Hi everyone! I’m moving my blog over to Substack starting with my January dividend update. My posts will continue as per usual on the new platform with additional information about our investment portfolio and retirement income. Any posts about general investment topics will remain free to read, but information about our income will only be visible to paid subscribers ($5/month). If you are currently a blog subscriber, you have been set up with a FREE 1-year membership to my newsletter with access to all posts. Substack is a much better fit for us, as it provides a simple and easy platform fo ..read more

Getting a professional retirement projection can help ease the mind of many soon-to-be retirees. It provides an outlook into the future and determines whether their retirement lifestyle can be maintained. Countless people turn to financial planners every year for a glimpse into their retirement, but is the service of a retirement projection really worth the price? I have always wondered what a retirement projection would entail. Would it be eye-opening and life-changing? Are the numbers I see on my own personal spreadsheet realistic or am I completely off-base? With these questions in mind, I ..read more

All content posted on this blog represents my personal views and opinions only, and should never be considered investment advice. Always perform your own research before making any financial decision. This month, we spent a week on the beautiful island of Barbados. I was first introduced to this island as a child when my dad began working at an airline called Wardair. One of the perks of the job was employee passes which led to us traveling throughout the Caribbean.  Over the course of those travels, my parents taught me many lessons on frugality, for instance: Go off the beaten path. Lo ..read more

All content posted on this blog represents my personal views and opinions only, and should never be considered investment advice. Always perform your own research before making any financial decision. Hello everyone, I hope you had a wonderful October.  I was looking up a recipe the other day and many food bloggers have a “Jump To Recipe” button now at the top of every post. If you’ve ever had to look up a recipe in the past, I’m not sure how you felt, but I hated scrolling through what seemed like a million words to find the recipe hidden somewhere in between. It was time-consuming and a ..read more

All content posted on this blog represents my personal views and opinions only, and should never be considered investment advice. Always perform your own research before making any financial decision. I hope you all had a fabulous September despite the market the last few weeks.  We had a great month visiting with friends, listening to live music, spending a week at the cottage and ending the month with a week-long visit from our daughter. I’ve already started the countdown until we see her beautiful smile in person again… only 5 weeks to go!  Portfolio and Market Musings The last we ..read more

Can you believe it’s September already…where does the time go?  I hope you had a wonderful summer.   In August, we visited the shores of Lake Huron just north of Goderich where I tried my hand at golf. I had a pretty good round considering I have only played a handful of times. I am hoping to take lessons next year and play a lot more once my husband retires.   We also spent a lovely Saturday afternoon in Stratford, Ontario. If you happen to find yourself in this gem of a town, I recommend a cocktail at The Relic Lobby Bar. With its art deco Cuban vibe, the yummy cockt ..read more

Hello and happy August! I can’t believe it’s August already…where did the month of July go? Can you believe it’s been a full year since I officially retired? I’m thankful for my small pension but I’ve always known that I needed to make money elsewhere for retirement. Half of my career was working for companies on contract, and I never paid into a pension. It wasn’t until I began teaching that I was part of a pension plan. Despite having 10-12% of my salary go into the plan, twelve years of service doesn’t provide a lot of contribution room or growth. Thankfully, I began investing in my 30s whi ..read more

The sky is falling, recession fears are in full force and the market is reacting accordingly. Not ideal for investors but better times will come. For now, it’s best to hold on and be happy with the dividends we do receive. I hope you had a great June and the roller-coaster ride didn’t send you into panic mode despite the fact that many investors were pulling the plug on some of their holdings. Selling in a down market is never ideal and not what we ever plan to do when we buy a company we like, but down markets do provide a perfect opportunity for us to reflect on our portfolios. Maybe it’s a ..read more

Reminder: I am not a licensed investment advisor or tax specialist, therefore, all content posted on this blog represents my personal views and opinions, and should never be considered professional advice. Always perform your own research before making any financial decision. Summertime is here, kids are out of school and vacations are right around the corner for many families. If you live in Ontario, don’t forget to claim your holiday accommodation for a 20% tax credit this year. It’s called the Ontario Staycation tax credit for Ontario residents.  This temporary tax credit “aims to enc ..read more

I made some changes to the We Invest Challenge portfolio this month, but first, let’s look at the month-end balance and holdings: You may notice that I sold all my Athabasca shares to purchase Cardinal Energy.  I also own CJ in my main portfolio (you can check out that portfolio’s latest update here). CJ recently reintroduced its dividend and currently yields around 6.5%.  As Athabasca focuses on paying down debt as a priority, it is not currently paying a dividend (although one is definitely coming). Therefore, I moved the money into CJ so I could take advantage of their reintroduc ..read more