The headline of a throwaway article on my newsfeed recently drew my attention to a topic that I’d not considered before. It proclaimed that part of the boredom that besets some retirees comes from the loss of an audience. Not just any audience, mind you – it’s about being seen to do things that matter by people who matter. Feeling purpose comes from feeling valued. Retirees who jump into volunteer opportunities that bring them in […]

There’s a quiet misconception about how to build passive income that refuses to die. That the people pulling it off are somehow different. Smarter. Earlier. Braver. Richer. Better positioned. They’re not. Most of them are just… normal. Busy. Slightly skeptical. Often late to the party and unsure if it’ll even work. That’s what makes their stories interesting. Because passive income, when you strip away the hype, isn’t built by superheroes. It’s built by people who […]

Tweet Every man takes the limits of his own field of vision for the limits of the world. Arthur Schopenhauer This is my one hundred and eleventh monthly portfolio update. I complete this regular update to check progress against my goal. Portfolio goal My objective is to maintain a portfolio of at least $3,250,000. This should be capable of producing an annual income from total portfolio returns of about $112,000 (in 2026 dollars). This portfolio objective is based on an assumed safe withdrawal […]

So, I’m sitting in a room full of people who actually get excited about personal finance. If you’ve never been to events like Benjamins After Dark meetups, just imagine a bunch of financially curious people gathered together to talk money, share wins, laugh at their past mistakes, and generally nerd out on things most people avoid at dinner parties. It’s kind of my people! lol And then Kirsten and Andy Braulick got up to speak, […]

I’m now 99.9% sure that I have updated all my auto-pays both personally and professionally to use either my personal or business debit card or my Apple Cash account (secondary to that is my personal debit.) I’ve worked up a system this past month that feels both manageable and secure to me. I know someone commented on my post about this process asking why it would take the month to make this transition. Because of my business, I actually have a pretty large number of auto-pays set up. While I pay most annually to take advantage of discounts, there are still quite a few monthly ones. Sorting those out took some time. I have 5 monthly auto pay bills set up for my business and about triple that in annual charges. None are not significant individually, but when added up, it could quickly get me in trouble. (The largest one time charge I pay is $394.) In addition, I have 8 monthly auto pay bills personally. These include things like health insurance premium, auto insurance premium (although I’ve been trying to pay this every 6 months), etc. It definitely took some time and attention to make sure everything was set up correctly. But I’m pretty confident I’m ready for this clean break! And pretty proud of this step as well. Sharing the Why At the same time, I’ve been communicating what I’m doing with the kiddos. Taking the Dave Ramsey class, getting rid of all my credit cards, what I’m learning each week. (Tomorrow’s class is about Investing, I know I’ll learn alot there.) I’ve had the 3 youngest watch some of the class snippets that I thought were really good. Especially his definition of the credit score or rather debt score. Life is calm now. For probably the first time in 20 years. Lots of time in my head and to process and think through next steps. And look at my screw ups with some perspective and distance without feeling like I’m drinking out of a firehose.       The post No More Credit appeared first on Blogging Away Debt.

Save, invest, prosper with My Own Advisor. Canadians now need $1.7 million to retire Headlining the latest in retirement income planning news, on average, Canadian couples say they need $1.7 million in savings to be able to retire comfortably, BMO’s Annual Retirement Survey says. You might remember this figure is up from $1.54 million in last year’s survey that I highlighted here.… Join the million dollar portfolio journey. The article Canadians now need $1.7 million […]

Trigger Warning: Dena’s talk included discussion of suicide and suicide attempt. If you or someone you know is struggling, please reach out to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988. Okay, I’ll be honest with you. I wasn’t expecting to get all emotional at a conference. I figured I’d sit in on some sessions, grab some good ideas, connect with some people, and head home with a notebook full of actionable […]

Retirement income can be built in two fundamentally different ways. You can rely on markets and portfolio growth to fund withdrawals, or you can rely on contractual income backed by legal guarantees. Most retirement plans use a mix of both. The real decision is how much of your retirement lifestyle you are comfortable leaving exposed to market outcomes.  Contractual income means your cash flow is defined by contract rather than by market performance. The payment […]