Welcome to our blog!
We are a couple in our thirties, living in Vancouver, Canada. Inspired by some of our favourite money bloggers (Mr. Money Mustache, Early Retirement Extreme) we decided to chronicle our own journey towards early retirement. Our goal is to be financially independent, meaning earning enough money through passive index investing to easily cover all expenses, by age 35.
Some background about us:
Cel is a 32-year-old freelance editor, with a degree in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia, and a background in grocery cashiering. Cel is responsible for most of the grocery purchases (after being given a list by Stephanie), managing insurance claims/reimbursement, and any kind of buying and selling of big-ticket items (including Craigslist and eBay re-selling of used goods). His hobbies include video games, biking, reading, and arguing with strangers on the internet.
Stephanie is a 33-year-old receptionist for a large company, with little in the way of formal credentials, but ample life experience – she has worked on a farm, a hospital kitchen, pharmaceutical factory, a warehouse, and a collections agency. Stephanie is responsible for keeping the household running smoothly, including all cooking and baking, inventory supply, vacation planning, keeping our wardrobes in order, and budget/finance tracking on Mint.com. Her hobbies include hiking, trying new recipes, sewing, reading, ballroom dance, and ballet.
The blog will cover a variety of topics related to our early retirement journey, such as budgeting and personal finance, general lifestyle design to maximize efficiency and frugality, meal and recipe planning, bragging about our international vacations, and anything else we feel like throwing in.
If you want to drop us a line, you can email us at incoming.assets@gmail.com
If you’re interested in potentially hiring Cel to edit something, his editing website is here: http://www.celestianrince.com
Please note: our blog is really just our personal journal and account of our lives, and as such, we’re not interested in guest posts, promotions, or anything along those lines. Please do not contact us about making guest posts, affiliate links, or anything commercial.
We hope you enjoy following our financial journey as much as we will enjoy experiencing it!
Incoming Assets 
I’m not sure I understand how you grow your net worth. Aside from saving over 50% of your combined net salary, how is your net worth growing and how will it continue to grow in order to sustain you after early retirement?
Hi Shane, our money that we saved is used for investment. We invest most of our money in index funds that can reasonably be expected to achieve 3 to 4% average annual return. So if we save up $1 million and then retire, we could reasonably expect 30-40 thousand a year simply from investment income, which is more than our current spending levels.
Hey, guys! I am so happy that I found your blog. I am moving to Vancouver in November and I am researching for tips to save money while living there. I am following you and I want to thank you for sharing all this amazing job with us. I am beginning to invest and have completely changed my mindset about money and finances. Hope we can meet someday in Vancouver! See you.
Hey guys, I saw you on “Exploring Alternatives.” You have some interesting points, but some of your math seems a little vague. Do you guys make $80k a year before or after taxes? If you divide $400K saved by 7.5 years, it comes out to $53k per year saved. If the $80K that you referenced is pre-tax, then it would be impossible to save that much each year as you would not have any money to live on? Canada has high income tax rates. If your net or after-tax income is in fact $80k per year, then your combined pre-tax annual income would have to be well over $100k per year. Is that even possible for a receptionist and a freelance online editor?
The other thing to consider here is stock market volatility. Any Index fund that you invest in will be tied to the stock market. In the crash of 2008/2009, the DOW went from 14,000 to 6,500. If you had had $400k invested in index funds then, your money would have shrunk to less than $200k. So far, you are lucky in the fact that you have been investing in an up-market, sooner than later we will be back in a recessionary period conjoined with a down-market.
I’m 52 years old and have seen my financial fortunes go up and down with the economic trends and real estate markets. In the end it has worked out for me, but it was not a continuously upward trend line as the personal finance graph represented on this blog shows.
Peace out.
hear hear. wish they answered this important question.
Somehow I must have missed this one. The answers: we don’t explicitly post our income due to my employer’s preference, but give enough information that someone with at least grade 8 math skills could figure it out pretty easily from our annual financial reports or quarterly updates. We have never ever made even close to 100K, because like you said, receptionist and freelance editor, so if your math is leading you to that conclusion, then you’re bad at math.
Stock market volatility is obviously factored in to our FIRE plans, and we are very much enjoying investing like crazy right now during the current small dip.
Just found your site. Looks great. What ages are you in 2019?
I dont see a blog date or i missed it:)
We’re 30 and 32 right now.
I only just saw your story.
Why do you continue to live in Vancouver? I am from the lower mainland and it seems like you could expedite this process greatly if you moved in land or moved north – cheaper living expenses – cheaper property tax. Moving sucks, especially away from family and friends. And even if you only rent then this will obviously be cheaper too by moving away. Your jobs can be done where you move too as well it would seem. It would greatly expedite the retirement process and sustainability of that once it comes to fruition.
We met here, have family and friends here, and Stephanie still has a job here. Our expenses are already pretty low so there’s no pressing reason to move while we are still working.
Do you all plan to have kids? If so, how will it change your plans?
No we don’t.
Hi I recently saw your video on youtube! I’m happy for you guys 🙂
One suggestion if this helps, you can try growing your own food like veggies(kale, potato), herbs(basil) etc.
Hi we saw ur video yesterday , was totally inspired. Me & my wife also plan to do that/been doing that. What I would suggest is for you to think about a offshore retirement plan As Tim Ferris says ” Earn in DOllars nd spend in Rupeese”. Since you like international travel a lot may be a good idea to test out countries like Thailand, Vietnam, Sri Lanka.
Great job guys!
It would be a really good income if you had a youtube, instagram… channel with your life style, specially if you move to a island and make a tiny house 😛 all this journey is just awesome.
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Do you still live in government subsidized housing? Do you think it’s right to brag about how much your net worth is while simultaneously taking handouts from the government allowing you to live so cheaply?
Our building is a mix of subsidized and non-subsidized housing. Our unit is not a subsidized unit and requires a minimum income just to be eligible to live in it.
Hi, you guys really inspire me. Finally people with normal, non-high paying jobs, going this FIRE route. You are lucky that you discovered this way of life while you were still young. When I was young I had no financial literacy whatsoever and wasted so much money on useless things . When you start early enough it is doable to live a good life, even with average or below average paying jobs.
There is this Minimalism Youtuber Ashlynne Eaton who married at 19 and her and her husband are also in a financially good position, since they learned from finance coach Dave Ramsey how to save and invest early on in their marriage. So important not to fall into the consumer trap. I wish you all the best for your endeavors.
Rebecca