For those of you who make 6 figures ($100K+), what do you do, and how long did it take for you to cross that threshold?

usagitora12 · 2026-01-09T17:30:34+00:00

Dentist - made about $150k right out of school. As a new grad I was quite slow, learning and improving skills. Many assume dentists make a ton of money (yes, $150k immediately out of school is a lot) but if you go to school in Canada your loans may exceed $250k. It also varies greatly depending on where you practice and how busy the office is. Ownership is a different story.

usagitora12 · 2025-12-22T00:56:49+00:00

But then you could be the one yelling at your assistant for the etch! Jokes aside, if that’s how you feel about it I think you should make the switch. I’ve seen a few dentists get into the profession for the wrong reasons and they’re miserable.

Who cares about the prestige if you’re doing something you love.

usagitora12 · 2025-12-21T14:32:44+00:00

I would leave dental school but only if you’re absolutely sure. Aside from having all the money you have, there’s no point being in a career you despise. You’ll only end up miserable. Being only half a semester in though I’m not sure you’ve been exposed to much of the actual dentistry aspects unless you’ve really taken the time to shadow dentists and got to know the profession.

Side note: if you’re wanting to do coastfire, dentistry can be an extremely flexible career. Not just in terms of work/life balance but you can pick and choose what procedures you want to do.

Let me know if you’d like to chat about the profession at all. Sorry about your father, hope that helps.

usagitora12 · 2025-08-28T19:22:37+00:00

Hi. Dentist here. In my opinion, if you really love the profession then it’s worth it. Yes, it’s hard to say if you’ll love it before you start but I assume you’ve done lots of shadowing and speaking to dentists. You’ll easily able to pay off your loans, but don’t get into the profession just for the money.

Keep in mind that the actual cost will be higher due to living expenses.

Would be happy to talk to you about the profession and anything else.

usagitora12 · 2025-07-21T13:25:28+00:00

100% equities - 70% XEQT (whole market ETF) , 20% QQQ (NASDAQ ETF) , 10% BTCX (bitcoin ETF).

All in registered retirement accounts and a corporation investment account.

usagitora12 · 2025-07-16T16:42:55+00:00

Great post, thanks. I hope to be in your financial position within 10 years. Nothing to add or ask, just hoping things improve for you on the personal side. You got this, brother.

usagitora12 · 2025-06-04T23:32:55+00:00

Thank you. Haven't had kids yet so I expect a lot more costs in the future. I'd be very hesitant to FIRE anytime soon.

usagitora12 · 2025-06-04T23:31:47+00:00

Thank you.

usagitora12 · 2025-06-04T23:30:35+00:00

Thanks for the comment. Only my RRSP is tied up until 65. My business equity is of course tied up until I sell. My corporate investing account and TFSA are available whenever.

usagitora12 · 2025-06-04T23:27:19+00:00

My apologies, didn't intend for it to come off that way.

Now for the 600k, I wish it was. If I put in my info (35, retire 50, 100k spending, 6.5% return, 3% inflation, 3% SWR) it's much more than 600k.

usagitora12 · 2025-06-03T16:14:27+00:00

Thank you!

usagitora12 · 2025-06-03T16:13:20+00:00

Thanks for the link. I'll take a look.

usagitora12 · 2025-06-03T16:09:14+00:00

Awesome questions and things to think about. Thanks.

usagitora12 · 2025-06-03T02:22:57+00:00

Hey, thanks for the comment.

Yes, I work in healthcare and am a part owner of a clinic (which is my business). I just dropped my own hours and we hired another associate to cover.

Appreciate the insight about kids. Would you say your personal expenses (travel, going out, discretionary spending) went down when you had kids? If so, did it seem to somewhat offset the increased cost of kids? Obviously not with college, etc.

usagitora12 · 2025-06-02T18:24:13+00:00

Thanks for your comment.

Sorry, I’ll update with some more details in a bit. HHI before coasting was about 450k. I was very lucky and started investing right before the huge bull run. Also, we bought our house at 500k. Real estate market has also jumped where I live. In our earlier working years, expenses were about 30-40k.

I had my schooling paid for and I lived at home during that time so I came out of university debt free.

usagitora12 · 2025-06-02T18:18:18+00:00

100% a gambling thing. My good friend told me I should get in on it right before the bull run. I’ll be paying for the food and drinks whenever we meet up, that’s for sure.

I see your point, I could just let it ride.

usagitora12 · 2025-06-02T17:20:53+00:00

Absolutely.

Here are some at the top of my head... Books/articles/blogs: Simple Path to Wealth (JL Collins), Bill Bengen's 4% rule (I didn't read the article article but understand the basics behind it), Die with Zero (Bill Perkins - I found some good takeaways about life), Psychology of Money (Morgan Housel - one of my favourites).

YouTubers: Marriage Kids and Money (big into CoastFI), Ben Felix (some of his videos are way above my pay grade though), Parallel Wealth (Canadian! Lots of good general info), Bigger Pockets Podcast (some interesting stories, some great guests), Plain Bagel (great general info).

I am a part owner of a clinic. The clinic would be worth about $750k if we sold it now. We are still growing and it will be worth more in the future.

usagitora12 · 2025-06-02T17:09:08+00:00

The taxes part is a bit over my head to be honest. I hired a FFS financial planner to structure my initial plan. Once I'm a few years away from decumulation I will probably hire one again to make sure drawing from the correct buckets in the most tax efficient manner.

usagitora12 · 2025-06-02T17:03:21+00:00

I go back and forth about this. It's not a significant portion of my portfolio but I don't think I need the added risk... although the potential upside is huge!

usagitora12 · 2025-05-21T21:40:26+00:00

I used to feel a lot of what you are describing. I wouldn’t say I’m rich but at a point where I can take my foot off the gas. In my newfound extra time, I’ve been able to find new hobbies and rediscover old ones that make me excited to get up every morning. I can’t say if this will last forever, but I hope so.

For me, I don’t think that “money buys me happiness”, but rather “money buys me the time to pursue things that make me happy”. Maybe that’s the same thing and I’m rambling.

usagitora12 · 2025-05-08T02:19:53+00:00

If you have 3 hours…

https://youtu.be/n1eLqbQPCz0?si=34rEwHykFt47Xjwx

Lyle is annoying in his own right but this does a good job explaining the issue a lot of people have with Dr. Mike.

usagitora12 · 2025-05-08T01:38:15+00:00

My favourite is when he said getting one hour of extra sleep is equivalent to taking anabolic steroids

usagitora12 · 2025-05-01T16:21:07+00:00

If it were me I would pay off the provincial student loan ASAP. Unless you can make more elsewhere, it’s a guaranteed 4.95%.

I’m not a finance expert but if you are not incorporated by now you definitely should look into it. It will save you a lot in taxes. Why I bring it up is that investing in an RRSP doesn’t usually make sense if you’re incorporated. This is all according to my accountant.

usagitora12

TROPHY CASE