Comments on: Quarterly Net Worth Update: Q2 2023

By: Court and Nic

Court and Nic — Sat, 29 Jul 2023 13:31:06 +0000

In reply to Bob Wen.

Thanks Bob 🙂 Nic keeps asking when I’ll stop tracking everything but I’m not sure if my brain is capable of that (yet)!

So far the stress tests have been going well. While we still keep our “target” withdrawal based off our initial retirement date/number, it’s nice to see what the portfolio is showing from time tot time to make sure we’re on track.

Yea for us to spend more than 4% at this point would be a challenge! And correct, that 4% figure does not account for a few additional “safety net” accounts we have.

By: Bob Wen

Bob Wen — Fri, 28 Jul 2023 18:46:50 +0000

Court, you (working with Nic too, I’m sure) are in a great financial position. It’s smart to stress test your plan periodically as things can change very quickly; sometimes good, sometimes bad. Testing your annual withdrawal rate against the 4% Rule hammers home that you’re in the safe zone. You literally had to distort reality to find yourself above 4%. And, I think that was without the 401K, HSA, etc.

I know from personal experience that it’s no easy feat to keep track of everything. Keep up the great work!

By: The King of GIFs

The King of GIFs — Wed, 26 Jul 2023 10:24:54 +0000

In reply to Chrissy @ Eat Sleep Breathe FI. I hear that they have fantastic credit card deals in Hawaii!

By: Court and Nic

Court and Nic — Fri, 21 Jul 2023 02:29:06 +0000

In reply to Chrissy @ Eat Sleep Breathe FI. I’m still shocked at the numbers! Yea the Canadian cc game is super lacklustre! And like you said, without a high personal/household income it makes it even harder!

By: Chrissy @ Eat Sleep Breathe FI

Chrissy @ Eat Sleep Breathe FI — Thu, 20 Jul 2023 20:56:28 +0000

I love these updates and seeing how you and Nic continue to make the most of the bonus income you receive.

As always, I’m super jealous of your access to US credit card bonuses. It’s a lot harder to save up huge points balances in Canada. (And even harder in retirement, with no employment income to report!)

By: Court and Nic

Court and Nic — Thu, 20 Jul 2023 14:19:25 +0000

In reply to Chris.

Love how similar our setups are! We love IHG too – that’s the hotel chain we used for Portugal when we stayed in hotels there and the rooms were nice and the continental breakfasts were SO good! Love their 4th night free benefit too. We’re slowing starting to shift our focus on more hotel deals vs airline deals for points but can’t go wrong with any cc churn.

We’re in the same boat as you. We have them sent to a family member in the States and then they send it up to us. It makes earning the min spend hard sometimes but we’ve managed to make it work. We use the CC to buy my moms monthly groceries via ordering a gift card online that gets sent to her and then she e-transfers us the amount. Without that extra boost, it would be super challenging to meet some of these min spend requirements given a shorter timeframe to reach time with all the time bouncing around in the mail.

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 20 Jul 2023 11:57:09 +0000

Every time you post these — I’m struck by how similar our situations are! So many of the numbers are so close (down to our point totals in various CC reward programs). We love IHG, and feel like they’re often forgotten about in the travel hacking blogosphere (perhaps because they don’t pay a high referral fee?). And Ultimate Rewards are great. We also like CapitalOne’s Venture Rewards.

Can I ask how you physically get your US credit cards? Do you have a family member or friend ship them to you? That’s what we do, but I’m interested in professional shipping options as a backup plan, and my understanding is that most mail forwarders won’t do it.