Long Term Financial Goals

Every year, I'm going to post a "financial update" to see how my long term financial goals are progressing and whether or not they need to be adjusted as things change in my life.

I was very fortunate to be raised in a very fiscally responsible household. My parents started from nothing and slowly worked their way up to that coveted middle class bracket. As a family, we never ate out much, didn't travel much but we had fun and did a ton of local trips.

Since the age of 13, I have always had at least 1 job. Most of the time I had 2 or 3 jobs and I saved as much as I could so that I could have a financial head start once I was done with college or university. It sucked missing parties or trips with friends and family but I was on a mission and I was driven to start off life on the right financial footing.

My initial goals were to:

1. Work in the financial sector after college or university

2. Buy a modest house with a 20% or more down payment in the Oakville/Burlington area.

3. Get married in my mid twenties to a loving a career driven woman.

4. Have 2 kids in my mid to late twenties

5. Create a side hustle that would eventually become a full fledged business.

6. Start investing as early as possible and let the compounding do its work.

7. Pay off the house between the ages of 35-40

8. Buy a cottage or start traveling around the world at the age of 40.

9. Semi retire at the age of 45 and run my business on a part time basis.

10. Both me and my wife fully retire at the age of 50.

How it's gone so far:

1. Got a job in the industrial sector because I graduated during the start of the financial crash. I made more money working in the industrial sector, it put on toll on my physical and mental health.

2. Bought a modest house with a 25% down payment right after school in Brantford. Brantford was the middle point for both my job and my fiance's job and she had family in Brantford. Plus housing in Brantford was half the price. Although I was sad that I wouldn't be living in the area I grew up in, it turned out to be a really good choice financially.

3. Katie graduated during one of the most challenging times for teaching. It took over 6+ years before she could get a permanent job in the Brantford area so we put children on hold till our late 20's. I kind of regret not having children earlier but I'm just glad we have 2 healthy kids that we get to watch grow.

4. I started investing early but made some really risky bets that didn't pay off and we ultimately lost that initial investment amount. Had I played it safe and bought pipeline, banking and energy stocks, we'd probably have about $500k in investments by now.

5. After our second child was born, I started a festival side hustle that took a lot of time, work and money to get off the ground. Most of our savings and a chunk of our HELOC went into the business to grow it. It was a big risk but it was my best opportunity to have my own business that I could scale once established. Also, the business would only run for 4 months of the year giving me ample time to travel and spend time with the kids.

6. Semi Retired at the age of 39 because the business took off after COVID.

7. Our House will be paid off in 2026, 3-4 years past my initial goal but still happy with the result.

8. I traveled for 8 weeks with the family last year and will be traveling for 10+ weeks a year going forward. Katie doesn't want a cottage and a cottage no longer make sense financially with how high the prices have gone. I had an opportunity to buy a cottage near Bobcaygeon years ago but I'm glad I didn't. Had I bought the cottage, I probably wouldn't have had the capital to start the business.

9. I'll be fully retired at the age of 45 with maybe a part time gig to keep myself busy but Katie doesn't want to retire till 55+. She really loves her job teaching art and she has the summers off so we can still travel plenty while she's working. She's been my #1 supporter for the business and I love her to death so I'm not going to pressure her to retire early if she doesn't want to.

Post Semi-Retirement Goals:

1. Once the house is paid off, max out our TFSA accounts and keep topping them up.

2. Keep top up the kids RRSP accounts.

3. Buy a second home with some land and a large shop for the business.

4. Buy a condo on the water near pier 8 in Hamilton. That will eventually become our retirement home as we travel the world.

5. Max out the kids TFSA accounts as soon as they hit 18.

6. Travel as much as possible and spend as much time with the family out of the house as possible.

7. No fancy cars, don't buy a bigger house, keep spending in check and take advantage of our Amex Points when traveling.

Creating Generational Wealth for our Children

Katie and I are very fortunate to be in our current financial situation. Our house will be paid off soon, the business has really taken off, Katie will have a pretty good pension + CPP + OAP, I have 2 smaller pensions + the business dividend + some CPP + OAP and we will most likely have a decent list of assets attached to the business once Katie retires.

Besides travel, Katie and I really don't spend much on anything. We don't buy fancy cars, we don't drink or smoke, we do eat out frequently but that's slowly changing and Katie is really good at finding great deals on clothing, etc at liquidation/factory outlets.

We do worry about the financial climate for our children and for that reason we've come up with a plan so that they can have a sound financial future if we start investing for them now.

For the average person in Canada, the TFSA has the most potential to provide great tax free returns. Our plan is to max out all 4 accounts and have them compound for 40+ years so that way the kids have a nest egg when they get old if there isn't one available to them. If they manage to do well for themselves, they would simply pass on that wealth to the future generations of our family. Getting that TFSA started for the kids when they reach 18 is really a no brainier if you have the financial means to support it.