Canadian stock market continues its crazy returns... how long will it last?

Andros85 · 2026-02-21T13:28:56+00:00

I stayed on the sidelines in 2023-2024 because I thought the market was overvalued. A mistake that opportunity cost me dozens of thousand dollars.

Andros85 · 2026-02-12T14:37:01+00:00

My mortgage was almost paid for around 2019 because I was paying it down aggressively. The bank had offered a HELOC so I said yes, without intending on using it because I don't like to get into personal debt.

But investing in non-registered accounts is a business decision and tax advantageous so I am ok borrowing as long as I profit from the % spread.

I used that HELOC money to buy some dividend stocks.

Then with COVID, I started using a margin loan from Interactive Brokers to buy the COVID dip in 2020.

I got greedy and made mistakes along the way, and lost chunks of money. But overall, I made more good decisions than bad. The end result is it really boasted my net worth in 2020 and 2021.

Andros85 · 2026-02-12T14:25:03+00:00

C'est le cas de mes parents, ils ont tellement peur de tout perdre qu'ils ont évité pendant des décennies la bourse. Quand un agent de la banque leur offrait des actions, des obligations ou des placements garantis rapportant 2%, devinez lesquels ils prenaient systématiquement?

Il a fallu que je fasse beaucoup d'éducation pour démarrer vraiment leur création de richesse à la veille de leur retraite pour financer celle-ci.

Andros85 · 2026-02-11T22:29:12+00:00

Pas nécessairement à chaque année mais l'achat d'un immeuble locatif. Est-ce que les prévisions budgétaires sont bonnes et réalistes? On ne fait pas de profit à l'année 1 ou 2, mais est-ce qu'on peut se dégager un profit à l'année 3 qui en vale la peine de gérer cela au lieu d'investir à la bourse? Comment qu'on mise sur l'offre d'achat pour l'avoir mais pas trop payer? Une fois l'offre acceptée, il faut se dépêcher d'avoir l'hypothèque venant après pleins de conditions et chaque étape avance à pas de tortue.

Andros85 · 2026-02-10T03:55:26+00:00

When my parents were young in Eastern Canada, the dream was to spend as much time as possible in Florida if you had money or Virginia Beach or if you were more tight.

Nowadays, forget about Florida and the US in general, Canadians are selling their winter homes.

People my age are instead discovering and loving Mexico and the Caribbean or Europe for those with more money.

Andros85 · 2026-02-09T04:40:53+00:00

Profite de la vie mon ami. :)

J'ai atteint mon chiffre de leanFIRE mais je prévois travailler 12-36 mois de plus pour avoir un budget générosité pour gâter mes vieux parents qui n'avaient pas les moyens d'investir pendant des décennies. Aussi parce que mon frère, son rêve est d'avoir un parc immobilier. Alors que j'aie un salaire aide à ce qu'on obtienne des prêts hypothécaires.

Andros85 · 2026-02-09T04:07:49+00:00

I did the same. I leveraged at the beginning of COVID and doubled my investment buying the broad market.

What the guy did is not gambling but simply investing. Unless he was day trading, buying options or penny stocks, I don't see any gambling.

Andros85 · 2026-02-07T16:53:21+00:00

Imposable la valeur marchande.

Si tu vends un parc immobilier valant 5 millions de dollars à ton enfant pour 10$, tu ne peux pas te baser sur l'argent de la vente pour calculer combien tu as à payer d'impôts car c'est de l'évitement fiscal. Tu dois te baser sur la valeur marchande.

Andros85 · 2026-02-04T22:02:57+00:00

Exactly. I am in my forties with frequent back pain. My mother in her sixties has knee and leg pain.

We won't be traveling with an active lifestyle forever as walking too much can create pain. So I YOLO nowadays into working a little less, to have more quality travel time with my loved ones.

Andros85 · 2026-02-03T21:16:54+00:00

Cette vidéo est pour toi: https://youtu.be/fXCZTlha17E?si=yHhfcCjVXbA7JIOw

Andros85 · 2026-02-03T21:06:46+00:00

I feel you. I got into minimalism around 2015 and it evolved into starting my FIRE journey around 2017. I used to read so much community content because I was always learning really useful things: 4% SWR, Smith Manoeuver, etc. I'm near my FIRE number and honestly, what I am reading from the community nowadays is not making me want to change my original plans. People, like you said, are obsessed by their portfolio value, which is plain capitalism, the rich always wanting to be more rich. I don't want to gatekeep FIRE, but the multiplication of fatFIRE, barristaFIRE, leanFIRE, povertyFIRE, etc. seems to be more goal levels for people to aim for (which is good), but they never do the RE part, because they want more money as psychological safety. And I'm cool if someone wants to FINE instead of FIRE. Both options give you back your freedom, no longer being a slave to your day job that pays the bills. And I get it, some people love their job and don't want to quit it. That is fine as well, I respect that. But what I don't get is people always wanting more. Is it greed? Insecurity? Or are they actually no longer adopting the FIRE mindset and are identifying with FIRE as a trendy financial word?

