We’re finishing up 2020 with our 12th interview as part of the FIRE Community Guest Interview Series!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n For anyone new here, this interview series will cover people within the FIRE community who are on their way to becoming financially independent, have already reached financial independence, or who have retired early. If you are reading this and you are financially independent, retired early, or close to reaching these major financial milestones,\u00a0<\/span>please reach out to the Modern Fimily!<\/span><\/a>\u00a0You can\u00a0<\/span>check out the previous FIRE Community Guest Interviews here<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n Before we dig in, we have another featured post announcement we wanted to let you know about.\u00a0 We were honored to be approached by LowestRates.ca<\/a> to answer the following question “Given the current economic climate, should consumers secure a fixed rate or variable rate mortgage, and why?”\u00a0 Any guesses on our response?\u00a0 Check out the post to read on take on this topic \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n The coolest part about this was to see our response among some familiar personal finance names that we recognize in this small little space of the world including Mark from My Own Advisor, Bella Wanana, and Kari from Money in your Tea.\u00a0 Cheers guys!<\/p>\n And as always, this post, along with any other external features can be found on our Guest Appearances page<\/a>.<\/p>\n And a final quick reminder about The Abundant Family Summit<\/a> taking place January 2-3, 2021 – ah just a few days away!\u00a0 Hope you all enjoy this free event.<\/p>\n I am so excited to share this next interview!\u00a0 Many of you may recognize this next guest as she is very active in the FI space, especially the Canadian FI space.\u00a0 Today, we have the pleasure of having Chrissy from the blog Eat Sleep Breathe FI<\/a> and co-host of the Explore FI Canada<\/a> podcast on to tackle our interview questions.\u00a0 There is SO much amazing content between her two platforms.\u00a0 I highly recommend checking them both out.<\/span><\/p>\n Chrissy is a stay-at-home mom with two boys living in a high cost of living city (Vancouver, B.C.) with her husband.\u00a0 She is showcasing that you CAN reach FI in your 40s with kids<\/strong> in a HCOL <\/strong> area on a single income<\/strong>.\u00a0 <\/span>Chrissy and I are on so many of the same wavelengths it’s pretty crazy (warning this post is long as we are both very detailed oriented).\u00a0 She has become a great friend and I’m so glad we’ve connected through the FI space to geek out over random investments related conversations.\u00a0 She truly is passionate about financial independence and genuinely wants to help others along their way.\u00a0 I’d coin her the nickname “Optimizer Extraordinaire” \ud83d\ude42\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I hope you appreciate these responses as much as I do and hope you can relate to these guest interviews in some sense to see that there is no cookie-cutter way to FI. If you have any follow up questions or would like to get in touch with Chrissy, please check out her blog, Eat Sleep Breathe FI<\/a><\/span>, or leave a comment on this post. Without further ado, take it away Chrissy!<\/span><\/p>\n 1. Can you give us a little background of who you are, what you do, and how you became interested in personal finance? How did you discover the idea of financial independence?<\/strong><\/p>\n I\u2019m a stay-at-home mom and FI blogger\/podcaster. I live in Vancouver, BC with my husband, two boys, and our dog Mika. We\u2019re a regular, middle-class family aiming for FI in our 40s (despite living in Canada\u2019s most expensive city)!<\/p>\n I’ve always had a good handle on my money, thanks to my parents. They immigrated from Hong Kong in the 60s, and arrived in Canada with very little. My siblings and I grew up watching them work and save hard to give us a better life\u2026 and the lessons stuck.<\/p>\n My mom worked at a bank, where she learned about RRSPs, TFSAs, and investing. She shared her financial knowledge with us, and that\u2019s how I became interested in personal finance.<\/p>\n I discovered financial independence in 2014 when researching how much we needed to retire. I stumbled across Mr. Money Mustache’s\u00a0The Shockingly Simple Math Behind Early Retirement<\/em><\/a>\u00a0and that\u00a0was it. I was hooked, and down the FI rabbit hole I went!<\/p>\n 2. When in your journey did you realize financial independence was actually possible? Was that the original goal at the beginning?