[peterk]

^ Oh I'm just stirring the pot, really Sounds like a lovely house that doesn't need upgrading.

Myself I just chose also a 2,200sqft house with a 10,000 sqft lot. I think it's just about right to have the pleasant amenities of a "big" house and property (extra rooms, extra yard), but not so big that one is tempted to hire housekeepers, yard keepers, riding lawnmowers, etc.

And going from a 2-car garage 2-car driveway to those 3-car garage 6-car driveways of the bigger mansions, it seem inevitable that those people buy boats and RVs. Having an adequate yet restrained amount of parking helps in controlling any fleeting urges that float up to go buy big expensive toys.

 

[Forebiz]

And going from a 2-car garage 2-car driveway to those 3-car garage 6-car driveways of the bigger mansions, it seem inevitable that those people buy boats and RVs. Having an adequate yet restrained amount of parking helps in controlling any fleeting urges that float up to go buy big expensive toys.

Sounds like we are on the same page when it comes to housing. I'd love the three car garage though, I currently have two sheds to store all the kid crap and yard stuff so we can both fit vehicles in garage.

 

[Forebiz]

Jul 1st 2021 Quarterly Update
COVID Ending?, Not yet convinced. The second quarter for the year and I've billed only 107 hours but I'm hoping with travel restrictions easing I will now be able to continue traveling back to US. I expect that it will still be a bit slow to ramp up. The cash available within the business is depleting so I've temporarily stopped paying salaries but continue to pay taxes that would otherwise be expected.

This quarter my investments did quite well as the market continues to have a good year (Up 5% this quarter). My house value is also likely at its highest point ever.

I've felt semi-retired for the last 6 months, my wife has started giving me the gears to get back to work but I'm somewhat unmotivated when I am still seeing my net worth going up. I still don't feel I'm financial independent and look at these increases in net worth more of a factor of a great year in the market combined with somewhat lower spending due to COVID.

Assets:
House - $650.7K
Vehicles - $49.0K
NRSP - $449.2K
RRSPs - $821.5K
TFSAs - $193.4K
RESPs - $149.6K
Whole Life Cash Value - $45.6K
Cash - $64.9K
Business - $1994.9K

Total Assets - $4,408,400

Liabilities:
Credit Cards - $5.2K (credit cards are payed off every month)

Net Worth: $4,413,600
Up $160.3K Previous Quarter
Up $876.9K Previous Year

 

[scorpion_ca]

You are already in FatFIRE.

 

[Forebiz]

Oct 1st 2021 Quarterly Update
Had my first trip back in 8 months to the US in September for work. Things went well and I expect to get some more work flowing in. I may never get back to my peak corporate income but that has a lot to do with motivation at this point.

Speaking of something to motivate me though, we bought a new (old) house so we are moving this month. My current house sold for about 50K (after fees) more then I estimated it was worth in the breakdown. I always knew it was worth a bit more but was conservative.

Assets:
House - $704K
Vehicles - $49.0K
NRSP - $639.8K
RRSPs - $863.6K
TFSAs - $193.7K
RESPs - $150.2K
Whole Life Cash Value - $45.6K
Cash - $79.8K
Business - $2015.6K

Total Assets - $4,741,300

Liabilities:
Credit Cards - $6.9K (credit cards are payed off every month)

Net Worth: $4,734,400
Up $320.8K Previous Quarter
Up $937.6K Previous Year

 

[Forebiz]

Jan 1st 2021 Quarterly Update
I had hoped that my trips back to the US would start to become more regular this year but I'm not so sure now. I had hoped to make two trips in the fourth quarter but only ended up making one. I still hope to make two trips in the first quarter.

The new to us house (built in 70s) has many of the things we've always wanted. Large attached heated garage, large lot with a view, quiet and private. House was vacant for some time and hasn't been without issues. We were expecting more work and fixes but have had two appliances fail and some dampers, fans, thermostats, hot water tank issues. I spent some time crunching numbers before we purchased (Mortgage, Property Tax, Utility Increases, Maintenance Costs) and we decided that after all the years of saving that it was time to splurge.

Corporately this year was the worst I've had in the 10 years I've been on my own. Next year won't be breaking any records either but I hope to be about average. This being said the investment returns have been so good it negated the corporate bad year. About 5 years ago I decided to go with two different advisors as my wife and I had different opinions after interviewing them. I gave them full control without meddling in what they did. The conservative very balanced portfolio has now returned 8.1% YOY, the less balanced manager has returned 11.1% YOY, I decided to keep the TFSAs and have done 7.3% YOY. The leader between the two managers has shifted at times when the market has been weak but I have consistently been the weakest link.

Some notes:
-I decided not to state mortgage amount and represented house value as equity.
-NRSP was done significantly in order to increase down payment on home.
-Vehicles went up in value... It's crazy that lack of supply has done this.

Assets:
House Equity - $1301.9K
Vehicles - $52.0K
NRSP - $361.5K
RRSPs - $900.4K
TFSAs - $203.2K
RESPs - $160.5K
Whole Life Cash Value - $45.6K
Cash - $112.7K
Business - $2123.6K

Liabilities:
Credit Cards - Credit cards are payed off every month
Mortgage - 1.2% Variable

Net Worth: $5,251,500
Up $516.8K Previous Quarter
Up $1155.5K Previous Year

 

[Jamesdean]

I'm guessing you've planned for the big tax hit for drawing down your NRSP ?

