You are too young to retire
Hey folks,
Welcome to a new post for your Weekend Reading – this one about being too young to retire.
Before that, some Weekend Reading last weekend on the subject of fixed income, why I have some along with my existing portfolio of individual stocks and ETFs:
You are too young to retire
Image source/attribution: Jill Wellington, Pexels.
Inspiration for this post arrived from attending a few retirement parties of late with work colleagues, another one as recently as yesterday and a few more to attend this spring.
Is age 50 too young to retire?
What about age 55? Age 60?
After talking to some work colleagues who submitted their retirement letters and who are now moving on, I know their ages. The celebration yesterday was for someone in their early 60s. They talked and yearned about more time at their cottage, doing small home reno projects, and leaving early morning Microsoft Teams calls in the rearview mirror.
They also talked about their desire to retire now since they “had enough” both mentally and financially – support from the latter after working with their financial advisor or planner and doing some retirement math on their own to bridge the gap between spending needs now and when their pension benefits would kick in, at age 65, including their firm intention to take CPP and OAS at that age too.
Although I’m leaping to lots of assumptions here, this makes me believe that the personal retirement savings of some work colleagues (the sum of RRSPs, TFSAs, non-registered investments or other assets) is likely small to modest beyond a workplace pension – in that they needed to work to ensure they were not sacrificing their personal portfolio too much, too soon. I get that. After decades of raising a family, buying a cottage, paying down a mortgage or two along with other expenses I’m sure, it seems my colleague was more than ready to permanently slow down; cut the cord from work and enjoy their time more while they still have decent health. Good on them. 🙂
This individual is however not the first person to mention the following to me:
“Oh, I can’t afford to retire yet but thinking age 63 or so should be fine since that’s when I can get my full OAS and decent CPP income.”
And my work colleague is hardly alone…
In looking at some stats (Source: StatsCan) the average age of retirement is hardly for anyone in their 50s:
These are also not easy times to retire…
Rising general inflation, uncertain tax rates, and higher healthcare costs could very well impact many retirees at any age. Myself included. Certainly, starting to save for retirement early and often and getting out of debt faster than most would be enablers – and I hope they have been for us.
You are too young to retire – is early retirement right for you?
Although many Canadians seem to expect to retire between the ages of 60 and 70 above, there is absolutely no hard and fast rules about when you need or must stop working of course.
Your retirement timeline will depend on many factors, I’ve highlighted some milestone ideas below:
3-5 Years Before Retirement
This is where dreams might start becoming a reality. I was there. I wrote about the emotional side of early retirement back in 2021 as my own evidence.
Somewhere between 3-5 years before retirement, it’s probably wise to get some retirement details in order. Accuracy isn’t overly important IMO but the process of planning is.
I recall focusing on our desired lifestyle and spending habits to go with it: what early retirement or semi-retirement or full retirement might look like:
- We started estimating our retirement spending levels, our income sources, and inflation factors.
- We started evaluating our portfolio returns over the last 5- or 10-years.
- We looked seriously at our sustainable cashflow from our portfolio (passive dividend and distribution income since we’d be too young to accept any workplace pension or any CPP or OAS government benefits).
- We started tracking our spending in more detail to challenge those spending assumptions.
1-2 Years Before Retirement
As recently as early 2024 for us, things got more serious.
You might recall we became mortgage and debt-free almost 18 months ago.
You might also recall we realized our financial independence milestone last summer.
In the year or so leading up to any big decisions, more detailed planning kicked into higher gear:
- We spent more time as a couple talking about how to put some travel dreams into reality – multi-week vacations in the coming years away from icy/cold Ottawa winters.
- While we continue to use some professional tools to help our retirement income planning work (I can help you too!!) we used some retirement income planning rules of thumb to test our assumptions (and we passed). 🙂
- We started to explore ways at work to test some semi-retirement assumptions; the desire but also the financial flexibility to work part-time vs. full-time (i.e., could we still make ends meet).