<\/strong><\/p>\n When I discovered MMM, I realized we were already on the path to FI. We just needed to get even more intentional with our saving and spending to speed up our progress.<\/p>\n Pre-MMM, the goal was just to retire at 65\u2014like everyone else. I thought anything younger was just for startup billionaires or other lucky people. But when I found the FIRE community, I discovered that we were a lot closer to financial independence than I’d thought.<\/p>\n Our new goal became retiring in our 40s. (Which really just means my husband gets to retire! As a stay-at-home mom, I\u2019m essentially \u2018retired\u2019 already.)<\/p>\n 3. To help put things into context, if you are comfortable sharing some numbers, what is your savings rate, FIRE number, net worth, salary, how many hours a week do you work, etc? <\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n As much as I\u2019d love to share our numbers, this is one area where I try to maintain some privacy\u2026 so no juicy details here! However, I will reveal a few things:<\/p>\n 4. How long have you been working towards financial independence and where are you today?<\/strong><\/p>\n We\u2019ve been working towards FI since I discovered it in 2014. At that point, we were only 20% of the way. Between 2014 and the end of 2018, we made good progress and reached 70% of the way to FI.<\/p>\n However, in early 2019, we decided to slow down. My husband wanted to\u00a0buy his dream car<\/a>\u00a0and build in some extra padding for future spending. This added a few years to our FI timeline, but we were okay with that. For us, it\u2019s more important to live our best lives now\u2014even if it means slowing our timeline to FI.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t reveal our current progress to FI because, again\u2026 privacy! But I will say I\u2019m currently 42 years old, and we will reach FI in our 40s. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n 5. Do you feel deprived? <\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>Do you feel like you are sacrificing and missing out on life? <\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Not at all! This is one of my biggest pet peeves when people complain about the FI movement. They assume that we live sad, deprived lives. This couldn\u2019t be further from the truth. Like most FI seekers, we choose to cut back on what we don\u2019t value and spend more on things that we do.<\/p>\n For example, my husband and I cut back on cable TV, cell phone plans, and luxury items so that we can splurge on food, travel, and other things we enjoy. However, I will say we\u2019ve sacrificed something\u2014but it\u2019s not what you might expect.<\/p>\n What we\u2019ve sacrificed is FI in our 30s. We made this conscious choice so that one of us (me) could be at home full-time to raise our kids. This not only doesn\u2019t feel like a sacrifice to us, but it\u2019s actually given us a fuller, happier life.<\/p>\n 6. How would you say your mindset has shifted throughout your FI journey?<\/strong><\/p>\n When I first discovered FI, I wanted to reach our number ASAP. I drove myself and my husband crazy, trying to cut back and optimize every last thing. As you can imagine, that was neither a sustainable nor healthy mindset.<\/p>\n I realized that I needed to balance my drive to succeed with our need to live a happy, fulfilling life throughout the journey. Nowadays, I follow the\u00a0Slow FI mindset<\/a>\u2014where the journey to FI is as remarkable as the destination.<\/p>\n 7. What do you spend your money on and what don<\/strong>\u2019<\/strong>t you spend your money on? What brings you happiness and joy? How much money do these things cost?<\/strong><\/p>\n As previously mentioned, we don\u2019t spend money on things we don\u2019t value, such as fancy clothing or expensive cell phone plans. However, there are three things that we happily spend more on: travel, groceries, and eating out.<\/p>\n Here’s why:<\/p>\n At 12 and 15, our kids are getting close to the age where they’ll be too busy (or unwilling) to travel with us. They’re also at perfect ages to appreciate and handle international travel. That’s why we take advantage of every opportunity to travel with them now (even though it’s\u00a0so<\/em>\u00a0expensive)! We very much look forward to travelling again, once it\u2019s safe to do so.<\/p>\n While we buy most groceries in bulk and on sale, we’ll happily spend extra on things like nice cheese, good bread, or fun\/unique\/better ingredients. We’re HUGE foodies, so this extra spending brings us a lot of happiness.