Fun things have died again!
No labyrinths and no travel this quarter, or much of anything really, other than a whole lot of video games and reading.
Net Worth: $555,943
We haven’t been up to much of anything, but financially things are going very well. Our net worth has increased by $51,762 since our last update in October, and we managed to cross the $550,000 barrier right as 2020 ended.
Our year to date spending is $1,431, compared to $2,170 on this day in 2020. The difference is due to the fact that we were just wrapping up our trip to New York in January 2020, which unbeknownst to us would be our last trip overseas for a very long time. We are tentatively hoping to travel somewhere warm at the end of this year, but most likely any travel we do for 2021 will be within Canada, if it happens at all.
If we retired today, our monthly income from investments would be $1,853, which is getting pretty good.
Incoming Assets 
Hi Steph and Cel!
I was reading you since 2019. I met you from anywhere from Mr Money Moustache page/forum or maybe from your interview on Youtube… I really don´t remember.
But I have to thank you for telling your story, it is really uplifting!
I have been saving some money the last year and learning about investment, and since my first deposit in may 2020, I got a 12/14% of rentability in return! (yeah, I know that from march, 2020 was a really good year, financially speaking).
In which asset do you mainly invest? In index funds?
I’m writing you from the south of Spain, from Sevilla, and I have to tell you that with this month amount of 1850 € (more or less, 1500 €), you two can live here with a great quality of life 🙂
(You can check the differences between Vancouver and Sevilla here:
https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?country1=Spain&country2=Canada&city1=Seville+%28Sevilla%29&city2=Vancouver&tracking=getDispatchComparison
and you can see how is like 1,5x times cheaper Sevilla!).
Have a good day!
Alejandro
Yes, we invest mainly in index funds. Sevilla looks really cool – we’ll have to check it out once we can travel again.
It is very inspiring to see your journey! Thank you for sharing it with us! It helps me on my own journey to know there are others thinking about it as well. 🙂
I have a couple of questions and I would highly appreciate your thoughts on them, either here or as a post on your future blogs.
Do you have a FIRE number in mind after which you plan to “retire” and just do other things? Or are you planning to just document the journey and have no intention of making any changes to your work after you reach a certain goal?
Also, I am assuming $1853 is a pre-tax number. It doesn’t account for the capital gains that the investments have made on which you need to pay taxes (assuming not all of that is in the US equivalent of a Roth IRA, where you pay taxes upfront). Is there some way quick and easy way in which you calculate your post-tax number roughly?
Thank you!
We plan to pull the plug somewhere around 750K, though the exact timing will depend more on what’s going on in our lives at the time than any specific number.
Canadian tax law is fairly kind with investments, and we expect to be paying very little taxes, if any, in retirement.
Thanks, Steph and Cel!
Ahh! That is great! Good for you!
I appreciate your response! Rooting for you’ll to get there ASAP! Good luck!
We have the same number ($750k). I am expecting to hit this number towards the end of 2021 assuming that the market doesn’t decline.
My plan is to move to Colombia and my cost of living will be about $1k a month which gives me a very small withdrawal rate early on in my FI journey.
What are you thoughts on TFSA’s? I have one and I’m doing really well, even now during the pandemic. Do you invest in those?
Yes, we have TFSAs and have index funds invested in them.
Hi Steph, would you consider sharing your muffin recipe please? Thank you for all that you both do!
No problem!
Mix these in Bowl 1:
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup non-dairy milk
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup applesauce
1 tsp vanilla
Mix these in Bowl 2:
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
Mix the bowls, and add whatever filling you want (blueberries, raisins, chocolate chips, etc). Pour into liners or a greased muffin tin, bake for 18 minutes at 400. Makes 12 smaller muffins.
Thank you so much Steph! Sorry for the late reply!
I love reading about your frugal stories and lifestyle. Even though I am 58 and will not be retiring early I have used lots of your tips in my daily life. If possible could you send me the province article your first as I can’t find it on the internet. Thank you so much and please continue to keep writing I love it
Here is the link: https://theprovince.com/news/metro%20vancouver/young-and-living-cheaply-in-vancouver-bring-on-freedom-35