- We started to look into post-retirement healthcare insurance options, where needed.
- We started to talk about our purpose (if not working at all) – what would we do with our time?
- We started to position our portfolio for upcoming withdrawals.
< 1 Year To Go Before Retirement
Although we might be in this timeline, not sure, since part-time work is now occurring with our solid employer (this could continue for both of us??) but this is where the real retirement countdown calendar probably begins for most people…as you strike full-time working days off your calendar:
- Look to finalize your portfolio income strategy – what income is coming from where and when.
- Keep a cash buffer and finalize your bucket approach for retirement income to avoid some poor sequence of returns risks.
- Finalize post-retirement healthcare insurance.
- For fun, put a retirement countdown timer somewhere!
- Start planning your time when you are not working – see previous points above!
- With a few months to go, be kind and fair to your employer, pick a firm retirement date and support your co-workers with any transition plan.
- Begin focusing on your life beyond work in preparation for semi-retirement or retirement.
- Make any final “important” purchases and pay those off to remain debt-free (while you still have your workplace income and/or benefits).
Wrap-up
Once again, while many Canadians expect to retire after age 60, there is nothing written in stone to suggest you cannot adjust your life-work balance much sooner than most.
That’s always been our plan and we’re living that now.
Here are some other factors to consider too:
- Your health: Life is short and precious. How do you feel? Taking care of your physical and mental health is just as important as taking care of your financial health.
- Your professional motivation: Does your job still bring lots of personal satisfaction and happiness?
- Your social life: What passions do you have or rather have you put off outside of work? Is it time to make more time for those? Life is more than a paycheque.
I can’t speak for any retiree or aspiring retiree that reads this site but I can say with lots of conviction that I will personally enjoy the next few months as my transition to retirement continues.
Mark
More Weekend Reading and Reminders!
As readers will know, I have used a hybrid investing strategy for about 15-years now that has helped me/us realize financial independence.
I enjoy and have therefore benefitted from owning many Canadian stocks that pay dividends (about 25+ in my current portfolio) that also deliver some price appreciation but I also own thousands of units of low-cost ETFs that focus on total return (distributions and growth) beyond Canada.
I learned some lessons in diversification many years ago.
So: Is total return or income growth the better investing strategy?
Well, you can engage with me and discuss this subject and more – and find out!
Save the Date! Thursday, May 22, 2025 @ 2:30 PM ET
While there is no best way to invest for everyone….we can all agree that earning dividends AND growth are both good. Right?
Well, get ready for my battle: a pure income investor vs. yours truly on this subject.
In one corner, you have my friend Henry Mah from Your Ever Growing Income who argues in favour of dividend growth and more specifically, income investing for a handful of convinction stocks. He’s done very well for sure.
In the other corner, My Own Advisor since I seek and desire a mix of capital appreciation and dividends in my portfolio. Based on our discussion, you can decide what is best for you!
Plus, we’ll both answer questions from the audience – live – about our respective strategies and considerations for building a retirement nest egg in this live Q&A session.
AUDIENCE REGISTRATION FREE LINK:
I’m taking some time off work to engage with you this afternoon so register here for the event for free!
I look forward to seeing you online.
Mark
Want your own personal low-cost retirement income projection?
Just reach out! I offer discounts when you do as a My Own Advisor reader for services that cost literally thousands of dollars less than the alternatives.
I am happy to offer discounts to DIY investors, by a DIY investor – anytime. 🙂
Check out my work along with my partner Joe at Cashflows & Portfolios.
We will help you answer some burning retirement income planning questions like:
- Do you have enough to retire with your current lifestyle/spending?
- What will be your estate value based on your spending plans?
- Amongst your pension(s) or RRSPs or TFSAs or your taxable accounts, what accounts should you tap first to smooth out taxation impacts over time?
- Should you take CPP or OAS at age 65 or 70?
- And more!
Again, contact us anytime to learn more and get started.
Other popular case studies:
How much do you need to retire on $5,000 per month?