<\/p>\n Eating out is one of our favourite things to spend money on. However, it can get really expensive, so we try to be mindful about it. To do this, we try to eat out for enjoyment and the experience\u2014not just for convenience or sustenance.<\/p>\n 8. Do you use a budget? <\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>Do you track your expenses? Do you track your net worth? If so, how often do you update these?<\/strong><\/p>\n We have never used a budget in the traditional sense, where we have set amounts that we try to spend within. That\u2019s because we\u2019ve always had an intuitive sense of how much we spend and haven\u2019t had issues with overspending.<\/p>\n However, I\u2019m downright\u00a0obsessive<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>when it comes to\u00a0tracking our expenses and net worth! Every two weeks, I look forward to reconciling all our transactions in YNAB. And every month, I can\u2019t wait to update our investment numbers in Excel. (Yes, I\u2019m a total money nerd.)<\/p>\n 9. As a FIRE member living in Canada, are there any pros to living in Canada specifically that have helped you along your journey? <\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>Conversely, any cons?<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n I have to start this answer by saying how much Court<\/em>\u2019<\/em>s influenced my opinion on FIRE in Canada. She sings the praises of Canada so much that I<\/em>\u2019<\/em>ve come to fully appreciate the advantages we have. \ud83d\ude42<\/em><\/p>\n One specific pro that benefits our FIRE journey is\u00a0being able to roll over unused contribution room in our RRSPs and TFSAs. (In comparison: in the US, unused 401k and Roth IRA contribution room is wiped out every year.)<\/p>\n In our younger years, my husband and I didn\u2019t earn enough to max out our RRSPs and TFSAs. But once I discovered FIRE in 2014 and took charge of our investing, it was very helpful to have all that contribution room to work with!<\/p>\n Another pro to living in Canada is the favourable tax rate for all capital gains. (Unlike in the US, there\u2019s no differentiation between short and long-term capital gains.) While this doesn\u2019t affect most of our investments since we\u2019re long-term, buy-and-hold investors, it does give us an advantage when it comes to my husband\u2019s stock options.<\/p>\n That\u2019s because we always try to sell his stock options immediately, to avoid being overly invested in one stock. It\u2019s helpful that we don\u2019t have to hold onto these stock options just to qualify for a more-favourable tax rate.<\/p>\n As for the cons of living in Canada, I started coming up with a list of long-believed gripes. But after doing some research, I found none of them were actually true! For example:<\/p>\n Myths aside, I can name a couple of areas where Canadians are at a disadvantage. For one, it\u2019s very difficult to get to zero (or even close to zero) in income taxes. (I know you can if you\u2019re heavily invested in Canadian dividend stocks. But I wouldn\u2019t invest in such an undiversified way, so it\u2019s not really an option.)<\/p>\n Another con of living in Canada is our higher grocery costs. It always shocks me to hear of American families (with kids) who spend only $300\u2013$400 per month on their groceries. I think we\u2019d only be able to achieve that if we were vegans with tiny appetites!<\/p>\n 10. What would you say are some differences that you<\/strong>\u2019<\/strong>ve encountered compared to many of the American based FIRE bloggers out there?<\/strong><\/p>\n Based on the American FIRE blogs I follow, I feel that FIRE is far more politicized in the US than in Canada. This isn\u2019t just based on the current election turbulence, but something I\u2019ve noticed all along. (Note: this isn\u2019t a criticism\u2014just an observation.)<\/p>\n It seems a lot of it has to do with the healthcare system and how dependent it is on who\u2019s in power. But, seeing as major changes to health insurance could jeopardize a FIRE-seeker\u2019s plans, I can see why a FIRE blog may need to wade into politics from time to time.<\/p>\n Another hot-button topic that\u2019s not nearly as much of an issue in Canada is the cost of higher education. It\u2019s breathtaking how much some schools can cost and how large student loans can get. (But I find it inspiring to hear of FIRE community members who find creative ways to get around high education costs.)