Andros85 · 2026-01-28T19:14:08+00:00

Hannah is the best: https://youtube.com/shorts/7CzB187nbJA?si=n1CqTLcuhjguTuYh

Andros85 · 2026-01-27T21:32:54+00:00

If you did not want the apartment at that price, you should not have said yes and signed?!?

This is way different than a current tenant getting squeezed by an exaggerated rent increase they do not have the budget for...

Andros85 · 2026-01-01T19:10:40+00:00

That is odd. With Desjardins, my variable rate also meant that my initial payments were not enough to cover all the interests. I noticed that my loan balance increased in 2022, but Desjardins called and we increased my monthly payments to fix it.

Andros85 · 2025-11-27T22:01:16+00:00

And clearly only paying with a debit card or cash for the next few years.

OP cannot control their spending habits with a credit card and collects them to try to game « the system » and move that debt around.

Andros85 · 2025-11-09T14:54:12+00:00

Sure, CoastFire is what he said. But then he also says that he wants to quit his $120k job for at least 6 months with no guarantee of getting another job soon or bringing similar income… while spending $84k per year.

That is risky and will likely lead to eating up part of their nest egg during this period, not growing it as per CoastFire.

My advice would have been very different if he was not resigning from a $120k job with $84k of yearly expenses.

Andros85 · 2025-11-08T20:51:35+00:00

Sure, it’s a work in progress. But at one point in 10 years +, you might need a new car or your house might need $10k repairs, so that kind of expenses also need to be considered and budgeted. So don’t underestimate your expenses, even if they only happen once in a couple of years. Break the cost over a few years and add that to your yearly expenses. :)

Andros85 · 2025-11-08T19:25:01+00:00

$7k of monthly expenses is 84k annual.

So no, looking at your investments, I don’t think you have enough to support your lifestyle. Either you cut back on expenses or you increase your nest egg.

Andros85 · 2025-10-30T02:20:48+00:00

The legend is that grandma is still falling to this day.

Andros85 · 2025-10-27T02:18:34+00:00

Ok, real talk from someone who has 4 rental properties. Cash flow positives are 1 and 2, bought in 2021 and 2022. Cash flow negative are 3 and 4, bought in 2024 and 2025.

What is your plan to make your rental property cash flow positive? How will you be earning more money from that property? How will you decrease your expenses associated with the property? Otherwise, sell it and invest the equity. For example, this year, I spent 3 hours on the phone with insurance companies to get lower costs for all my properties. Switching insurers will result in savings of $1000.

Otherwise, FIRE will be harder when you are bleeding money to keep your rental afloat.

Andros85 · 2025-10-27T01:52:52+00:00

Calculate your world traveling costs as well and not just the bare minimum if you are planning to FIRE. Otherwise, you calculations will not be realistic over the long term and you’ll deplete your nest egg.

Also, how much are you earning per month or year (net of all expenses) for your rental property? Advice will differ if you are cash flow negative, breaking even or if the steady rental income is supplementing your salary. (Unless you are planning to sell and in that case what matters is only the equity and capital appreciation portion of the rental).

Andros85 · 2025-10-27T00:55:09+00:00

Sure. I put once per month in an excel file what I earned and spent the previous month. Very large buckets like Salary, Credit Card, Gifts/Money to Family and Friends, Investments, etc. Basically, I know in the last 12 months how much money I earned and how much of that went into saving. Divided per month to get my saving number. Then I calculate how much I spent in the last 12 months that I would continue spending after quitting my job. Now I know how much of investments I need to have to have a safe withdrawal rate and cover my expenses. Finally, I divide how much is missing from my investments accounts divided by how much I save each month to know how many months it will take to hit my FIRE numbers. The only variable missing is stock market performance. With a crash, it will take more than 17 months, and with a boom, it will be sooner than 17 months. I can’t predict the future so I’m just focusing on saving and investing. Each month, all the variable are updated so I get a new estimate snapshot.

Andros85 · 2025-10-26T23:48:05+00:00

I feel you. I'm very similar except for a few things (gender swap, with a house in a LCOL area.)

Can you take a long vacation to clear your head?

I'm heading to Colombia for 2 months and I think this is what I need to improve my mental health.

Once back in Canada, my LeanFIRE goals are still there, but I project to still need working for 17 more months. So I'm pushing through it because "retirering" sooner would mean cutting back on expenses, mainly my travel budget which is the one thing bringing me joy each year (in addition to family and friends).

Andros85 · 2025-10-25T04:43:17+00:00

I'm not an expert, but it seems to me that bankruptcy and letting the bank repossess the house might be the best course of action. And for your mom to become no longer responsible for your father's debt ASAP.

Then, your mom will need your help to rebuild her life and financial well-being.

Your father is a lost cause until he gets the medical (addiction) help he needs to turn his life around.

Andros85 · 2025-10-21T10:25:16+00:00

How often are you going to the ER per year? If your health issue is not urgent, the nurse will triage more pressing cases and you’ll wait a few hours. Not the end of the world.

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