This summer my family went camping around eastern Canada.  We spent a few wonderful weeks seeing Quebec City, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and PEI.  I distinctly remember sitting around the campfire with my wife and oldest son after the other kids had fallen asleep and I noticed something interesting.  My son was transforming from being a little kid and he was showing this by deliberately calling me "dad" instead of "daddy".  He kept catching himself and changing how he addressed both me and my wife.  By the time we had returned home, I knew that I would probably never hear the words "daddy" from my oldest son again.  Where had the time gone?  I can still remember him as a baby!
 
     I quit the rat race at the age of 34, and one of the key factors in my making that decision was carefully thinking about how much income I would REALLY need.  The simple truth I realized is that working in Canada is expensive as taxes and other deductions eat up a substantial portion of your income.  Add in other work-related costs such as child care, transportation, and other expenses and your real take-home pay is much less than your gross salary.  Leaving the rat race was like my fairly godmother waiving her magic wand and making all those expenses "disappear" - because when you're not working, you don't pay them.
 
     Once I was completely debt-free (including being mortgage-free), the amount I felt I needed to live on was much less than the figures generally espoused by those with a vested interest in having you "slave and save" long after the best years of your life have passed.  For example, the mutual fund industry makes its profits based on "assets under management".  The more you invest, the more they make.  It's generally the same with other financial companies.
 
     But what's the best route for you to take?  Nobody can answer that question for you - but it is a question worth asking.  Do you aspire to an opulent retirement or simply a comfortable retirement with the freedom to do what you want?  How valuable is your time?  Do you enjoy your job or would you rather be doing something else?
 
     Personally, I enjoy writing and will continue to do that for the foreseeable future.  I think I would like to work as long as possible - but on my own terms!  Having the freedom to work at my convenience is something precious to me.  I could choose to keep working full time and saving and investing for many more years and become much wealthier than I am today - but the costs would be too high for me.  How about you?
 
     Next summer my family will take a couple of months and see the rest of Canada.  We've purchased a tent trailer which we will attach to the back of our Toyota Sienna.  The choice I've made is to have a few months with my kids in our humble tent trailer rather than a hurried week or so in an opulent RV.  For me, time is important and this thinking was a cornerstone of my "stop working" strategies.  This fact is apparent in my writings and will be apparent in this newsletter.  Time is my most precious asset.  How about you?

 

    How many times have you just gotten ready to sit down to dinner and you suddenly get a phone call from a telemarketer trying to sell you something you don't have any interest in.  How annoying is that?  In keeping with the idea that time is precious, this little trick might save you some time.
 
     To those readers who are not aware, you can register your phone number on the national "do not call" list in seconds.  Go to:

www.lnnte-dncl.gc.ca/insnum-regnum-eng