What you need to retire on $6,000 per month?
Have a great weekend!
Mark
A comprehensive list of things to get a handle on before retirement. The two that stood out to me are healthcare and portfolio. As a diy investor it is quite clear that nobody cares as much about my money as I do (big surprise). As you have done Mark, a theoretical retirement date is important even if it is 10, 15 years out. I know for myself I didn’t really put much consideration into retirement as I was working hard putting away money and that was it. Then one day it became evident that perhaps I could retire. A few years later it happened. There are many more details but my ability to retire snuck up on me. I was younger than I thought I would retire. My two cents… take control of your investing early, you won’t be sorry!
Amazing, Steve!!
100% = “My two cents… take control of your investing early, you won’t be sorry!”
That’s the thing. It’s not an age thing for me, rather, the financial and mental readiness to do something different. I’m getting there with both of those now in my early 50s. I enjoy my part-time role at work but time (soon) to try new things and make new experiences. 🙂
Mark
Curious if you or others would know when enough is enough. I have fairly aggressively been saving and investing for retirement. I’m 42 and should have my mortgage paid in full before I’m 45, and my registered and non-registered are near $2M. I assume I’m on a pretty good track for comfortable retirement at 55 and maybe even part time sooner but I stress and obsess over needing more to be sure and to help my kids (seems homeownership is getting out of reach for younger generations). How do I balance enjoying today over worry for tomorrow!
Very personal answer, LS. I think.
I know folks in their early 50s who believe $2M without debt is “enough” and some higher-spenders shall I say tell me they couldn’t sleep at night without a $3M portfolio. That’s fine – but most Canadians at age 65 with average CPP and average OAS should be fine with much less.
https://www.myownadvisor.ca/can-i-retire-with-1-million-in-our-rrsps/
If you have no debt entering retirement, that’s goal #1 I believe. It was for us.
Now that we’re debt-free, we are hopeful we can spend the following as of 2026 if we decide to stop full-time work.
Balance is life for us is very key.
https://www.myownadvisor.ca/financial-independence-budget/
Assuming this is our budget, then we should be fine. If we want to spend a lot more, we’ll need to save and invest more.
Thoughts?
Mark
Unfortunately, due to medical reasons I am off work at 52 due to cancer diagnosis and treatment. Fortunately treatment has gone well and I will likely have a return to work decision to make in 6-12 months. First off so thankful for Gods grace, a good workplace disability benefit, and high savings rate throughout my life. From good investments we are now in a place to stop working with or without disability payments which we are very thankful for. I always knew early retirement was a goal, but preferably on your own terms and not as an unexpected health issue. My best advice is live below your means, and be as financially ready as early as you can in case health, layoffs, or other unexpected life events occur.
If you have never watched the John Goodman clip on FU money from the movie the gambler I highly recommend you look it up and watch it. Very true.
Very sorry to hear, Rocky. I hope you are doing better?
Yes, that John Goodman clip is a good one. Watched it many times in fact including the movie.
My best to you and thanks for your comment,
Mark
HI Mark, any more information you can share on Health insurance option in Canada post retirement? It’s the only thing left to finalize on my list leading up to my retirement later this year 😉 Thanks!
P.S. Looking forward to your discussion with Henry on the TD DI webinar 🙂
No problem, Roland!
I wrote this a few years ago and while the rates have potentially changed, the context remains very relevant.
Happy to get your take on what you are thinking about too.
https://www.myownadvisor.ca/healthcare-insurance-benefits-for-retirees-in-canada/
Any key questions in advance I should tackle for the webinar? Do reply and let me know! Should be fun. I agree with Henry on a few things for sure but only onwing 12 TSX stocks is not one of them = I have more and likely will for some time to come.
Mark
Hi Mark,
That link is still very valid. Sure prices have changed but I liked the comprehensive information. We will most like have to look into the rollover plan vs individual plan based on cost. I like to have some insurance as we are both on medication (for life).