<\/p>\n It\u2019s not all bad though\u2014there\u2019s also a lot to envy in the US. My jaw drops when I read about the high incomes and\/or low expenses many Americans are able to achieve. We just don\u2019t see those extremes here in Canada (and certainly not both at once)!<\/p>\n I also marvel at the seemingly-endless supply of cheap, high-ROI real estate. Somehow, the US has an abundance of real estate that easily meets the 1% rule (and then some)! In Canada, these kinds of deals are few and far between.<\/p>\n 11. As a parent pursuing FIRE, have you found that having a child has greatly delayed your timeline to FIRE? <\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>On average, how much money have you spent on your child per year? <\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>What were some of the bigger costs that were worth it and what were some of the bigger costs that were not worth it?<\/strong><\/p>\n Our kids have\u00a0definitely<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>delayed our timeline to FIRE. But it\u2019s not so much that they cost a lot of money (they don\u2019t) but more so that we lost my income when I chose to stay at home with them. My best guess is that this decision delayed our timeline to FIRE by a decade.<\/p>\n On average, we spend just under $4,000 per child, per year (not including vacation expenses). My boys are currently 12 and 15, and this is the breakdown of how much we spend on them (per child):<\/p>\n I can honestly say that \u00a0all our costs, big or small, were worth it for our kids. We regret none of it because we spent every dollar on them mindfully and purposefully. However, I do think we\u2019d have regrets if we\u2019d spent on our children in an effort to keep up with their friends.<\/p>\n Things like the latest gadgets, cell phone plans, and expensive summer camps are all the norm in their peer group. These things are of value to some families, but not to us. If we\u2019d indulged our kids in order to be like everyone else, we\u2019d definitely have a list of kid spending that we felt was not worth it.<\/p>\n 12. Do you have an RESP opened up for your children? <\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>Are you planning to contribute towards their post-secondary education?<\/strong><\/p>\n Definitely\u2014we set up their RESPs almost as soon as we brought them home from the hospital!<\/p>\n We\u2019re very fortunate that my parents have helped to fund half of our kids\u2019 RESP contributions from day one. My parents didn\u2019t have the opportunity to attend post-secondary, so it was very important to them that we and our kids had that chance.<\/p>\n My parents\u2019 contributions, along with ours, have allowed us to max out our kids\u2019 RESPs and receive 100% of their grant money every year. At ages 12 and 15, we already have more than enough to fund 4-year degrees for each of them.<\/p>\n By the time they graduate from high school, we should have enough to cover just about any educational path they choose. However, if they end up short, we will help out, while also encouraging them to work during the summers and apply for scholarships.<\/p>\n 13. With the cost of living in BC (Vancouver specifically) being so high, would you ever consider moving to a lower cost of living area? <\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>If so, where would it be?<\/strong><\/p>\n Court and I have discussed this a number of times, so she already knows my answer! I\u2019d\u00a0love<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>to move to a lower cost of living area, but it\u2019s unlikely that we ever would. The biggest reason? We have a large and tight-knit family and we\u2019d miss them too much.<\/p>\n I\u2019m also a Vancouver girl through and through\u2014I love this city! No matter where in the world I find myself, I always yearn to come home. But just for fun, if we were to move, here are some of the places that would be high on my list:<\/p>\n 14. As a Canadian pursuing FIRE, what are your post-FIRE thoughts\/plans regarding health coverage? <\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>As a reference, what do you currently pay annually or monthly for health-related costs? What do you estimate your post-FIRE health costs to be per year?<\/strong><\/p>\n Currently, my husband’s extended health plan covers almost all our costs (it\u2019s an excellent plan). Because his plan is so comprehensive, we have very few out-of-pocket costs right now. (On average, it\u2019s under $500 per year.)<\/p>\n Post-FIRE, our financial planner has included $2,000\/year in our financial plan to cover healthcare expenses. This should be enough to pay for things like dental care, eye care, and prescription medications.