not worried.

My job/field is pretty demanding both in terms of time and mental energy, and I don't see myself wanting to do this forever, so I'd love to have the option to retire around 55-57. Realistically I'll probably work until 60-62, but I'd like to have the option by 55 where if I'm completely fed up, I can just say screw it and leave. I have many hobbies that I don't pursue enough, so I'm not worried about being bored in retirement. Right now I'd say I'm on track for that goal, as long as I maintain my contributions and get a few more raises that will allow me to further increase them, but I'm only 29, so a lot can happen in between.

The one thing that might throw a wrench into these plans is buying a house in the next 1-2 years. Houses in my desired area are pretty expensive, but I've been paying down the mortgage on my condo aggressively (contributing extra straight to the principal biweekly), so right now my equity is sitting around 60% of market value. I'm hoping when we're ready to buy a house, that equity will cover my portion of the down payment, and I won't have to draw on my investments. I haven't decided if I'm going to sell the condo or remortgage it and have a tenant.

My partner is still in school, and when she graduates she'll be self-employed (after maybe 2-3 years in a hospital setting), meaning she'll be 100% on her own for retirement. The one benefit with her doctorate program is that she has access to a crazy amount of interest-free student loans and burseries. Since she started 3 years ago she's taken out about $200k of student loans and invested the money, and she's earned about $50k from those investments so far which is wild. They're interest-free until 6 months after graduation, so the plan is to sell investments to pay back the loans at that point. If the stock market happens to crash at that time, she would just start making payments using income from her job. Her parents help her out a bit, tuition is cheap, and she's always worked full-time in the summer and part-time during the year, so luckily she hasn't needed to use any of these loans.

That's actually my one financial regret - I did just a bachelor's degree but I wish I had taken out every interest-free student loan I could find and invested the money until the interest-free period ended.

Let me just start out by saying how impressed I am from what you have done and where you are headed.  The number of 20 year old's with their shit together as well as you and your partner is extremely low.  A lot of smart moves and it sounds like your future plans align with having a solid financial future.

I wouldn't feel too much regret about not taking out the loans and investing, that's so uncommon for people in school that you shouldn't feel bad that you didn't think of it at the time.  I didn't do that either, if it makes you feel any better.

I LOVE the idea of just maxing out your TFSA's every year to make up the bulk of your retirement income.  Seeing as you started so young, there isn't any reason why you couldn't have north of $1M in your TFSA come retirement time, which should be able to provide you with $50K tax free income without touching the principle.  Currently Old Age Security doesn't take into account TFSA amounts, so theoretically you could be getting a higher payment from that as you'd appear to be low income.

With regards to getting into a higher tax bracket and dumping a large amount into an RRSP/RSP I'd tell you that I'd only put as much in as what you earn in the higher tax bracket.  The issue with RRSP/RSP is the lack of freedom with them, when you withdraw you are taxed, you have to have all your RRSP/RSP transferred to a RIF or taken out by age 72, after which you are forced to take a minimum amount out of your RIF account.  I much prefer the TFSA idea.

The other thing that could be applicable to you and your partner is this new enhanced Canada Pension Plan, which could make up a higher portion of your retirement income than people currently enjoy.  I know me and my wife have maxed both out the last couple of years, but seeing as half our careers are over we won't get the full benefit of the enhanced version of CPP. 

Keep up the good work bud and you won't have any trouble to be in your mid-50's and able to pull the plug when you so choose.

[Blizzard]

I work in the private sector, so I knew the day I started my career that I'd be basically on my own retirement-wise. My employer contributes 2% of my base salary to an RRSP, and matches a additional 2% if I contribute as well. So right now that RRSP is being funded by employer at 4% of my salary, plus 2% by myself. The 2% is given to everyone, and the matching amount ranges from 0-5% depending on seniority and level.

