Fixed or Variable? Mortgages, Home Equity and Retirement in Canada

What helps you reach financial independence earlier, and what do you only learn once you're there? In this episode, I'm joined by Kyle Prevost, founder of the Canadian Financial Summit, for a fireside chat about what helped us reach our financial independence numbers and what we've learned since. Get your free Canadian Financial Summit ticket: https://buildwealthcanada.ca/summit Between the Canadian Financial Summit and the Build Wealth Canada podcast, we've interviewed hundreds of financial experts over the past decade. We've also been putting our own plans into practice. This time, we're bringing those experiences together to share lessons you can consider on your own journey towards financial independence and early retirement in Canada. We discuss: How Kyle reached financial independence at an early age and what his life looks like today. The advice we'd give our younger selves about investing and personal finance. The key decisions that helped us reach financial independence. What surprised us after hitting our numbers, and the lessons we've learned since. My hope is that this conversation gives you some useful ideas for your own journey and helps you think through what you want life to look like when work becomes optional. Kyle has written for The Globe and Mail, MoneySense, Canadian MoneySaver, and the Financial Post. You can also find his work at Million Dollar Journey.

How much can you spend in retirement, and how should that amount change when your investments do better or worse than expected? In this episode, I'm joined by Kenneth Doll and Matthew Lahey from Bracket Planning, who recently created a financial plan and retirement income plan for my wife and me. One of my biggest questions was how much we could enjoy spending now while still planning for our portfolio to support us for the rest of our lives. We use our experience to explore lessons you can apply to your own retirement or semi-retirement planning here in Canada. We discuss: How to assess whether you have enough to retire or semi-retire. How to approach turning your investments into an ongoing income stream. The trade-offs between keeping your spending steady and adjusting it as markets change. What to look for in a financial planner and which conflicts of interest to watch for. Ken is a Certified Financial Planner with three decades of experience. Matt is a financial planner and partner at Bracket Planning who brings a background in technology to their planning work. They're independent, advice-only planners, meaning they don't sell investments. This helps avoid conflicts of interest related to investment sales and was one of the key reasons I decided to work with them. Ken and Matt were nice enough to offer a free, no-obligation introductory call for Build Wealth Canada listeners. You can request your free call by visiting buildwealthcanada.ca/retire. Also, a big thanks to this episode's sponsor: Saily: Get 15% off Saily data plans at https://saily.com/buildwealth

In this episode, Mark Seed from My Own Advisor shares how he and his wife reached Financial Independence and officially retired early in Canada in their early 50s. Discover how Mark structured his portfolio, the investment choices that got him to his number, and how they set up their investments to live off portfolio income for the long run. We also compare Mark's approach to other early retirement paths in Canada to help you choose the right financial independence strategy for your goals. In this episode, you will learn: How Mark transitioned from planning early retirement to retiring this year

When we first start our do-it-yourself investing journey here in Canada, almost all of our focus is understandably on the accumulation phase. We are diligently saving, maximizing our TFSA and RRSP contributions, and figuring out the right asset allocation of low-cost index ETFs to grow our wealth. But what happens when you actually hit your number? What happens the day after you reach financial independence, and you can finally quit your job to design the exact life you want? People often think that it is all pure bliss, but for many of us, a whole new wave of anxiety sets in. Suddenly, you are shifting from building your wealth to actually spending it. The fear of future stock market crashes becomes very real, and it can be surprisingly difficult to say "no" to extra work, or you might find yourself becoming overly frugal just in case something bad happens. In this episode, we are tackling this massive psychological and mathematical shift, and learning how my guest Stephanie and her wife Gillian tackled this challenge after retiring in their 30s and 40s here in Canada to travel the world. We discuss exactly how they did it, and how they manage their finances now to avoid running out of money while living off their portfolio. Here is a breakdown of what we tackle in this episode: Their Decumulation Blueprint: How Stephanie and Gillian structure their annual withdrawals so they can travel without the fear of running out of money.

What are the most critical personal finance pillars that have the greatest impact on our financial wellbeing? In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Steph Zhou, the creator of the mandatory financial literacy curriculum for medical students at the University of Toronto. Dr. Steph shares the core components she identified through her research that have the greatest impact on our financial well-being. What You Will Learn in This Episode The Core Pillars of Personal Finance: Discover the critical components of financial literacy that we should all focus on mastering.