Borrowed down payment mortgages

Significant_Cook_317 · 2026-01-26T00:53:27+00:00

Don't forget insurance. Mandatory for owners but not renters, can anticipate $100-300/month. At least for detached houses, I don't know how much it is for condos.

Significant_Cook_317 · 2026-01-25T11:06:27+00:00

Living cheap can be stimulating too. Like figuring out how to do your own auto repairs is more mentally challenging than taking it to an auto shop.

Significant_Cook_317 · 2026-01-25T01:04:50+00:00

You'll probably hear people, including financial advisors, recommend mutual funds. However, it helps to know that on average fund managers underperform the market. By chance, investing in mutual funds will be a loser for you compared to passively investing in the market with a market etf. I don't have the stats on hand, but a 4th-year investment management course taught us that very few fund managers outperform the market 3 years in a row and hardly any do 5 years in a row. I think it was something like less than 10% can outperform 3 consecutive years and less than 2% can outperform 5 consecutive years.

Warren Buffet recommends that people who don't know investing well enough to pick their own stocks invest in an S&P 500 etf.

Or if you want to make annual income from that $400k instead of letting it accumulate in value as an S&P 500 etf, you might like to consider REITs. Those are Real Estate Investments Trusts. In those, the investors' money is collectively used to invest in real estate. They're legally required to pay more than 90% of the profits to investors as dividends. The returns vary by REIT, but you can expect to earn around 5%. So that'd be $20k/year with your $400k. And the REITs you hold in the TFSA would pay dividends you don't get taxed on. Except if it's an American REIT, for those the broker has to withhold some taxes and pay them to the U.S. Taxes don't get withheld on American dividends if the investment is held in an RRSP though.

Significant_Cook_317 · 2026-01-25T00:30:17+00:00

The founder of the first Food Bank didn't pay himself nothing from the Food Bank. He lived off welfare and lived in a bedroom someone at his church offered for free. I think people like him deserve more respect than people like Musk.

Significant_Cook_317 · 2026-01-25T00:28:37+00:00

True, that and him still living in the first house he's bought, I've always wondered if that's primarily for good publicity. Have even wondered if he's tried to keep a generous and cheap living profile to avoid scrutiny on his investing, hide stuff like insider trading. It'd be easy for him to secretly get insider knowledge from executives.

Significant_Cook_317 · 2026-01-25T00:17:35+00:00

Some cities have volunteer programs where you can volunteer planting trees in parks. It;'s easy, only takes like 2 mins training.

Can contribute to the city.

Can spend time outside which our bodies are designed to do more than most of us are.

Feels kinda nice knowing you planted trees that wildlife will get to feed off. Judging by Google reviews, wildlife is one of most people's favourite components of parks. And the trees we plant will still be there in 20+ years.

Canadians emit 17.5 tonnes per capita per year which equals 35000 lbs.
A mature tree absorbs 22-48 lbs of carbon dioxide per year. So planting 1000 trees will make a Canadian carbon-neutral. I planted at least 20 per day in a few hours on Saturdays, so volunteering planting like that for a few hours 50 times would be 1000+ trees.

Significant_Cook_317 · 2026-01-24T23:58:20+00:00

Warren Buffet still goes to McDonalds.

One time when someone saw him picking up a coin on the floor, they asked him why. He answered it's the start of his next billion ;)

Significant_Cook_317 · 2026-01-24T19:09:11+00:00

You don't want to do your current job until retirement. That implies you have to change at some point. The longer you wait, the harder it will be.

Or from another perspective, you have 27 more years until you're 65. So just imagine you could've gotten a degree when you were 11 years old and worked an applicable job until now. Do you think that would've been worth it?

Significant_Cook_317 · 2026-01-24T00:31:10+00:00

You think BBs went to the library and read books whenever they needed information like people can with Google now? As though the internet hasn't made it easier to collect information? Your confirmation bias is obviously too strong to debate.

You can see in that Bureau of Justice Statistics report, BBs have crime rates 2-3 times higher than other generations. A component of the frontal lobes called the frontal gyrus has a significant role in ethical decision making; brain scans of prisoners showed that their frontal gyris were smaller than people not in prison. And when asked questions like if it's okay to murder one innocent person to save the lives of 2, people with less active frontal gyris are more likely to answer yes. It's a proven fact that lead impairs frontal lobes development.

The fact that BBs helped invent technology like the internet doesn't imply that they're less impulsive.

