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Name, age: Marques, in his late thirties
Annual income: $100,000
Debt: $214,000 left on mortgage
Savings: $190,000 in savings account, $110,000 in tax-free savings account (TFSA), $50,000 in registered retirement savings plan
What he does: Health professional
Where he lives: Hamilton
Top financial concern: “If I am leaving stuff on the table in terms of opportunity costs. If I look back at my life 20 years from now, will I be regretful about my choices today?”
Marques lives a comfortable life in a suburban part of Hamilton. He has a good job in health care, making about $100,000, and owns a four-bedroom, three-bathroom detached home with a double-car garage.
Despite that, he thinks a lot about the choices he’s made in the past, and wonders whether the choices he’s making now are the best ones to set himself up for the future.
“I call it second-guess syndrome,” says Marques. “If I were to talk to myself 10 years ago, what would I tell myself about how money works? You’re left to figure it out on your own, and I have at times wasted and mismanaged my time and my finances.”
One instance he still thinks about was an investment in a syndicated mortgage for a property that was never developed and went into receivership. “I lost about $23,000,” he says. “A lot of money.”
He’s also gone through a divorce, which was a costly process after legal fees, and involved splitting the former couple’s assets.
“You take a big financial hit going through something like that,” he says. “I was in a tough position. Probably for the first year after, there wasn’t any specific investment on my end.”
But things have since levelled off. His career is going well, and he pays close attention to his spending to make sure he can meet his future goals.
“If I need something, I am going to purchase it,” he says. “If it’s a “want,” I delay the purchase for 24 hours or seven days, depending how big it is, to see if I still want it after that.”
He also spends well below average on food, thanks to following a system of intermittent fasting, a way of eating that restricts meal times to fewer hours of the day than a standard, three-meal-a-day schedule. It means he eats less food overall than he would otherwise.
His shopping habits also help him save money.
“Protein, I buy in bulk or on the reduced rack and freeze it,” he says, when explaining how, in a time of high food prices and steep inflation, his grocery costs are about $180 a month.
“I live beside a Costco and buy a lot of things there.”
His typical monthly expenses:
Investment and savings: $1,000
$500 to savings account
$500 to TFSA
Servicing debt: $1,241
$1,241 to mortgage
Household and transportation: $1,816
$124 to property insurance
$412 to property tax
$290 to utilities
$400 on renovations
$142 on gasoline
$112 on car insurance
$200 on car maintenance. “Oil changes, tire swaps, general repairs.”
$40 on cellphone. “Grandfathered cellphone plan for the last 12 years.”
$96 on internet
Food and drink: $310
$180 on groceries. “I do intermittent fasting.”
$10 at coffee shops. “Black coffee from Starbucks, once or twice a month.”
$100 at restaurants. “One nice dinner a month.”
$20 on beer. “For the summertime when I golf.”
Miscellaneous: $3,438
$2,083 to income tax
$50 going to football. “I see an NFL game once a year, so this covers me for that one splurge.”
$40 on clothing. “I’m a big fan of Lululemon.”
$500 on golf. “Golf membership and other golf-related dues.”
$20 on haircuts. “Once every three months.”
$100 on dentist. “Three to four cleanings a year.”
$600 on trips. “Some for business, others for pleasure.”
$45 on donations. “I’ve been sponsoring a child for the last eight years.”
Some details may be changed to protect the privacy of the person profiled. We want to thank them for sharing their story. Are you a millennial or Gen Z who would like to participate in a Paycheque Project? Send us an e-mail.