<\/p>\n As far as how we\u2019ll pay for these expenses (insurance or out of pocket) I was leaning towards paying out of pocket. However, we recently recorded a podcast where\u00a0we discussed extended health plans with a financial planner<\/a>.<\/p>\n She reminded us that there are situations where unexpected drug costs could be catastrophic for a retiree. This recently happened to a close family member of ours who suddenly found themselves needing to spend $400 per month on a specific medication for the rest of their life.<\/p>\n This really hit home for us, so I\u2019ll likely be looking into an extended health plan before my husband quits his job.<\/p>\n 15. What is your investment strategy? Do you invest in mutual funds, index funds, dividend growth stocks, real estate, other businesses, etc.? <\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>Has your investment strategy changed over the years?<\/strong><\/p>\n Our current investment strategy uses an index investing approach. Our investments are managed by an investment manager, who is overseen by our financial planner.<\/p>\n My strategy has evolved a lot over the years. When I started investing in 1999, all my investing knowledge was from my mom, who worked at a bank. At the time, the best that she and I knew to invest in was Canadian bank stocks and expensive mutual funds.<\/p>\n However, despite the high expenses and lack of diversification, I still managed to do okay with my investments. That was largely because I was 100% in equities and bought shares on sale during and after the Dot-com crash.<\/p>\n In 2014, I discovered the Canadian Couch Potato strategy and became a DIY investor. I sold off my bank stocks and mutual funds and switched to low-cost index ETFs. From the start, I opted to invest in US-listed ETFs and use\u00a0Norbert\u2019s Gambit<\/a>\u00a0to exchange our money. (We had enough invested to make the extra hassles worth it.)<\/p>\n In 2017, I did a lot of research to see if real estate investing was right for me. Unfortunately, I couldn\u2019t make the numbers work, so I scrapped that idea. I also looked into investing in mortgages through my RRSP (which\u00a0the FI Garage discussed on their show<\/a>) but decided to keep things simple and stuck with index ETFs.<\/p>\n In 2018, we started working with our financial planner and moved our investments to one of his investment managers. He invests our money using an index-like approach, balanced between Canada, US and international.<\/p>\n We’re still invested this way today, and couldn\u2019t be happier. Initially, I had a really hard time letting go of DIY investing. But nearly three years later, I very much appreciate the added value and time savings from having our money professionally managed.<\/p>\n 16. If you could go back in time and change things, what would you have done differently?<\/strong><\/p>\n I would\u2019ve taken charge of our investments a lot earlier\u2014from day one. I also would\u2019ve started the Smith Manoeuvre as soon as we bought our first home. If I had done these two things, we would’ve easily reached FI in our 30s!<\/p>\n I try not to cry too much when I think of all the potential I let slip away in those early years! That\u2019s why I do my best to encourage new investors (especially young ones) to get educated, then just get started.<\/p>\n 17. Has discovering financial independence changed how you view your job and life overall?<\/strong><\/p>\n Definitely\u2014I’m grateful everyday for my ‘job’ of being a stay-at-home mom. But if we hadn’t made FI-friendly choices all along our path (even before we discovered FI) we wouldn’t have been able to afford this privilege.<\/p>\n For my husband, discovering FI has helped him to realize how much he actually enjoys his job. (So much so, that he plans to continue working even when he no longer needs the paycheque.) I don’t think he’d have that clarity if not for all the FI conversations we’ve had.<\/p>\n Discovering FI has also changed how I view my husband\u2019s job. I\u2019m so grateful for the amazing job he has and how much it has benefited us. It\u2019s because of his job and his company that we\u2019re where we are today.<\/p>\n As for how FI has changed my view on life, the biggest change is that I\u2019m way more intentional with all our life decisions. Having a FI mindset has helped me to\u00a0really<\/em>\u00a0know what’s important to us (financial and time freedom) and what’s not (a bigger house or luxury cars).