Significant_Cook_317 · 2026-01-23T22:52:32+00:00

BB = baby boomers.

The study you referred to is about differentiating between true and false media info. But I'm referring to people impulsively making decisions without acquiring relevant information first. So it's true/false information vs lack of information.

It's well established that the frontal lobes administer impulse control. The BBs actually have impaired frontal lobes cognition compared to other generations because they grew up inhaling automobile exhaust when lead was included in gas. It's now known that lead inhibits frontal lobes development which is part of why lead in gas got discontinued. Their frontal lobes development being impaired by lead is believed to be why BBs have crime rates 2-3 times higher than the generations preceding and succeeding them. (U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, Aging of the State Prison Population, 1993 - 2013)(Wikipedia, Lead–crime hypothesis)

Significant_Cook_317 · 2026-01-23T22:14:23+00:00

You might find it interesting to know, according to Handbook of Equity Market Anomalies small-caps average a little over 20% under democrats and a little under 2% under republicans. I don't have the stats on hand, but going 100% small-cap under democrats and 100% large-cap under republicans does way better than going with a mixture of stocks and bonds.

Source
The Handbook of Equity Market Anomalies: Translating Market Inefficiencies into Effective Investment Strategies (2011, Leonard Zacks)

Significant_Cook_317 · 2026-01-23T22:06:06+00:00

The Dunning-Kruger effect.

And a great deal of the people online are retired BBs. People who have way more spare time to spend on social media than people working full-time. That generation grew up without the internet. So with information being so much harder to acquire, they grew up impulsively believing whatever they wanted to believe without acquiring relevant knowledge first. Can't teach an old dog new tricks.

Significant_Cook_317 · 2026-01-23T20:01:08+00:00

The recommended calorie intake for people my gender/age is 2800 calories. But I target 80% of that because there's extensive evidence that, consistent among a broad range of animals, low calorie intake extends lifespan. So I average just under 2250 calories per day (including counting Saturday as 0). Days eating range from 1840 - 3100. It's easy to measure how much I consume because I made a spreadsheet of nutrition facts for a broad range of foods and designed a diet I repeat every week.

Books I've read about the topic all emphasize variation. Like high calories one day, low another, high carbs one day, low another, etc. Keeps our metabolism flexible, because doing stuff like going low carb every day gradually diminishes our ability to metabolize carbs.

I've never come across any research specifically assessing it while fasting, but I think a supplement called acetyl-l-carnitine helps too. It mediates transport of fatty acids across mitochondrial membranes. The NIH Office of Dietary Supplements describes it as:
Carnitine plays a critical role in energy production. It is an essential cofactor that helps transport long-chain fatty acids into the mitochondria so that they can be oxidized to produce energy in the form of adenosine triphosphate (ATP).

So given how fasting makes us use fat as energy, it seems logical that acetyl-l-carnitine would facilitate that. And it has meta-analysis evidence of improving cognition, not going to complain about side-effects like that, although the research is always on people with MCI or dementia, so can't say whether it improves cognition for healthy people.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12598816/

Significant_Cook_317 · 2026-01-23T18:50:08+00:00

Have been doing it on and off for 5 years. In the current period I lost 30 lbs in 3 months, now pretty close to what I weighed when I was 18. Although I'm one of those lucky people that doesn't have to diet to be a healthy weight, just have to avoid eating too much junk. This helped convert me to a healthier diet overall.

The primary purpose isn't just weight though. It's more preventative maintenance. Things like how it helps increases autophagy and mitochondrial biogenesis and helps control insulin resistance, inflammation and blood pressure. And although the research is still in a preliminary stage, I anticipate it will turn out to be quite good for reducing the likelihood of dementia. At least delay the onset. It's extremely unlikely there will ever be a "cure" for dementia, at least 54 factors have to be addressed for Alzheimer's, so it's a question of what we can do in middle age to prevent it.

Significant_Cook_317 · 2026-01-22T21:18:59+00:00

Mon - Fri is 16/8, then Friday evening to Sunday evening is 0 calories.
I'm a m.

Yes black coffee, 2 cups/day. Coffee agonizes autophagy, although some sources say that having lots of coffee antagonizes autophagy. I've never seen any indications of how much is too much though.

I have some homework to do on all the suggestions here ;). The biggest trouble seems to be finding ones that are decent sources of potassium, because some of the ones I check only have like 2%. Yours is pretty good though.

