The stunning view from our accommodations in Osoyoos, BC this summer
Three years of FIRE!
It’s been a while since I’ve been active here… but I couldn’t let this milestone go by without an update! It’s hard to believe, but another year has passed, and M and I have reached three years of FIRE! Where did the year go?
I had hoped and planned to write a long, detailed post to celebrate our third year of FIRE… but it’s the day before our FIREiversary and I still have nothing typed! I kept hoping a block of free time would magically appear in my calendar. But alas, it has not!
Therefore, I’m left with little choice but to share a hastily-written summary of our year. I hope you still enjoy it! Let’s start with the biggest news…
For more details…
To celebrate our one-year FIRE-iversary, I went in-depth into our FIRE plans with a four-part AMA series:
Nearly all the info I shared in those posts still applies, so check them out for all the numbers, details, challenges, and triumphs behind our early retirement!
I’m no longer FIRE 
No, that’s not a typo. It’s true, I’m no longer FIRE. These days, I’m ‘just’ FI. That’s because about a year ago, I started a new job—and I couldn’t be happier! I won’t be able to go into detail about it right now, but here’s a quick summary:
About my new job
- I work for a local, woman-led and run company.
- My role is a mix of customer service, operations, and graphic design.
- The hours are totally flexible and I can work from home.
- I love my boss and the team I work with—they’re an amazing group of women who teach me new things every day.
Why I started working again
- It’s not because we need the money.
- It’s not because I was bored.
- It’s not because FIRE doesn’t work.
- It’s not because our portfolio or financial plan failed.
- I just really, really like being productive, challenged, and always learning!
- The work is a lot of fun and allows me to put my skills and strengths to use.
- It feels good to be a working, contributing member of society.
- The hours fit my schedule and lifestyle perfectly.
- I won’t lie—the extra income is a very nice cherry on top!
How my job has affected our income and spending
- For frugal people like M and I, the extra income is a lot—we can do so much with it!
- Even so, it doesn’t change our plans or withdrawals.
- Our core spending also hasn’t changed, but we have happily increased our ‘aspirational’ spending (more on this below).
More ‘aspirational’ spending
A lovely benefit of earning extra money that we neither planned on nor needed is that I can loosen the purse strings a little. My family and I have very much enjoyed spending more on aspirational, fun, or luxury items, such as:
- A new car.
- Donations.
- Gifts.
- Eating out.
- Experiences.
- Convenience.
- Time savings.
My new job has been such a gift to me and my family, and I’m so grateful that the opportunity came along. I hope to write a more detailed post about it in the future. But for now, feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions I didn’t answer. 
What we’ve been up to
Well, now you know why I’ve been absent on the blog—I’ve been very happily occupied by my job! But M and I have also continued to enjoy our FIRE life:
- We’re still volunteering at my sister’s school library.
- M also continues to volunteer 1–3 times a week at one of our local high schools.
- We got Kid 1 settled in at UBC in September. (Kid 2 is doing well in Grade 11 and enjoying it.)
- We’re still spending lots of time with family and friends.
- I’ve started rucking, which has been an easy and fun way for me to make my walks with Mika more challenging and strenuous.
- I’m still having fun mending and repairing clothing and other household items so that we consume less and divert waste from landfills.
- M participated in several car shows, drives, and meetups in his classic Mustang.
- Staycations, day trips, and other travels have been highlights for all of us.
- Our usual day-to-day chores and errands continue to keep us busy: walking Mika, cooking most meals at home, buying groceries, cleaning and maintaining the house, etc.
Our spending
Remarkably, our core/essential spending has generally stayed the same. However, as mentioned, we’re spending more on discretionary/aspirational items.
Our biggest new luxury spend was a new EV. This purchase could probably use its own post, but I’m not sure if I’ll ever get to it, so here’s the rundown:
- We got a Nissan Ariya. It’s a beautiful car and so much fun to drive!
- We also love the savings on gas.
- I’m always trying to reduce our carbon footprint—switching to an EV helps a lot. That feels really good.
- We sold our Mazda 5 and M’s 2008 Mustang then put the money towards this car.
- We bought it just in time—only days before the BC government discontinued one of their EV rebates.
- Yes, it was new and not used, so that was not very Mustachian of us! This is why I consider it a luxury item.