<\/p>\n 18. Do you take advantage of tax-advantaged accounts offered to you? <\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>If so, which ones and how so? Do you have a game plan to be able to withdraw from these funds early without getting hit with a penalty?<\/strong><\/p>\n We max out our RRSPs, TFSAs, and RESPs every year. My husband contributes a portion of his salary through his group RRSP to get the maximum employer match. The rest of our RRSP contributions are made through our investment manager.<\/p>\n We take advantage of income splitting by putting all my husband\u2019s contributions into my spousal RRSPs. (For those who aren’t familiar with spousal RRSPs: all the contributions are deductible from my husband’s income, but withdrawals will be taxed in my hands.)<\/p>\n As far as a withdrawal gameplan, I rely on our financial planner to help us optimize that. This is my understanding of what he\u2019s planned for us:<\/p>\n To be honest, I find the math behind optimizing withdrawals to be very complex! This is when I think a financial planner can offer a lot of value. Even if you only engage one to help you with this stage of your financial planning, I think it’s worth every penny.<\/p>\n Some extra notes on withdrawals<\/strong><\/p>\n 19. Where do you see yourself in the next year, 5 years, 10 years?<\/strong><\/p>\n Things will largely be the same for us in the next year and the next five years. We plan to continue working towards FI, with a Slow FI mindset. That means we’ll prioritize our enjoyment of the journey to FI, rather than focus on getting there as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n In 10 years, we’ll definitely have reached FI\u2014hooray! But my husband loves his job and company, so he’ll likely continue to work. (However, if possible, he may scale back to a part-time position to have more time for hobbies and volunteering.)<\/p>\n As for me, our boys will be 25 and 22 by then. They’ll likely still be living at home, but largely living their own lives. That means my job as a stay-at-home mom will be mostly obsolete!<\/p>\n While I’m already feeling sad about that, the bright side is I’ll finally have more time to myself. I’d love to still be blogging and podcasting, and I also plan to volunteer for organizations that are near and dear to my heart.<\/p>\n Additionally, my husband and I plan to do\u00a0a lot<\/em> more traveling! I’d love to start a bucket list and work through our dream destinations one at a time. I can’t wait!<\/p>\n 20. Have you come out of the FIRE closet yet? Meaning, do your friends, family, co-workers etc. know about your financial independence goals? <\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>If so, how did you bring it up and what were their reactions? If not, why not? Why do you struggle with this conversation and why do you feel that money such a taboo topic?<\/strong><\/p>\n Court and I are opposites here! My entire family knows about my blog and my FIRE journey, but most of our friends and coworkers don’t know a thing.<\/p>\n I was very comfortable coming out of the FIRE closet with my family because we’re all frugal, value-oriented, and careful with our money. Like me, they quickly and easily took to the FI message because it aligns well with how we already live our lives.<\/p>\n With friends and my husband’s co-workers, it’s a different story. I\u2019m nervous about their reactions to FIRE, so have not revealed it to many of them. This was a big reason why I initially chose to be anonymous on my blog.<\/p>\n However,\u00a0I outed myself<\/a>\u00a0earlier this year and am no longer anonymous. Since then, I’ve mustered up the courage to reveal my blog to a few close friends. The reaction has been supportive, but so far, no one\u2019s been interested in learning more about FIRE! That’s too bad, but not surprising\u2014FIRE still isn’t quite mainstream.<\/p>\n Regarding the taboo of money: despite feeling fully comfortable discussing money with my family, it doesn’t seem appropriate to do that with friends. That’s because we all come from different backgrounds, with different goals and values.<\/p>\n It can be hard to discuss money without coming off as preachy, judgey, or out of touch. As someone who dislikes conflict and uncomfortable conversations, I’d prefer to allow others to come to me with questions, rather than broach the subject myself!<\/p>\n 21. What pieces of advice would you suggest to someone who is just starting out or someone who is working toward reaching financial independence?