Thanks, Roland
P.S. I saw the webinar got pushed to 2:30 pm 😉 Question: do you track your dividend income from all accounts when you review need for a cash wedge or only from your registered accounts given that you will make use of your TFSA accounts as the last accounts to draw from?
Great stuff, Roland. Yes, feel free to reach out to Brian for any quotes – he works for insurance companies as a broker so any quotes and digging should be a no-cost to you.
Yes, webinar at 2:30 given some other TD Direct Investing priorities of late but all good – the show will go on. 🙂
I don’t report all dividend income publicly (privacy, security reasons) but I do post x2 RRSPs + x2 Taxable accounts + x1 my small LIRA. The latter, LIRA has been all ETFs for almost 10 years now.
In the LIRA, I used to own KO stock + XBB but in 2015 I bought some QQQ (too little/very little, should have bought more!!!) but glad I started all the same. I ramped up my purhcase of QQQ in mostly 2018 inside my RRSP.
https://www.myownadvisor.ca/then-and-now-managing-my-lira/
I don’t report any dividend income whatsoever from TFSAs but it certainly exists and yes, those are the last accounts I will drawdown in my 70s and 80s once RRSPs/RRIFs are gone and once our non-regs accounts are gone or near gone.
I hope that helps answer the question! More here:
https://www.myownadvisor.ca/financial-independence-update/
“NRT” = Non-Registered (N) with Corporation assets, with RRSPs (R), then TFSAs (T) is our drawdown order starting likely 2026.
Mark
Isn’t “young” a relative term depending on your prospective? When I was in my 20’s middle age was 30’s and 40’s and old age was 50’s and up. Now that I’m in my 60’s I consider it middle aged. I don’t think retirement is about age as much as wanting to retire and doing what it takes to get there as bigger factors. Everyone is going to have a different answer to when is the right time to retire for them. After all age is just a number. If you have the financial ability to retire and for some they may not have the financial side ready and retire anyway. It’s a very personal choice. No right or wrong time. And then “health” is the wild card when considering retirement. Health can force an early retirement for some and good health can also extend a career and put off retirement for others. The big question for me is are you ready to retire both financially and mentally. Cheers Mark.
I think so, Don.
re: “The big question for me is are you ready to retire both financially and mentally.”
Working full-time we would just accumulate more. I think I know our “enough” and everyone has that number in mind. I know some folks that are more than fine based on spending needs with $1M invested. Others I’ve taked to, can’t imagine retiring on less than $3M (which is a large number I think)?
No right or wrong to your point. It’s about being financially, mentally and also physically ready.
Do you have have the same stocks, Don + XAW or others in your portfolio?
I recall you owned or were thinking of owning VOO, or DGRO or SCHD a while back.
Are you still preparing for your retirement at age 65?
Cheers,
Mark
I was asked to defer my retirement for a year due to some situations at work. It’s now December of this year. Yes I started to sell off some of my individual US$ stocks and purchased SCHD and VOO for growth. Still a few more to sell. Getting more lazy and you got me onto XAW which was my TFSA purchase for this year. I have almost 3 years of retirement income in a 3 year GIC ladder plus some HISA’s Over the last 2 years I have derisked our portfolio a little and also have fewer stocks and more ETF’s I do enjoy lazy investing. Cheers Mark.
Great stuff, Don. Ya, I’ve sold off most U.S. $ stocks over the years. I only have a few left. Prefer to own XAW and QQQ for global growth and tech growth respectively beyond my CDN stocks. Just so much easier!
Interesting statistics on the age of retirement. I bet a fair number of people don’t really think about it and just work until 65, later realizing they could have retired earlier. It looks like self-employed has the oldest age of retirement, which could be true if the person loves what they do or has a family business (ie restaurant, store, etc) they don’t want to let go. I consider myself retired because I am no longer doing contracts in the industry I worked for many decades – at the age of 56. However, I am doing other sideline activities that allow me to pay myself a small salary out of my company so it does look like I am still working. I wonder if that skews the results – I could see self employed individuals continuing to be paid out of their company but that the day to day work is managed and done by others.