Outside of that, my TFSA is maxed so I'm contributing bi-weekly to a non-registered account. On January 2 this year, I transferred $7,000 from my non-registered to fill up my TFSA. I don't have an RRSP outside of my work account, since I'd prefer to save the tax deduction benefit to when I'm in a higher tax bracket. Eventually, if/when I'm in a higher tax bracket and want to reduce my taxes owing, I'll make a large lump sum contribution to my RRSP that year and generate a huge refund to either invest or take into cash flows.

Apart from the work RRSP, I'm fully self-managed and overall, my TFSA and non-registered accounts are split 50/50 between ETFs and stocks. On the ETF side I hold XEQT and VFV, and for stocks I have largely Canadian banks (RY, BNS, TD) along with a bit of telecom, American tech stocks, SHOP, and a bitcoin ETF. The strategy has been working pretty well for me I'd say since in 2025 my returns were 20% and 12% respectively in 2025, and my TFSA has returned 12.2% on average since I started investing in 2017, with very little active management on my end (mainly buy and hold). It's pretty high risk in general since I'm 100% in stocks, but since I'm young and have no plans to sell anything, I'm not worried.

My job/field is pretty demanding both in terms of time and mental energy, and I don't see myself wanting to do this forever, so I'd love to have the option to retire around 55-57. Realistically I'll probably work until 60-62, but I'd like to have the option by 55 where if I'm completely fed up, I can just say screw it and leave. I have many hobbies that I don't pursue enough, so I'm not worried about being bored in retirement. Right now I'd say I'm on track for that goal, as long as I maintain my contributions and get a few more raises that will allow me to further increase them, but I'm only 29, so a lot can happen in between.

The one thing that might throw a wrench into these plans is buying a house in the next 1-2 years. Houses in my desired area are pretty expensive, but I've been paying down the mortgage on my condo aggressively (contributing extra straight to the principal biweekly), so right now my equity is sitting around 60% of market value. I'm hoping when we're ready to buy a house, that equity will cover my portion of the down payment, and I won't have to draw on my investments. I haven't decided if I'm going to sell the condo or remortgage it and have a tenant.

My partner is still in school, and when she graduates she'll be self-employed (after maybe 2-3 years in a hospital setting), meaning she'll be 100% on her own for retirement. The one benefit with her doctorate program is that she has access to a crazy amount of interest-free student loans and burseries. Since she started 3 years ago she's taken out about $200k of student loans and invested the money, and she's earned about $50k from those investments so far which is wild. They're interest-free until 6 months after graduation, so the plan is to sell investments to pay back the loans at that point. If the stock market happens to crash at that time, she would just start making payments using income from her job. Her parents help her out a bit, tuition is cheap, and she's always worked full-time in the summer and part-time during the year, so luckily she hasn't needed to use any of these loans.

That's actually my one financial regret - I did just a bachelor's degree but I wish I had taken out every interest-free student loan I could find and invested the money until the interest-free period ended.

Let me just start out by saying how impressed I am from what you have done and where you are headed.  The number of 20 year old's with their shit together as well as you and your partner is extremely low.  A lot of smart moves and it sounds like your future plans align with having a solid financial future.

I wouldn't feel too much regret about not taking out the loans and investing, that's so uncommon for people in school that you shouldn't feel bad that you didn't think of it at the time.  I didn't do that either, if it makes you feel any better.

I LOVE the idea of just maxing out your TFSA's every year to make up the bulk of your retirement income.  Seeing as you started so young, there isn't any reason why you couldn't have north of $1M in your TFSA come retirement time, which should be able to provide you with $50K tax free income without touching the principle.  Currently Old Age Security doesn't take into account TFSA amounts, so theoretically you could be getting a higher payment from that as you'd appear to be low income.

With regards to getting into a higher tax bracket and dumping a large amount into an RRSP/RSP I'd tell you that I'd only put as much in as what you earn in the higher tax bracket.  The issue with RRSP/RSP is the lack of freedom with them, when you withdraw you are taxed, you have to have all your RRSP/RSP transferred to a RIF or taken out by age 72, after which you are forced to take a minimum amount out of your RIF account.  I much prefer the TFSA idea.