 

[Forebiz]

I'm guessing you've planned for the big tax hit for drawing down your NRSP ?

Not really, A lot of what was taken out was only contributed in the last 9 months. Some of what was pulled was in bonds and some had light gains. I hope I don't own a lot but I guess I'll find out soon.

 

[peterk]

I think if I were in your shoes I'd be breaking down by now and looking for that $1.5M 3,500sqft house with a big yard, to live so comfortably in -- but that's just me.

It has been tempting

The new to us house has many of the things we've always wanted.... and we decided that after all the years of saving that it was time to splurge.

Assets:
House Equity - $1301.9K

Muahaha! My work here is done

That's great though. Things are looking nothing but up for your family! Are you planning on continuing with the dialed back work schedule indefinitely, then, and living with a lower income (and your huge investments)? I sure would be.

 

[Forebiz]

Muahaha! My work here is done

That's great though. Things are looking nothing but up for your family! Are you planning on continuing with the dialed back work schedule indefinitely, then, and living with a lower income (and your huge investments)? I sure would be.

I wish we had more self control on the housing but we didn't. I convinced my wife to low ball an offer secretly hoping that they wouldn't even acknowledge it and to my surprise they said offer was fair.

I'm not entirely sure yet but I would say I'm not trying to scale back much for two years however things may naturally scale back.

 

[Saintor]

It was already mentioned a few years ago, but business $ as an asset that can't be sold without you... is not really an asset.

 

[Forebiz]

It was already mentioned a few years ago, but business $ as an asset that can't be sold without you... is not really an asset.

This is investments and cash within the business, not the value of the business which I agree is not an asset.

 

[Saintor]

This is investments and cash within the business, not the value of the business which I agree is not an asset.

Well you even have more my attention now. Did you enjoy tangible benefits investing through your corporation? I asked this very QUESTION a few days ago. Feel free to answer in my thread if you wish so.

 

[Forebiz]

Well you even have more my attention now. Did you enjoy tangible benefits investing through your corporation? I asked this very QUESTION a few days ago.

I started off investing within the corporation because we didn't need as much money for our lifestyle as we were making. This helped control spending but also allowed us to have some security in case work load decreased (Hello Covid). My longer term goal was to, at some point, retire early while continuing to pull a salary our of the corporation.

By pulling less out of the company I keep ourselves below the higher tax bracket. I believe my corporate tax rate is significantly lower but I am getting close to the point where the investment earnings may be taxed at a higher rate. So far the accountant has managed to avoid this but tells me it's coming. The money in business investment account has grown by over $600K so I'm pretty sure it's been worth it for me.

I probably didn't quite address your question but if you can figure out how to get that money out of the business tax free to buy your Bentley let me know. Accountant said something about a "Pipeline Strategy" and was going to have me talk to a lawyer. Said it involved selling the company to a numbered company and taking lifetime personal exemption of $800K or so each. Might look into that over the next bit and see if its something worthwhile but for now I'm happy to try and continue growing within business.

 

[Forebiz]

Apr 1st 2022 Quarterly Update
I still haven't resumed travelling to the US yet but I have a trip booked for the end of this month. There has been management changes in the company I do the majority of my work for where they have promoted WFH more. Because of this they have also pushed back on some of my travel attempts as they rightfully feel the work can be done without me travelling. My billing has increased significantly from last year but ti now where near the peak I have seen in the past. I expect work to be busy but not craazy the next two years which suits me just fine.

I perhaps didn't do the right thing going into a variable rate mortgage but I'm not going to sweat it. I estimated utilities to double but because of increased rates it's probably closer to triple my old house. I have always struggled with pegging a number to the house in net worth and have ultimately been low on the estimate when the last two properties I have owned have sold. My method has been to peg the property I owned to the average resale in the month I bought and linearly price the property to the current average in the area. I am going to continue to do this for now but seeing how much things have gone up in three months I think I may need to revist this strategy. I don't know if a high value property maintains the same linearity and I suspect with interest rates rising there could be a drop.

One of the charts I made for myself several years ago showed the relationship between my business billing and my net worth increase over the previous year. My thought process was if I saw my net worth increasing by more then my billing that I had hit the point where I wouldn't need to work anymore and my net worth would continue to increase. This is a flawed thought process I'm sure in several ways but it's nice to see that my net worth line has been higher for a year and a half now.

Assets:
House Equity - $1489.9K
Vehicles - $57.0K
NRSP - $355.4K
RRSPs - $848.9K
TFSAs - $212.4K
RESPs - $173.3K
Whole Life Cash Value - $48.6K
Cash - $126.1K
Business - $2184.0K

Liabilities:
Credit Cards - $7.4K (Credit cards are payed off every month)
Mortgage - 1.45% Variable

Net Worth: $5,488,200
Up $217.0K Previous Quarter
Up $1214.9K Previous Year