I thought the ages of retirement were interesting too.
That’s possible…. re: “I bet a fair number of people don’t really think about it and just work until 65, later realizing they could have retired earlier.”
I hope to have a few lil’ projects here and there as I age but I am looking forward to more free time = a bit more part-time work, volunteer work, travel, etc.
I recall you are winding-down the corporation assets now, Sandra? How is that going with your retirement income plan?
My best wishes,
Mark
Yep, it’s extracting funds from our RRSPs and the Corp to drain what we can by the time we draw on CPP/OAS at 70. Excess funds will go into our TFSAs every year to keep them topped up, along with funding our kids TFSAs (instead of waiting for the estate to pay out later, I figure it should compound in their accounts as early as possible instead of our non-reg account). Anything extra will go into a joint non-reg so when we start drawing down government money at 70, we have extra if we are still travelling a lot. The idea is to get as much as we can out before the dreaded OAS clawback, while being as tax efficient as possible. 🙂
Excellent, smart.
Will do the same likely starting in 2026: RRSPs and Corp go first, drain those, while living off dividends from Non-Reg.
Keeping TFSAs until later in life when CCP + OAS come online.
Very wise: “..The idea is to get as much as we can out before the dreaded OAS clawback, while being as tax efficient as possible.”
About 3 years before I retired I started writing down what I would like my retirement to look like. At 63 my lease was up and I was not renewing it. I didn’t know the amount I would have in my portfolio until a few months after our closing down sale but knew I could be comfortable with whatever that number was. I have had to live frugally earlier in my life. The main theme of my list was that I wanted every day to feel like Saturday morning – leisurely morning reading the paper, late breakfast, no specific plans most days. Very little scheduled events and lots of time to spend with family and friends, as well as a volunteer assignment. It has turned out that I am able to do almost all of the items on my list and am thoroughly enjoying my freedom to follow my dreams. My days are filled with things I enjoy including lots of travel. What more could I ask for.
You sound very fortunate, Jan.
I look forward to some volunteer efforts and working a bit here and there in our community. We also look forward to a bit more travel too.
Mark
At my retirement party I said I wasn’t retiring (age 56), just changing direction. Still looking for what that direction might be seven years later. LOL I have no trouble filling my time as much or as little as I want. Plan is to relax this morning after spending yesterday helping my aging mom. Then tonight going to a dear friends 50th birthday party. Monday is TBD and I love it this way.
It’s not about being too young to retire, it’s about being financially independent enough to free up your time and be the privilege of choice on how much you want to continue working. The age is irrelevant. I think that there are millions of Canadians who are or could be, financially independent in some form well before typical retirement age but don’t realize. They continue working full time because it’s safe. They are afraid to take the risk and cut the chord of their safe, full time job. They don’t understand the numbers they might already have to create a freer lifestyle.
Ha, good stuff.
“It’s not about being too young to retire, it’s about being financially independent enough to free up your time and be the privilege of choice on how much you want to continue working. The age is irrelevant.”
I hear ya.
In my early 50s now, the time is now for higher life-work balance. That’s just us but I suspect my colleague at work would have retired sooner if he had the means to do so. For now, we’ll enjoy and contribute to our workplace but looking forward to days whereby we have even more time to enjoy. Thanks for your comment.
Retirement age is a personal choice and you have made the various points to consider.
I retired from my full time job at 56 years of age. Having had heart surgery at age 49 and then later staring at the thought that I might have cancer at 55; I decided something was trying to tell me to make a change.
I retired from full time job, took a few months off and then did some part time work in a totally different line of work. Much less stress. BTW found out I did not have cancer before starting part time work but did not regret quitting full time job. I fully retired at 60 years old.
I’m lucky enough to have a work defined contribution pension plan that I had been saving with which I am withdrawing from part of it I converted to a LIF. I plan to start CPP and OAS at 70.
My partner retired just last year at 65 and has taken CPP and OAS right away.
