Mom of four from Canada

[Kate16]

Hi all,

I'm 37, married with four kids ages 9 to 14 and just started working two years ago after being a stay at home mom. I'm an accountant from Ontario. We are planning for RE in about 9 years when we hope to have $1M in investments. Just a little over a quarter of the way so far, but most of that while being a one income family. The mortage will be paid off next summer (at the 10 year mark) and then we'll be able to add mortgage payments to savings.

I've enjoyed reading the forums so decided to finally register. I'd give you more background on some of my "passions" in life, but I wouldn't want you to think I'm selling anything.

Kate

[bssc]

Welcome, there are other Canadians on the board so we know all about your healthcare system, pros and cons

Congratulations on getting close to paying off your mortgage (which also has its pros and cons). You will find this place has lots of do it yourselfers who are not afraid to speak up but remember that in the end, you will be making the final decision.

[AltaRed]

Congrats on your financial accomplishments so far. Unlike US taxpayers who can deduct mortgage interest on a principal residence, it is almost always better for a Canuck to accelerate paying out the mortgage.

I trust you and your DH have been maximizing your contributions to RRSPs. Despite the new ITA provisions permitting splitting of qualified pension income, it is still good to utilize the Spousal RRSP option. What Jimmy has given, Stephane (or his successor) could always take away at a later date.

You may also wish to consider the Canadian based Financial Webring forum as a source of Canuck oriented info if you have not already found it.

[Kate16]

Oh, I know all about the "pay off the mortgage" debate and I'm fully willing to admit that it's a strictly emotional decision and not necessarily the best financial/economic decision. But I just can't wait to be completely debt free. We've also been maxing our RRSP's as first priority and doing spousal RRSP's since I didn't have any income for 13 years.

Kate

[Calgary_Girl]

Hi Kate!

Welcome to the board fellow Canadian! Like you, we also paid off our mortgage early...in our opinion there's no reason to hold onto a mortgage payment since we can't deduct the mortgage interest in Canada.

[Grizz]

Welcome aboard Kate. I'm also a Canuck, but from out west. I'm relatively new here as well. With the exception of a few tax rules and savings mediums, you'll find that the basics of these posts apply to all nations. I've been researching a snowbird type of existence between here and the states and found everyone to be very helpful. They've certainly offered a lot more "man on the street" type insight than what you'll find in a Google search.

[AltaRed]

If you are interested in a calculator to project retirement financial needs, you can use:

1) the Advanced version of FIRECalc with some adjustments for Canadian differences, primarily to accommodate pension, CPP, and OAS entitlements and impose slightly higher ER costs in market returns, or

2) you can also consider RRIFmetic from RRIFmetic - Retirement Math Made Easy which is considered one of Canada's best financial planning software. Fimetrics is owned by Steve Salter who posts as "steves" on the Financial Webring Forum.