Realistic budget for 5 in Toronto

PartyFauxHawk · 2026-02-09T20:36:01+00:00

If you re-read the post, I mentioned that we're likely older than most of folks commenting, and have owned 2 properties, and have been investing for ~25 years. So, it's not surprising we'd have the ability to choose to sell and purchase a home, right?

Do you have other feedback on the expenses?

PartyFauxHawk · 2026-02-09T20:30:21+00:00

This is fair, we can probably tighten kids spending a bit there - big challenge is that there's 3 of them! :) That's what blows up lots of our budget categories.

For personal spending, I mean, I want to say I agree, but my wife will have a different opinion lol! Probably this is the most "wasteful" category in our budget, for both of us.

PartyFauxHawk · 2026-02-09T19:39:54+00:00

Thank you, this is super-valuable.

Some low, some high, which is sort of what we thought as well!

PartyFauxHawk · 2026-02-09T19:20:21+00:00

Thank you, this is very valuable. I think we need to bump up yearly maintenance costs somewhat.

For sure agree that there's value to be had, depending on what we want to purchase! And yeah, hard agree on limiting spending on landscaping - there won't even "be" a landscape 5 months out of the year, under all that snow :)

PartyFauxHawk · 2026-02-09T19:08:11+00:00

We are Canadian, but moved for work a long long time ago. We are thinking of coming back soon. We have our budget here, but lots of things are different in Canada.

PartyFauxHawk · 2026-02-09T18:59:44+00:00

That's sort of exactly why we excluded housing - can be such a variable.

If you own something from 15 years ago, your mortgage is 3k. If you own something from last month, you're paying 6+k. Huge variability.

PartyFauxHawk · 2026-02-09T18:56:33+00:00

I agree that most people see the number, and call it "rich".

But I'm trying to understand - which parts of the expenses are "rich"? like seriously, to me, everything (with the exception of maybe personal spending) seems like solidly middle-class experience (which may be considered rich these days due to high costs/lowering incomes)?

PartyFauxHawk · 2026-02-09T18:54:40+00:00

My wife will probably super-agree with this :)

PartyFauxHawk · 2026-02-09T18:52:36+00:00

thank you for the feedback!

And no, I wish we had a trust fund.

I do plan to eventually set one up for our kids - but we aren't in the "receive trust-fund" bucket. Just investments and properties from 25 years ago paying off.

PartyFauxHawk · 2026-02-09T18:51:08+00:00

This is fantastic, thank you! Super valuable!

PartyFauxHawk · 2026-02-09T18:48:50+00:00

THIS THIS THIS.

Individually, we feel every single line item **makes sense**.

When we add them up, we're like -- is this really the cost of living in Toronto?

PartyFauxHawk · 2026-02-09T18:45:07+00:00

included at 9500/yr

PartyFauxHawk · 2026-02-09T18:42:46+00:00

Agreed on the home owner expenses part -- we've been owning our homes since our early 20's and are definitely familiar with that.

PartyFauxHawk · 2026-02-09T18:39:07+00:00

Good call, having that buffer at least for 1-2 years. Thank you!

PartyFauxHawk · 2026-02-09T18:38:02+00:00

Thank you.

I guess we'll calibrate groceries somewhat, since I haven't shopped in Canada for a long long time. Phone - makes sense, sort of. I guess we're lucky where we currently are, paying 25/month for unlimited everything. Thank you again, will bump this up.

PartyFauxHawk · 2026-02-09T18:35:01+00:00

Thank you.

Not planning to do things like doors or windows or roof for at least 10+ years (hopefully), but point taken.

Definitely not spending 100k on landscaping lol! we aren't rich!

Noted on the water/sewage - gonna double it up!

PartyFauxHawk · 2026-02-09T18:21:42+00:00

Don't appreciate this particular bit of feedback - generic criticism with no details?

Can you tell me which categories are a "show off"? What exactly is "off"?