Between this and a modest RRSP plan plus my LIF we live a modest comfortable life.
Hope all your retirement plans work out for you. 🙂
Thanks for your comment, Ivy.
I hope you are doing well, healthwise.
My wife and I might be fully retired in 2026. We shall see. We enjoy our employer but only wish to work part-time now.
We are likely to start OAS at age 65 and CPP at 70.
Do you mind me asking how much spending you do, per year, after-tax in retirement? Just curious.
Our plan is to spend about $6k per month.
https://www.myownadvisor.ca/financial-independence-budget/
Cheers,
Mark
Hi Mark,
Yes we made a budget before my partner retired fully and it is aprox. the same per month as yourself.
This budget does include some savings for travel and TFSA contributions for both of us.
These of course will change as we age. LOL (My health is good; thanks for well wishes.)
BTW we own our home and have no other big debts.
My rule of thumb has always been not to put anything on credit card unless you can pay it off fully when the payment comes due. Tried to instill with our children but I guess some things just have to be learned for some. They get it now!! Not so much when younger.
Anyway all the best to you and your family.
Like very much your articles and honesty. ;D
Cheers too.
Very smart stuff on the credit cards, Ivy. We do the same! No debt. Don’t wany any!
I appreciate the kind words about the site. It’s fun to run!
Mark
I’ve been retired for the last twenty years and have been content enough with life since. Not missing the worklife whatsoever.
As for Canadian equity investing, for at least the last five years I mostly tend to buy and hold the stray dogs on the TSE that many other investors have sold. They all have one thing in common though, in that they give investors a dividend, whether low yield or high yield. Some companies are growing the dividend to various degrees, some not. If they are not growing the dividends, then they’d better have a high enough dividend yield to get me interested. I always seem to find something to buy or add to monthly.
Hi DividendsOn, what do you mean by stray dogs? Curious with your approach. I have been buying more Canadian dividend paying stocks based somewhat on Beat the TSX, although I think BCE is going to need to cut their dividend so a little to “stray” for me. 🙂
Hi Sandra,
First of all the BTSX is a great approach which is based on the TSX60, but I’ve gone beyond that and also added stocks from other Canadian indexes, even a few small capitilization equities that at the same time distribute dividends to shareholders. It’s sort of a combination of Ben Graham’s Defensive Investor in “The Intelligent Investor” and any of David Dreman’s books on Contrarian Investing which you can find at many public libraries.
So when it comes down to it, monthly I’m usually able to add more shares or occasionally buy a brand new company for our portfolio. In any kind of market there’s always a sector and within that sector individual companies that are out of favour and it’s the latter that I add fresh money to.
Right now as you pointed out communications is out of favour, and if you’d prefer not to invest in BCE, by all means see if you can find another company you personally prefer within that sector. Other sectors that I find out of favour (at least in our own portfolio) is consumer discretionary and also industrials. At the same time I’ve just started building an allocation to the materials sector.
I’m able to collect the monthly dividend stream from our multiple companies and re-invest for more shares and get more yearly income. Basically compounding.
Beyond this, I don’t try to make it any more difficult than this. I’m certainly not an analyst who goes deep diving into the financial statements of the companies in our portfolio. Just do it the easy way, and in many cases it turns out quite well.
I hope this goes at least part way to answering your question.
Thanks for the tips! I’ve been leveraging the approach written about in Henry Mah’s books.
Good stuff. I agree with Henry if you don’t own XIU then use it as a screening tool. I have for 15+ years.
https://www.myownadvisor.ca/how-i-built-my-dividend-portfolio/
Cheers,
Mark
Right on DividendsOn and Sandra! I take a very similar approach to you both. I buy out of favour dividend growth stocks (although a couple in my port haven’t raised recently) Started approach about 15 years ago I also have a DB plan that will start to pay me in the coming months after having spent 30 years at the company. Retired very recently, and plan to stay retired. It’s great to no longer have to stress about work, and enjoy life whether like a lazy Saturday or traveling/exploring.
