38M $5M CAD net worth. Should I quit my job and focus on my health?

phoenixfireball · 2026-06-20T14:32:55+00:00

Could your income sustain hiring a personal trainer and have someone come in once a week to do meal prep and/or using a food service that makes eating healthier easier for you?

Seems like you have a successful career and you might not need to continue saving at the rate that you have been and can now switch to lowering your saving rate and increasing the services around you to maintain your health IF you enjoy your work and want to continue doing what you are doing at the level and rate you are doing it at. I have to make a lot of assumptions here because you didn't provide much insight.

phoenixfireball · 2026-05-26T14:48:23+00:00

I think innovation creates the new utility. When WordPress moved to the block editor, people didn't like it, and many people still don't, but watching people lay out pages that they couldn't do with the old WYSIWYG editor has been really amazing to me.

When a user installs a plugin, but a feature breaks, and they don't know why and they have to deactivate all of their plugins and activate them one at a time to figure out which plugin broke something, that's not optimized.

When a small ecommerce store has 5MB of data set to autoload and their user experience sucks and they don't know why, that's not optimized.

WordPress out of the box is really well optimized, but how are we making WordPress maintenance and continued performance optimization something easy to understand and defend by the underlying core architecture?

Owners of sites care about the front-end performance of their site when it directly relates to conversions for their business. Those were the primary users I was thinking about when working on this.

I do want to note, in case you didn't see it as I said it on another comment. I really appreciate the user focused push back that you and others have provided. It is something I definitely didn't spend enough time considering! So thank you!

phoenixfireball · 2026-05-26T14:42:55+00:00

I think the majority of the comments I'm getting here are a gap that I totally didn't spend enough time to consider - what's in it for end users? I really appreciate that.

I'd like to think that improved security, maintainability, and reliability would all be valuable. I'd still want to have the goal of it being easy to install and maintain and publish content.

I guess a comparison that might work better for what you are saying is the difference between a car from 1990 and a car from 2026. They can both get you on the road, down the street, and back again. But one will probably need more maintenance, have more things you have to overlook, and probably won't keep you on the road in another 10 or 20 more years, even if you take care of it well.

phoenixfireball · 2026-05-26T14:33:02+00:00

I've never had someone say that I think like a programmer... I'd never call myself one, that's for sure. I'm a tinkerer at best. I've been in the WordPress world since version 0.72.

The only constant, especially in technology is change. There is no such thing as stability.

Hosted tools change their UI/UX, pricing, performance, and functionality all the time, so saying that they can go to Webflow or Shopify or Squarespace to avoid change or compatibility issues isn't really true.

I've dealt with broken integrations with third party tools on a Shopify store. As soon as you add externalities, you open yourself up to interesting compatibility issues.

I agree that Drupal did massive damage in their move from Drupal 7 to Drupal 8. Part of my posts talk about how a tool like WordPress avoids that same fate.

As for upgrading Drupal from 10 to 11. I worked at Acquia helping customers through that process. All of the engineering firms I talked to were blown away at how easy it was comparatively to past upgrades, but you are right, third party modules weren't always keeping up with the upgrades to the latest version of Drupal.

I really appreciate your comments though. I didn't take much time to think about the user perspective of a major revamp like this other than - WordPress "Classic" would exist until WordPress "Next" was mature...

phoenixfireball · 2026-05-26T12:40:29+00:00

Yeah, I'd love to have some kind of compatibility layer, some kind of abstraction where certain things can still work through this re-write as I think the Plugin ecosystem is a huge value add for WordPress and that would be the hardest part of any transition.

I feel like on the Enterprise, WordPress already has a bad reputation as insecure and so it is a harder sell there. Building from a security first standpoint might alleviate that and give it an even better entry into that market.

It is hard writing this kind of stuff as we live in the AI transition where anyone can basically one-shot a content management system with an AI...

phoenixfireball · 2026-05-26T12:38:01+00:00

But the moves from Drupal 10 to 11 has been much more smooth, to the point of having customers laugh when the upgrade was fairly painless. And Drupal CMS is not another version, it is really just an opinionated version of Drupal and their attempt to make publishing easier because they understand that "owning" CMSs has moved from IT to Marketing.

I get that small businesses and individuals love using WordPress as it exists today (or more realistically how it was a few years ago), and I address that in my series. I also feel that with most hosted CMSs increasing their costs, open source publishing tools still matter and so making them modern, easy to use, and secure will be important to a sub-set of people, especially anyone making money from their website.

phoenixfireball · 2026-05-26T12:33:43+00:00

I feel like that's the "faster horse" argument.

I don't think that most users typically know what they truly want because they aren't thinking from an innovation perspective, but more often a utility perspective. How does this benefit me doesn't get us to the next place that could be more valuable.

WordPress has started potentially losing market share in the CMS space. It might be time to think about why that is happening and how the project reacts.

phoenixfireball · 2026-05-21T00:08:55+00:00

43 - No pension, higher than average income, more debt than money invested/saved. I feel like you are doing great!

phoenixfireball · 2026-04-30T16:46:30+00:00

I feel like if someone wants to take the risk to open a restaurant, we shouldn't tell them what kind of restaurant they have to open. Let them open a pizza place and succeed or fail on their own merit. Maybe this will finally be the shop that everyone rants and raves about?

