Totally agree Dmitry that the setup you describe is the more tax efficient way to do it. However, when we moved from our townhouse to our single family home – we were down to a single part time income as we transitioned to FI. Unfortunately, the lenders only care about income coming in vs what’s in your bank account. So while we could have paid for our home 4x, that didn’t matter. In order for us to qualify for the mortgage on our new to us home, we had to pay off the mortgage on the townhouse. Some of the pitfalls of not having to work I suppose! We had mentioned this at some point in the past – it’s definitely a good reminder to anyone reading that some strategies may not be possible once you reach financial independence. Cheers!

The more we talk about it with others, the more clear it all becomes in my head!

Next thing we know, we all will have to keep up with Finn’s pace on hikes.

So excited we got to see you both during your travels – cheers to more!

We can’t wait to hang out with you gals in our new place!

Thanks Chris! These first 3 months have been awesome, here’s to 12 more!

Great to see you as well my friend!

Haha knowing Nic, next thing you know we will be flipping camper vans 🙃

Thank you friend and thank you for the nudge of encouragement 🙂 These past few months have really helped me development the mindset needed to get over One More Year Syndrome.

Hahah! I don’t know if we could be ahead if there’s a market crash! But knowing Nic and I, I’m sure we will come up with some sort of workaround to weather the storm! Rent out our house and go live in Mexico for a year and live solely off the rental income??

Thank you Kevin! These net worth updates have turned into some of the more enjoyable posts for me to write. So happy to hear you are in a similar situation! Totally understand the concerns given current market conditions. That’s always a concern in the back of my head too. But we figure if sequence of returns do not go in our favour during the first few years we have no issues working a low stress part time job at say a coffee shop or sports centre to weather the storm. Or of course we can easily reduce our spending by a few hundred dollars a month. To us, that’s a more enjoyable route than putting in another year or two living the corporate life.

Thanks Dave! Man “One More Year” syndrome is so so real, I totally get where your brain is at! It took me over 5 months to shift from full time to part time in 2019 because we were soooo close to the end goal but I can say with 10000% certainty, it was the best decision ever and I’m so glad I did it. And now this test trial into the FIRE life is only making me have more clarity on family > work. If you’re feeling hesitant with your numbers, you very likely can pick up some fun side gig while your daughter is in school making you $10k/year which very likely will smooth out the ride. I’d be super curious to hear back with an update if you do decide to switch ti part time or take a sabbatical and see how your thoughts have evolved at that point!

Thanks Rajeev! Compound interest truly is magical when we look back over the past few years. That initial ~$100k net worth was definitely driven by our savings whereas now the markets are working hard for us. Make sure to enjoy your journey along the way and I’m sure you’ll be replacing that salary soon!