The other thing that could be applicable to you and your partner is this new enhanced Canada Pension Plan, which could make up a higher portion of your retirement income than people currently enjoy.  I know me and my wife have maxed both out the last couple of years, but seeing as half our careers are over we won't get the full benefit of the enhanced version of CPP. 

Keep up the good work bud and you won't have any trouble to be in your mid-50's and able to pull the plug when you so choose.

I've always wondered how the whole TFSA thing is going to shake down 20-30 years from now. I feel like they were originally designed as a supplement to help people save, but in 20-30 years there will be an entire generation of people with $1M+ TFSAs and living off that as retirement income, paying no income taxes. I'm not sure the government will like that, nor is it sustainable.

With RRSP/RIFs, the government gets a fair amount of tax revenue since the entire amount withdrawn is taxable, not just the income/gains, and in a RIF you're forced to take out a certain amount every year, which is basically forced taxes.

Although I guess the loss of tax revenue from people drawing on TFSAs during retirement will be compensated by less people contributing to RRSPs and having higher taxable income because of it...

[Johnnymac]

From a government perspective, TFSA is getting income taxes today at full price but getting zero capital gains/dividend/interest tax later on, RRSP/RSP/RIF is delaying taxes till much later when taxes could be less, but you'd get the taxes on any gains/dividends/interest from those investments. 

As government often think short term in a lot of things (as the political cycle is every 4 years or so) I'm sure most governments prefer getting the income taxes at full price now, give up the future income taxes from those investments, rather than waiting to someday get taxes paid from RRSP/RSP.

Also, the number of people who will max out their TFSA, be disciplined enough not take money out of it, and allow it to get to a point where it's your main source of income in retirement is probably even smaller than the number of people who max out their RRSP room yearly.  Heck I haven't really heard companies matching TFSA contributions, I'm sure there are some out there offering it but it's certainly not the most common why of giving employees a retirement package.

I believe that TFSA's became a thing toward the later part of my 20's, so had I gone that route from day one, I would have been a part of that $1M TFSA income fund for retirement.  Crazy to think that someone my age will have that sorted for their retirement.

[Blueprint]

We paid off the house after 18 years, and enjoying the freedom of extra money by boosting our TFSA's and RRSP's. We got bundled in a "prime client", private advisor service at our bank thanks to the in-laws being there, and without lifting a finger on anything the portfolio made 19% in 2024, net  Being closer to retirement than you, we gradually un-spread our finances and are now at a single bank and results speak for themselves. I will be eligible to our retirement program in two months, but with 7 year's worth of penalties, so I will hold on for a few more years before going 100% on what is now "The Hobby" as my wife calls it 

Nice, our pensions are pretty heavily penalized if you take it before 65, to the tune of 5% per year penalty.  You can retire and start pulling from it at 55...but at a 50% reduction.  So the plan for us is to build a "bridge" to sustain us between when we stop working to the point of getting not being penalized for our pension.

Once our mortgage is paid off, one of us could stop working or lose our job and our lifestyle wouldn't be impacted.  Living well within your means for a long period of time can really set you up later in life and at the same time build the tools one needs to be financially responsible in all stages of life.

Do you have an age you are targeting for retirement, for you and your wife? 

Does your work offer a program where you can reduce your hours when approaching retirement?  Ours does, you can reduce down to 50% time but it needs to be approved by management and starts the clock on retiring within 5 years.  The best part of the program is you can continue to pay into the pension plan as if you were working full time and the time counts full.  I probably will attempt to do this at the end, figure it'll make the transition to retirement easier, both mentally and financially.

I'm public sector, eligible for the retirement program with the "80 factor" (age + years on the job), with a 3% penalty per year prior to 30 years of service or age 65 - both coincide in my case. Pulling the plug this spring means a 21% penalty, costly and a bit early. Target is to clock in an extra 4 years, retire at 62 with 9% penalty. Of course our work contract has been expired for 2 years now, and the new bosses would like to cut 1,000 positions in their 1st mandate (we're a small city on staff, not a freak out number to cut) so we may get early retirement / progressive deals such as yours. Either we're in or out, no in between. Wife will stop in a year or two. No pension plan, but tough physical work in the health sector taking its toll.