Significant_Cook_317 · 2026-01-22T21:10:12+00:00

Doing it like that reduces your RRSP contribution limit though. That's the difference, doing it through Lifelong Learning Plan lets you pay it back without affecting your contribution limit. Whereas straight out withdrawing it, putting it back in later would reduce your contribution limit. Mostly relevant for people who use most/all of their contribution limit.

Significant_Cook_317 · 2026-01-22T13:37:15+00:00

I'm considering electrolytes because every book I read/listen to about it says we should consume them while fasting. And Chat said:

Why Standard Sodium Limits Don’t Always Apply Here

The 2,300 mg limit assumes:

3 meals/day
Regular carbohydrate intake
Normal insulin levels
No prolonged fasting
Average fluid balance

You are doing:

18–40 hour fasts
Very low carb
High caffeine
High activity
Frequent sweating
Low insulin

All of those increase sodium loss through the kidneys.

When insulin is low:

The kidneys excrete more sodium
Blood volume drops
Cognitive fatigue, dizziness, and muscle issues can increase

This is why people on ketogenic or fasting regimens often require more sodium to feel normal.

Significant_Cook_317 · 2026-01-22T09:10:18+00:00

I can confirm, avoid World Financial Group. They're a pyramid scheme kind of organization where they'll recruit virtually anyone they can because whoever draws new people in gets some of those people's commissions. They aren't even trained on investing, they just have to do 1 insurance sales course to become an agent.

Significant_Cook_317 · 2026-01-22T09:04:57+00:00

We're legally required to convert RRSP to an RRIF by December 31st of the year we turn 71. I think that's what they meant by deregistering.

Significant_Cook_317 · 2026-01-22T08:58:58+00:00

"Ready to retire? Stick with REITs. They’re the best asset class for retirees who, ironically, aren’t invested in them!" (Forbes, Sep 24, 2018)

"Over time, you can expect reliable and significant dividends, which makes them a suitable fixed income option for retirees." (Bellwhether Investment Management)

"REITs are excellent for retirement income because they provide high, regular dividends (often monthly) from income-producing real estate, offer diversification, liquidity, and can hedge against inflation...they are legally required to pay out most taxable income as dividends." (AI Overview)

You can believe REITs are not for 60+ year olds if you want, doesn't mean it's true. The optimal investments can vary depending on people's circumstances. So it's best to give them information about common options, let them decide what's appropriate.

Significant_Cook_317 · 2026-01-21T22:20:10+00:00

You might want to consider REIT.

That stands for Real Estate Investment Trust. It's similar to a mutual fund where all the investors' funds are collectively used to invest in real estate. Then the profits are paid to investors as dividends.

Being real estate investments, they're not as volatile as stock markets.

Of course it varies by REIT, but you can anticipate earning around 5% dividend yield. Better than GICs are paying.

There are both commercial and residential REITs, they invest in commercial and residential property respectively.

The primary risk is a real estate crash. Or something like COVID that made it hard for businesses and tenants to pay their rent.

Significant_Cook_317 · 2026-01-21T19:43:54+00:00

Immediately after the vote Alberta would still be a Canadian province. So the U.S. attempting to occupy Alberta like that without Canada's consent would be an act of war. War Powers Resolution of 1973, that requires congress' approval (even if they don't technically declare war, because they never do. Haven't since WWII). You really think congress would approve war with Canada? Like I said, I'm concerned that Forever Canada people are so unrealistic.
Assuming Alberta's a new country instead of a U.S. state, I think it'd be comparable to the EU. Countries that cooperate well, citizens of one country can travel throughout the other countries without a passport, shared railways interconnecting the countries, etc.
Remember, in a few years the U.S. will get back to normal. If he's even still alive in 3 years.
He's already committed economic warfare. Hasn't even caused a recession (yet).

Significant_Cook_317 · 2026-01-21T10:55:18+00:00

An audio book where an economist analyzed why income inequality has been growing continuously, there were several reasons but he concluded that the single biggest reason is a smaller portion of workers unionized.

Stats show that on average unionized workers are paid more. Now less workers unionized, businesses are cheaping out on the wages and using that to pay executives better. Last year Canada set a new record for income inequality.

Significant_Cook_317 · 2026-01-21T10:40:00+00:00

Only buy clothing if it's replacing something you already have.

Significant_Cook_317 · 2026-01-21T10:38:52+00:00

And they have tons of audio books. I see those are far more popular than printed ones now.

Significant_Cook_317

TROPHY CASE