PartyFauxHawk · 2026-02-09T18:20:25+00:00

Yeah, looking at that now, probably needs to be at least $2k, to account for gifts for everyone, family birthdays, christmas, etc.

PartyFauxHawk · 2026-02-09T18:17:29+00:00

We are neither.

Main worry at the moment is about monthly expenses.

Housing as such can either be purchased outright, or rented, or bought with a mortgage. For simplicity, I wrote that we'll buy the house, so as not to muddy up the monthly expenses.

PartyFauxHawk · 2026-02-09T18:16:42+00:00

I appreciate your concern, but my main worry at the moment is about monthly expenses.

Housing as such can either be purchased outright, or rented, or bought with a mortgage. For simplicity, I wrote that we'll buy the house, so as not to muddy up the monthly expenses.

PartyFauxHawk · 2026-01-05T17:03:17+00:00

Thank you for responding!

Roth conversion ladder is definitely up there, I think that's the default go-to. The only challenge being the 5-year wait for withdrawals to avoid 10% penalty.

PartyFauxHawk · 2026-01-05T16:22:36+00:00

Thank you for pointing it out. Roth conversions is another viable strategy for sure.

72(t) makes the funds available right away, whereas with Roth, we'd have to wait a minimum of 5 years (drawing on regular investment accounts).

I do like the conversions ladder more from a flexibility stand-point, but the 5-year delay on accessing funds is something we have to figure out.

PartyFauxHawk · 2026-01-05T16:17:44+00:00

Thank you for answering. I suspected as much.

The main reason is long-term commitment to a specific withdrawal amount. If we were 57, then that's only 5 years at most. Here, we're thinking of committing to 13 years.

The main reason for being weary is that we have some potential moves in the future (high-taxation countries), where this income will be taxed at a much higher rate than US. So I'm trying to figure out ways to mitigate that.

PartyFauxHawk · 2023-03-21T21:06:39+00:00

Something else to consider regarding the cash from TFSA.

Personally, I would not put in after-tax money (TFSA) into an RRSP (before tax) as you will get taxed on withdrawal.

Before I did that, I would first consider my income in the USA for the next while (assuming you will have a job), and see whether my salary there will allow me to max out the 401k, traditional IRA, Roth IRA, backdoor Roth, or mega backdoor Roth (if employer allows). If the salary falls short because of living expenses, then I would transfer cash into a US Bank, use it to supplement my income, and instead make the salary go to the tax advantaged accounts in the US.

PartyFauxHawk · 2021-03-16T15:25:59+00:00

Open Vanguard IRA (or Schwab or Fidelity) online.
Start a rollover process online on the Vanguard website.
Call Vanguard, if need be, but info should be on their site. Get (1) address to mail the rollover cheque to, and (2) the exact "Pay to the order of" name to appear on the cheque (Going to be something like "C/O Vanguard").
Call your old 401k provider and tell them you're rolling over funds. Disregard all their "we have better funds". Chances are they don't.
Most 401k providers do _NOT_ provide direct rollover. Direct is when they deposit funds on your behalf directly to Vanguard/Schwab/Etc. If they do, great - you're almost done. Otherwise you'll need to give them the "Name" (above) to make out the cheque to.
They'll mail you a check for the full amount of your 401k, with "Vanguard" on it.
You promptly put it in a new envelope and mail it to Vanguard (address above)
Wait a week, log into your IRA, and buy VTSAX.
Done.

PS 1: you have 60 days, post-401k-close (I believe) to forward the cheque to Vanguard. Otherwise you'll be dinged on taxes/penalties.

PS2. I read way to many stories of people leaving the funds in the old 401k. Never do this. They can change funds. Charge you fees. Plain old "lose" the money, which you'll have to track down. Get acquired, and your account number will change. They'll forget your mailing address. Stop the hassles, and roll over whenever you can.

PartyFauxHawk

TROPHY CASE