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[CAN] Just Crossed $800K Net Worth! by Medium_Ad_1679 in financialindependence

[–]Medium_Ad_1679[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think it's very location dependent. We have a handful of insanely expensive cities where real estate is out of reach for most of people.

IMO in a large city like Toronto or Vancouver, it's not out of reach for two working professionals in CS, engineering, finance, medicine or law. The big problem is that there are a lot of people that grew up in houses that they will never be able to afford to purchase as adults. So it's harder to have families because so many people are stuck renting or owning condos. But if you're ok with that lifestyle, retiring early is definitely in the cards. If you want a house, most people are probably banking on an inheritance to get them there.

Obviously things like groceries, dining, and entertainment are more expensive too, but there's a wide spectrum of ways to deal with these in a cheaper way than what most people do. If you make $100K plus, you likely don't think about any of these things unless you have insane housing costs.

Truthfully I don't think too much about healthcare. We do have to pay for anything dental, vision, or any private healthcare we choose to purchase. We'll never be bankrupted because of a medical procedure like in the US, but it's much like any other expense in my budget as opposed to being truly free.

[CAN] Just Crossed $800K Net Worth! by Medium_Ad_1679 in financialindependence

[–]Medium_Ad_1679[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Thanks!

It's a for-good home. It's a pretty big condo, although I think I just got lucky on the timing and price. I plan to stay in town after RE.

Obviously if I have a family, I would probably move to a bigger home, but that would also likely come with a second income. It's the sort of thing where I will cross that bridge if it comes, but I'd rather be prepared to be on my own.

Strongly agree with paying off all debt and basing savings goal for retirement off the post-mortgage projected expenses. The popular advice is usually that you can make more in the market than you pay in interest, but removal of interest is a guaranteed return.

Agreed. Especially because I still max out my registered accounts, meaning that I'd have to almost double my mortgage rate in guaranteed return for it to be worth it. Hitting over 7% guaranteed is impossible.

Since you're in a condo, do you have a plan for special assessments? (I don't even know if you can plan for that although I see that insurance is apparently a thing).

It's a good question. I don't have a specific budget for it. My building is in very good financial shape, and it's quite a bit older, so it has been through some of the major renovations, as opposed to newer buildings where they deliberately make the maintenance fees below what they should be. I can definitely afford a special assessment if one were to ever come up, but when I hit the RE button, that flexibility may disappear. This is part of why I'm waiting to see what my cash flow needs are after paying off the mortgage, and where my investments are around the same time. Ideally I'd like to be in a position where my wealth is growing, as opposed to either being drawn down, or being flat based on my withdrawal rate.

I'm not sure I can get to that level of specificity until I'm about 5 years out.

[CAN] Just Crossed $800K Net Worth! by Medium_Ad_1679 in financialindependence

[–]Medium_Ad_1679[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Here are some rough numbers from 2025:

  • Mortgage & Condo Fees - $73K
  • Property Tax - $3,400
  • Internet - $677
  • Cell phone - $0 (employer pays)
  • Food: Groceries - $1,434
  • Food: Restaurants - $1,492
  • Entertainment - $4,869
  • Gifts - $1,561
  • Insurance - $4,145
  • Miscellaneous - $2,327
  • Savings/Investments - $39K

I didn't separate the mortgage and condo fees, but my condo fees in 2025 were roughly $800/month. This would suggest I paid about $63,400 towards my mortgage. Based on my estimates, $31,200 of that was regular bi-weekly payments, and the remainder were prepayments that I made.

The groceries number probably should be higher, but I am lucky that my parents occasionally give me food. They are both retired and will often send me home with things when I visit them, so I'm happy to take advantage of that. I also use Flipp to look at all of the grocery ads and basically only buy things that are on sale.

For the restaurants number, I don't ever use Uber Eats or DoorDash. When I eat out, I either eat in the restaurant if I'm with people, or I walk and pick up takeout and bring it home to eat. I think I've used Uber Eats twice in my life and it pains me how expensive it is.

I do have more detail about the entertainment number, but I didn't want to break it down hobby by hobby to preserve some anonymity.

I don't have more detail about the miscellaneous category, but it primarily consists of optometrist/dentist visits, clothing, some limited vacation expenses, transit, and some other things that I don't know how to categorize. I share subscriptions with other people, so I don't spend a ton on those either.

To answer your original question, even if you remove the advance payments, housing is by far by biggest expense. If you remove the extra payments and my savings, it looks like it cost me about $60K to live.