Well hopefully there is some sort of package offered that reduces the penalty and allows you to retire a bit earlier than you may have expected.  The one good thing about our work is that it's all office so not exactly laborious, maybe a bit mind numbing and frustrating at times, but not physically hard.  So as long as the desire is there, no reason either of us couldn't work indefinitely if we so choose.

Thankfully the previous administration got flushed out by voters last fall. There was so much political interference that many of us felt like we were working for a cult we are not part of. Lots of party members invaded the workforce for a left-wing version of KGB office antics. I lost my project management gig to a political staffer, since the powers that be had no interest in my project, despite partners having built their $40M share, still sitting useless outside and exposed to the elements. New admin is putting that project back on track next year. Hoping for a purge of sorts as it's pretty clear a lot of anti-car, anti-burb, anti-business colleagues/cult members don't like the "new ways". Had the other gang been re-elected, I don't think my mental health would have been safe.

[Oliver]

Also, the number of people who will max out their TFSA, be disciplined enough not take money out of it, and allow it to get to a point where it's your main source of income in retirement is probably even smaller than the number of people who max out their RRSP room yearly.  Heck I haven't really heard companies matching TFSA contributions, I'm sure there are some out there offering it but it's certainly not the most common why of giving employees a retirement package.

This made me curious so I looked it up. It seems it does exist and often the match isn't actually contributed to the TFSA, which I guess makes sense since it makes it easier to avoid over contributions and such.

[Firm]

The TFSA is a fantastic tool, and if someone was to start early on, maxing out the fairly modest contribution each year, and investing that principle reasonably well, it's could easily be well into the 6-figures at this point and if you're turning a 10-15% return (which is where most of my stuff has performed over the last decade or so), that's a lot of tax-free passive income. I had to liquidate mine when I moved because the US tax treaty doesn't recognize it's status. Course, whatever you withdraw you can put back in, so if I ever did move back I'd retain my contribution room, which is another nice feature of it.

The US has other investment tools that are similar, ROTH IRA, HSA, etc, but nothing quite as flexible. That said, "tax free" is less valuable here because the tax rate is so much lower. I just filed yesterday, and because I live in a state with no state income tax, plus have 3 dependents, medical deductions, etc, once I get my refund paid my total income tax rate for 2025 would be about 9%, on an income that's deep 6-figures. Crazy by comparison to what I was paying in Ontario.

I did keep all our Canadian RRSPs, and they had a good year, 14-15% range, US 401K did about 17%, so I am feeling pretty good about both of those. My company here has a Stock Purchase plan that I've been taking advantage of too....Essentially, once per quarter you can buy shares at a 15% discount off of the lowest closing price of the quarter.....so with the fairly volatile quarters that we've had, it's been a really lucrative way to pull some extra returns. There are limits to how much you can buy based on income, level, etc, but I take full advantage of what I can.

I've got about a year, maybe 2, before we're fully done with the immigration stuff. No mortgage, no debt, so I've been hoarding cash, or semi-liquid investments until then. Once that's done though, and I've dumped some cash on building my dream shop, I want to look into buying some more physical investments.....but I can't really settle on what; land, rental properties (local, beach?), small business (auto repair? dive bar? gas station?)....iunno, I am kinda all over the map. Whatever it is, it would need to be something that I could run <10/hrs week as a side-hustle type thing that hopefully I could hand off to the kids once they're old enough.

[Johnnymac]

The TFSA is a fantastic tool, and if someone was to start early on, maxing out the fairly modest contribution each year, and investing that principle reasonably well, it's could easily be well into the 6-figures at this point and if you're turning a 10-15% return (which is where most of my stuff has performed over the last decade or so), that's a lot of tax-free passive income. I had to liquidate mine when I moved because the US tax treaty doesn't recognize it's status. Course, whatever you withdraw you can put back in, so if I ever did move back I'd retain my contribution room, which is another nice feature of it.