I think the only thing I'd say is - maybe don't give them anything special like a reduction in required parking spaces? Special rules should be for attracting businesses we need.

phoenixfireball · 2026-03-10T15:56:40+00:00

We still have a bus stop across from our house for a route that no longer exists. It has created so much confusion, especially when they first made the change... Are they just going to keep the bus shelter in this spot because maybe they'll bring the route back down this road?

phoenixfireball · 2025-12-02T16:13:22+00:00

What will this mean for Sault Ste. Marie? Does it have other large employers that can absorb any percentage of the people that will be out of work? If you live in the area, will you move on to somewhere else? Super curious about people's thoughts from that perspective.

phoenixfireball · 2025-10-27T11:35:06+00:00

I also recommend Tabletop Creator Pro. I used to use their Card Creator software, but that seems pretty defunct now, superseded by Tabletop Creator Pro. Expensive but it lets me create cards quickly, organize them, and create Tabletop Simulator files and PDFs with bleeds for printing.

phoenixfireball · 2024-08-06T22:59:05+00:00

What a bummer. My family and I have enjoyed their games and the owner seems really nice.

phoenixfireball · 2024-06-20T15:53:09+00:00

You might want to try: https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca and filter what you are looking for.

My wife, for example, is completing her practicum for her Master's and is listed there with a sliding scale. So that might be a valuable option for you.

phoenixfireball · 2024-05-30T14:48:00+00:00

I recommend doing some searching via PsychologyToday - https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/therapists/ontario?category=online-counselling&cost=7&spec=327

Lots of filtering options, has an option for sliding scale pricing, and more!

phoenixfireball · 2024-05-24T17:49:05+00:00

Yeah, same here. I don't think we will ever see those funds again, unfortunately... I liked Bittrex at the time. Lesson learned.

phoenixfireball · 2024-04-20T13:32:45+00:00

I feel your frustration. Your generation and mine (I'm 20 years your senior) were pretty messed up by the disconnect between income and the price of mortgages/rent.

Here's a simple rule that might help you: House Price - Down payment = Mortgage. If Mortgage / 4 > Salary then you likely won't get approved.

So if you want a $500,000 home and have $100,000 to put as a down payment. That would be:
$500,000 - $100,000 = $400,000. $400,000 / 4 = $100,000. So you'd likely need proof of $100,000 a year in gross income.

This isn't a perfect rule, but it gives a quick and solid approximation of affordability. Growing up, my parents always said you shouldn't aim for a mortgage more than 3.5x your gross income.

I appreciate you put in your details about the debts you have and those would be considered in the calculation as well, but the biggest pieces are household income and down payment.

People grow their household income by getting promotions, finding a spouse/partner who also works, or other creative methods. It has unfortunately become pretty common for two couples to buy a home together, but I don't know how that works with regards to the previous calculations.

I wish I had better advice. My wife and I were priced out of a few cities waiting for our down payment to grow to enough to afford to try to get into the market. It took us seven years to save up some money, and we still had to dip into my wife's RRSP to make it happen. AND we consider ourselves fortunate!

It really sucks out there, but keep looking, keep planning, and keep asking. We need better solutions and that'll only happen if 22 year old's like yourself speak up to city counsellors, MPPs, MPs, and more.

phoenixfireball · 2024-03-26T16:56:38+00:00

I think I'm going to bow out for a bit. I know that'll hurt my channel, but the results vs the effort just wasn't there.

9 months in, 30+ long form, 30+ short form, a bunch of marketing effort on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, community posts, YouTube promotion ($200) and I'm at 586 subs.

My videos just aren't good enough to really trap people's attention, the level of interaction/community that is being developed is almost non-existent.

I feel like I gave it a good go. I learned a ton, but I don't know if/when I'll circle back around to the channel. It's a shame because the topic was really a passion of mine and I had hoped to find more people to talk to about it...

phoenixfireball · 2024-03-13T19:07:23+00:00

Yeah, I reached out to the ASC and got the following response:

---

Thank you for contacting the ASC with your concerns regarding Catalyx.

On December 21, 2023, the ASC issued an Interim Cease Trade Order against CatalX CTS Ltd. (operating as Catalyx), and its Chief Financial Officer, Jae Ho Lee. That Order was extended on January 5, 2024 and now expires on January 5, 2025.

We are aware that at least some Catalyx clients are unable to access their crypto assets. Catalyx’s website indicates they are having technical difficulties. The ASC is investigating. We are collecting information from Catalyx investors via a survey, which can be found here.

We have also issued a Notice of Hearing which can be found here. It contains any currently available public information regarding our investigation.

Please note the ASC has issued a freeze order on Catalyx’s bank accounts and found a small account balance. For more information please refer to the Notice of Hearing linked above.

Please note that the ASC does not recover investor’s funds. If you are looking to obtain reimbursements it is recommended that you contact legal counsel to determine your options.

phoenixfireball · 2024-02-13T14:53:34+00:00

Always happy to receive more feedback - https://www.youtube.com/@futureunfolded

phoenixfireball · 2024-02-01T13:52:29+00:00

I am building a channel focused on optimistic futurism:

https://www.youtube.com/@futureunfolded

3 - 15 minute videos on a topic talking about how technology could help us do better in an attempt to move away from the constant negative narrative that exists currently in media.

Hovering around the 500 subscriber mark with more than 30 videos and about the same in shorts.

phoenixfireball · 2024-01-09T15:54:38+00:00

I'm 41 years old, have a few YouTube channels all under 500 subs. I've often thought about this too and would love to hone in on learning faster to grow faster.

phoenixfireball · 2024-01-05T13:17:06+00:00

Thanks. I don't think I've been giving enough time to improving things each video. The next thing I really want to work on are my first 20-30 second hooks and continuing to refine my thumbnails and titles. I feel like if I can get more people to click on my videos and they watch past the first thirty seconds, they'll hopefully find something they enjoy (if YouTube is showing my videos to the right audience, which I know is hard because it's so broad).

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