<\/strong><\/p>\n What a great question! As someone who dove a little too hard and fast into FI, I definitely have some advice to share:<\/p>\n Pace yourself:<\/strong>\u00a0FI is a marathon, not a sprint. You’ll be happier, and your motivation and energy will be more sustainable if you can remember this right from the start. I highly suggest that you get acquainted with\u00a0Slow FI<\/a>, and follow that mindset in your FI journey.<\/p>\n Take it one step at a time:<\/strong>\u00a0it can be very overwhelming when you see how much there is to learn and implement. Try to break the tasks into smaller steps, prioritize them, then take on one or two at a time. (And keep reminding yourself of point #1 above!)<\/p>\n Follow the FI bloggers\/podcasters who you most relate to: <\/strong>this will help you find your own path to FI, and help make the path a little clearer. If you try to follow everyone, you’ll just get confused, frustrated, and overloaded. Stick with a handful of favourite FI content creators, then when you’re ready for more, branch out from there.<\/p>\n Get clear on your values:<\/strong>\u00a0they will serve as your North Star as you navigate the sometimes-bumpy path to FI. When faced with a difficult decision or setback, go back to your values. They will put you back on the right path and lead you to what you truly want and need.<\/p>\n 22. What has been your greatest accomplishment to date?<\/strong><\/p>\n This isn’t directly related to FI, but FI has, without a doubt, contributed to this accomplishment\u2026 and that would be raising my kids to be the best humans they can be.<\/p>\n At 12 and 15, they’re still young and have a lot of growing left to do. But I can already see they’re on a good path. The most important characteristic I’ve tried to foster in them is resilience, and I see that in them time and again.<\/p>\n With resilience, they’ll be able to get through anything life throws at them. And they’ll be able to do it on their own, while also knowing that it’s okay to ask for help.<\/p>\n FI has contributed to this accomplishment by giving me the freedom and privilege to have a lot of time with my kids. Just being on the FI path has given us so many life benefits\u2014this is just one.<\/p>\n 23. Are there any books, blogs, or podcasts that you would recommend for our readers to check out?<\/strong><\/p>\n I have so many recommendations! In fact, I have too many to list in one place, so I decided to create a curated resource to share them all. It’s called\u00a0FI School<\/a>\u2014a free FI ‘curriculum’ to share the best FI content on the internet. Whether you’re a FI newbie or veteran, it’s an easy way to learn about and share the FI message!<\/p>\n 24. How can people get in contact with you?<\/strong><\/p>\n I love connecting with others who are interested in FI! Feel free to leave a comment here, or find me on my blog,\u00a0Eat Sleep Breathe FI<\/a>, on\u00a0Twitter<\/a>,\u00a0Facebook<\/a>, or\u00a0Instagram<\/a>. You can also find me on my podcast,\u00a0Explore FI Canada<\/a>. (You’ll also find Court there\u2014she’s been on our show multiple times!)<\/p>\n 25. Anything else you<\/strong>\u2019<\/strong>d like to share?<\/strong><\/p>\n I’d like to thank Court for giving me this opportunity to share my story with her followers, and for her patience as I worked on this interview! She and Nic have been such an inspiration to me, even as I’ve been well on my way to FI. I’ve gained so much from their constant optimism, praise for Canada, and clever FI hacks.<\/p>\n Talk about attention to detail!\u00a0 SO much good info in this interview!\u00a0 Let’s dig into our highlights:<\/span><\/p>\n Thanks again Chrissy for being a part of our FIRE Community Guest Interview Series. Amazing responses that clearly took a ton of time to curate.\u00a0 In next month\u2019s interview, we jump over across the world to a sustainably-focused Australian couple well on their way to FI.<\/span><\/p>\n Did you enjoy this interview? Any additional questions for Chrissy? Thanks for tuning in and check back next month for the next interview.<\/span><\/p>\n We love highlighting other members of the FI community. Please\u00a0<\/span>contact us<\/span><\/a>\u00a0if you\u2019d like to be a part of the FIRE Community Guest Interview series and we\u2019ll see if we\u2019re a good fit!<\/span><\/p>\n And in case you wanted to read the previous interviews that make up our FIRE Community Guest Interview Series, here you go!<\/span><\/p>\n We’re finishing up 2020 with our 12th interview as part of the FIRE Community Guest Interview Series!\u00a0 For anyone new here, this interview series will …<\/p>\n
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