Canadian FIRE

Snappy title, huh? FIRE is made up of several subcategories of people who are trying to optimize their money in order to lead a better life. Doctors, travel hackers, Mustachians, that sort of thing. That's all cool and whatnot but it kinda leads to tribalism within the community, which is marketed by content creators as a good thing - but I disagree. The reason I disagree is jaw-droppingly simple: FIRE is identical no matter the profession or "tribe" because the goal and its systems (below) remain the same for each individual. You could be a doctor in your 40's with 4 kids and a divorce. You could be a truck driver with a high school education. You could be a brand new teacher struggling to get full-time employment in a highly competitive market. These are completely different people, different circumstances, different life choices and likely different FIRE numbers but the goal (FIRE) and systems (the steps below) remain the same. You're not a unique snowflake (so

When you first learn about FIRE, the Trinity Study is everywhere. Better known as the 4% Rule, it has come to be the million dollar formula for our movement. Invest $1 million, withdraw $40k/year and you're good. So people calculate FIRE numbers usually around that mark. This is both good and bad information. You are forced to objectively look at your daily, monthly and annual spending in sharper contrast to your retirement goals. Picking up Tim’s every morning turns out to be a big deal when you spend $18.5/week and therefore have to add $24,050 to your FIRE number. It’s a lot more money than brewing and eating at home for $9/week instead ($11,700 to FIRE). 4% is a big percentage and forces you to get your ass in gear. Start saving and investing, pronto! Of course others will cry and whine that it’s too hard or implausible to save that amount of money but those are their fears and not yours. When you accomplish the incredible feat of reaching FIRE you will almost certainly be set

Friend of the blog Court [ modernfimily.com ] published an article a few months back detailing a bunch of books she's read (it's the link above). I found this list helpful since she’s my soulmate. Okay, not really! But we both operate on the same wavelength, of that much I am sure. Figuring out what to read next can seem as daunting as scrolling for a new show on Netflix. And since both catalogs are virtually endless it kinda spins your head in a circle as long as you let it. I try to go with book recommendations, especially if there is somebody to chat it over with once I’m done the read. That's why I've linked Court's list and created my own below. Nothing worse than turning to online critiques, it just feels so impersonal. With that said, here’s the list of books I’ve read in 2020 . Keep in mind I haven’t spent any money on these books, they were all rented through apps like Libby and Hoopla. I just plug in my library card and away I go. Atomic Habits - James Cle

Hello all, update time! Back in July of 2020 I decided to pull the plug on this blog. Not too long before that I had also decided to step away from my partnership on the Explore FI Canada podcast. Both of these moves weren’t knee-jerk decisions, more like eventualities. EFIC was (and still is) heading in a creative direction that I can’t wrap my head around. As for the blog, the writing was being used to justify criticism and my perceived expectations of what I thought others wanted from me. The intention from the very get-go was to create a “blogcast” - that is content that is available in both written and audio form. You get to pick your preference and away you go. Another original intention was to keep this blog as a financial diary for me (and to be transparent to you) while also poking fun of Consumerism in society as I see it. Additional content includes product reviews, shitting on the FIRE movement and beating myself up. Classic CanadianFIRE. Money Side of Things To date, I’ve