The US has other investment tools that are similar, ROTH IRA, HSA, etc, but nothing quite as flexible. That said, "tax free" is less valuable here because the tax rate is so much lower. I just filed yesterday, and because I live in a state with no state income tax, plus have 3 dependents, medical deductions, etc, once I get my refund paid my total income tax rate for 2025 would be about 9%, on an income that's deep 6-figures. Crazy by comparison to what I was paying in Ontario.

I did keep all our Canadian RRSPs, and they had a good year, 14-15% range, US 401K did about 17%, so I am feeling pretty good about both of those. My company here has a Stock Purchase plan that I've been taking advantage of too....Essentially, once per quarter you can buy shares at a 15% discount off of the lowest closing price of the quarter.....so with the fairly volatile quarters that we've had, it's been a really lucrative way to pull some extra returns. There are limits to how much you can buy based on income, level, etc, but I take full advantage of what I can.

I've got about a year, maybe 2, before we're fully done with the immigration stuff. No mortgage, no debt, so I've been hoarding cash, or semi-liquid investments until then. Once that's done though, and I've dumped some cash on building my dream shop, I want to look into buying some more physical investments.....but I can't really settle on what; land, rental properties (local, beach?), small business (auto repair? dive bar? gas station?)....iunno, I am kinda all over the map. Whatever it is, it would need to be something that I could run <10/hrs week as a side-hustle type thing that hopefully I could hand off to the kids once they're old enough.

I love the stock option idea that some companies offer.  My grand father worked for the telephone company in our province called NBTEL and during his time he took full advantage of the stock buying, this was back when one middle class income (he was a lineman) was enough to have a house in town, a cottage on a lake, a hobby farm, plus support a wife and three daughters.  His company got bought out after he retired by Bell/Aliant, which converted the stock to those, my grand mother got quarterly dividends that were a decent portion of her income, plus the military pension from fighting in WW2.

You definitely have a great grasp on saving and planning for the future.  That income tax rate is a dream compared to what us Canadians have to endure.  I think I'm like most people when it comes to taxes, I don't mind paying them if I feel like they are being spent wisely and in ways that improve my life, but that isn't really the case in Canada anymore.  I swear our taxes go up and the services and quality of it are going down.

I'm not sure I personally would be investing in something that takes any of my personal time.  We have so little free time I don't want to give it up just to get some extra money.  Now if you were talking about something like flipping cars, going to auctions, etc, I could get behind that as it's somewhat enjoyable and can be done with the fam jam in tow along the way, so you'd still be spending quality time with them.  But having tenants, extra property to look after, etc, hard pass.

[Johnnymac]

Also, the number of people who will max out their TFSA, be disciplined enough not take money out of it, and allow it to get to a point where it's your main source of income in retirement is probably even smaller than the number of people who max out their RRSP room yearly.  Heck I haven't really heard companies matching TFSA contributions, I'm sure there are some out there offering it but it's certainly not the most common why of giving employees a retirement package.

This made me curious so I looked it up. It seems it does exist and often the match isn't actually contributed to the TFSA, which I guess makes sense since it makes it easier to avoid over contributions and such.

I think it would be quite innovative if a company was able to maybe to develop a pension centered around the TFSA system.  The issue with it, outside of possible regulatory stuff, is that people would be less likely to sign on as it would lower their income now a lot more than RRSP/RSP/Pension contributions, as those are all tax deductible. 

[Oliver]

My company here has a Stock Purchase plan that I've been taking advantage of too....Essentially, once per quarter you can buy shares at a 15% discount off of the lowest closing price of the quarter.....so with the fairly volatile quarters that we've had, it's been a really lucrative way to pull some extra returns. There are limits to how much you can buy based on income, level, etc, but I take full advantage of what I can.

Yeah, the lookback period is key. We had a similar setup when I worked for Salesforce.