Amazing. How old now, thesen2?
What stocks do you own to complement your DB plan?
Cheers,
Mark
Hi Mark,
Depends on the acct. I have 43 holdings in total, between Cash, RRSP, and TFSA accounts. Cash and TFSA have Cdn equities including SU.TO, CNQ.TO, CNR.TO, PPL.TO, ENB.TO, TRP.TO, BIPC.TO (through IPL.TO), FTT.TO, MFC.TO, POW.TO, BN.TO, BAM.TO, RY.TO, NA.TO, CM.TO, NA.TO, and EQB.TO. RRSP has mainly AAPL, GOOGL, V, LMT, UNP, WMT, TGT, JNJ, and PFE. I don’t hold ETF’s although at one time I held both XAW.TO and XEF.TO. I’m hoping to dwindle my holdings from 43 to between 30 and 35.
I’m currently 55, going on 56 later this year.
Tks, thesen2
Realized I missed T.TO, RCIb.TO, EMA.TO, and FTS.TO. There’s a few other smaller positions not worth noting here, likely to be amalgamated to those already mentioned.
Tks, thesen2
Good stuff.
Great list. I suspect those stocks deliver good income? We’re down to under 30 CDN stocks now and just a few U.S. stocks beyond my main equity ETFs = XAW and QQQ for growth, along with a small bit of HEQT in my LIRA.
Hi Mark,
Yes, I’m satisfied with the income, and both the values of the portfolio and annual income grows fairly well. I’ve cherry picked from the QQQ. I get dividend growth from those that have lower yields (ATD, BN, etc…) growing at a faster level than those with higher yields. Will be starting an RRSP meltdown of most US holdings, beginning in 2026 after the last of employer income. I have DB pension payments starting soon. Will use that to top up my cash account (+ div cash flow) and contributions each year to the TFSA acct. My wife, who is younger than I, still works and also has a DB pension, but with gov’t versus mine which was with a public company.
I started my dividend journey around 2008, at beginning of the GFC.
thesen2
You and I are very similar….ramped up my dividend stock + ETF investing around 2008-2009, just prior and during the GFC.
Ya, interesting. I don’t like cherry picking tech stocks so I own QQQ instead.
I like BN, had it in my porfolio for a few years now. Should be/hope it is a great grower for the coming decades.
You seem to have a very good plan in place! Stay in touch.
Mark
Great stuff.
Very similar….in that utilites were out of favour some time ago and I bought more. My when-in-doubt purchase over the last 5+ years is XAW.
Mark
Great stuff. re: 20 years. 🙂
Ya, I figured that was your case. I don’t mind lower-yieldings stocks and higher growth and vice-versa. I recall Henry is more of a yield-guy a bit with just 12 Canadian stocks.
You and I are similar in that we have (I think?) about 25-30 Canadian stocks + U.S. assets.
Some of my best stocks are the ones that pay low dividends, go figure. 🙂
Mark
We’re up to 35 all-Canadian companies in the taxable portfolio now Mark. I’m not Warren Buffet in abilities but what I can do with our cash flow from dividends is I plan to eventually expand beyond even that number. Especially as I may add more equities over time to our newest and eighth sector in this portfolio, materials. I learned from being invested in the tech crash of the early 2000’s and again in the financial crisis of 2008-early 2009 that it may not be a great idea to be invested with too much of a percentage allocation to any one sector.
Still own global indexed ETF’s in our much smaller registered accounts.
Good stuff. I don’t own many materials. XMA may be a good way to play that? Or, just own XIU beyond your existing stocks and get a bit. That’s what I will probably do for my wife and I aswe get older – just buy XIU for Canada to simplify and keep my existing CDN stocks for cashflow + XAW, QQQ, HEQT for growth.
XAW + QQQ making up close to 20% of the portfolio and will grow quite a bit more when I get my wife’s DC plan/LIRA to invest in later this year in the latter part of 2025.