Planning for the Future

I’ve always had investments of some kind, my parents set them up in our name. When we moved the investor was a moron. She thought it cute that my parents were teaching us to save at such a young age and didn’t really help guide to the right accounts for our goals. She thought it darling that a 14-year-old wanted to save for a down payment for a house.

My parents had always worked with their friends. People who would call them at the end of the year and tell them if they needed to adjust their strategy. When we moved this was no longer the case and it was a hard lesson.

I’ve come a long way since that 14-year-old and meeting with the current financial advisor (FA) highlighted some of the gaps I still have but let me see how far I’ve come.

I don’t want to retire early but I want to have a nice pile by 55 so if I have career difficulty I can take a break. The FA doesn’t really get this so he’s choosing to think of it as an early retirement option that I’m creating so I can find my passion.

We had a brief conversation about passions but it turns out I’m not waiting. I am aware of my passions now and I’m pursuing them. In that case, what am I saving for?

I’m saving because:

• I want a similar paycheque in retirement
• I  want to know that if I get ill at the end I’ll be taken care of. I’d like to hire staff to care for me at home rather than go into a facility.
• I want to fund my funeral and have a bit leftover.

While both ML and I currently have TermLife Insurance to cover the house we don’t have Full Life. This happened when we decided to not have kids. For us, Full Life meant we could leave an inheritance to any children we have.

Now chances are good statistically speaking and based on our families, I will outlive ML by at least 15 years. Currently, my planning incorporates that. If however, I were to die first after we retired ML would lose a huge chunk of change.

While there were some things I didn’t like about FA, I definitely appreciated having this drawn out.

ML and I come from nuclear families that are very similar in the way we treat death. While mine is more religious in the end there is a cremation, scattering or burying of the ashes and a party.

Apparently, ML’s parents differ greatly from the culture they were raised in. They detest the idea of a viewing! Making them much like my culture. I’m less religious than my parents so my plan is:

• Cremation
• Urn/scattering
• Catered party at the house or a restaurant depending how the survivors feel
• No church service

Trying to not re-start the Cycle

I’ve taken a break from posting because I did the bad thing…I took a break from properly budgeting. I had started doing weekly checks with myself when I discovered early on that this system works best for me. Then we started the kitchen renovation last month and boy did the spending get overwhelming fast. This seems like a great time to reinstate monthly debriefing!

TRACKING

•  # Buy nothing days :3
• # times ate out/purchased take out: 15
• # activities with loved ones: 10 (I’ve gotten bad at tracking this)
• $ saved at Costco: ?
• % over or under budget: 24% over budget (this means that I’ve overspent my paycheque as well)

CELEBRATE:

• We’re nearly through the kitchen renovation
• We opted for pretty healthy options for the most part when eating out
• Recommitted to my work out routine

DIP INTO SAVINGS/CREDIT

• The washing machine died and we were able to put it on the same deferred payment plan as the kitchen
• The kitchen and home renovation pieces are all coming out of savings right now which feels pretty good

KEEP IN MIND

We began a major home renovation. Though I tried to fight the urge to buy new, pretty things for the kitchen I did succumb and purchase new mats, a pretty colander, jars to hold dry goods, and a much needed spoon. Our grocery spending seemed excessive but was a good reminder that purchasing ‘convenience’ food is definitely more expensive than purchasing ingredients.

OVERALL

March was a whirlwind of spending. I’ve already begun April  without a lot of clear though but I’m definitely going to attempt to make it a bit of a frugal month.