- Those who know me won’t be surprised to know we financed the car—it made more financial sense to take the low-interest loan and keep our money invested.
- Based on average stock market returns of 10% per year, we will net at least $15,000 more in investment gains over the term of the loan versus paying for the car upfront in cash.
Our investments
Our payments to our investment loan, aka mortgage/HELOC remain shockingly huge due to all the rate increases. (And no, the payment amount has not decreased even though rates have dropped—I think we’re going to have to look into that!)
Even with our eye-watering investment loan payments, our FIRE nest egg is doing just fine. In fact, our portfolio has finally reached that magical status that I’d been hoping for—it’s now larger than it was when we FIREd, despite us fully living off it since mid-2022.
To our relief, we survived the ups and downs of the market and economy over the last three years, and are currently up 43% over the last 12 months. That’s mind-blogging to me!
The kids’ RESP
With Kid 1 entering university in September, we finally started taking withdrawals from our family RESP.
Thanks to our financial planner Ed Rempel and his amazing team, it’s been an easy, painless experience. (What’s been less seamless, however, is making sure Kid 1 tells us how much is owing to UBC and when!)
There should be enough to cover both kids for four-year degrees—including costs to live on-campus (which isn’t cheap).
The kids’ informal trusts
Kid 1 turned 19 in 2024, which means the informal trust is no longer necessary and we could choose to dissolve it.
We’ve decided to slowly move the funds from Kid 1’s informal trust to an FHSA and TFSA in Kid 1’s name. This will trigger some capital gains, but there shouldn’t be much of any tax payable since Kid 1 earned very little money in 2024.
Kid 2’s informal trust will remain as-is until he turns 19—then we will also slowly move his money into his FHSA and TFSA.
As long as our informal trusts stay under $50,000 in value, they will not be subject to the new trust reporting rules. These regulations may change, so we’re grateful to have Ed and his team keeping an eye on things for us and providing advice as-needed.
I still try to keep my article about informal trusts up-to-date, so if you’re interested in these unique accounts, you might pick up some useful tips and information from that post.
More about our FIRE journey
To learn more about our FIRE journey and how we planned for early retirement, check out the posts below:
Closing thoughts
It has been a lovely third year of FI(RE) and M, our kids, and I look forward to more adventures, challenges, learning, and experiences in our fourth year. I’m not sure if it will include much blogging, but I will do my best to post again when I can!
I would love to hear from you—let me know how you’re doing and leave any questions you’d like me to answer. (It may take me a while to reply, but I most definitely will!)
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8 Comments
Shashi
November 18, 2024 at 9:53 amChrissy, it’s good to see this three-year update post. Congratulations on starting a new job that helps you learn and contribute while still allowing you to do things you love. Great balance! Wish you the best!
AnotherLoonie
November 18, 2024 at 8:58 pmGreat to get an update from you, Chrissy. I can’t believe it’s been a year already but it’s nice to hear about all of the wonderful things you and your family are busy with these days. Do you anticipate having more time to blog once both kids are off to university? Either way, glad to hear things are going well!
Christopher Mercanti
November 19, 2024 at 5:40 amCongratulations, Chrissy and family! I’m happy to hear you found a meaningful job that suits your lifestyle while enabling you to learn and grow. I’m two years into early retirement but must admit that I do find myself getting a little bored from time to time. I’m going to try to find something part-time that suits my lifestyle and schedule in the new year. Cheers and take care for now!
Money Mechanic
November 19, 2024 at 2:08 pmHAHAHAHA!! Back to work. I love it! Also, do you think we’re all too conservative? Considering your portfolio is worth more now than 3 years ago. I think more people should consider coast FI instead of crushing it to get to full FIRE. Congrats on everything though, time to chat on the FI Garage.
My Own Advisor
November 22, 2024 at 5:54 amCongrats (still) on FIRE or FI or FIWOOT. 🙂
I enjoyed your update and it sounds like things with you and family are well.
Nice call on the Ariya.
We purchased a new PHEV this year and are enjoying it. It costs us $1 to charge it and goes 50 km on the EV battery around the city alone, very little gas; we don’t drive much anyhow because we can walk and bike to pretty much everything in the city. I might have been to the gas station a handful of times since June.
Curious, how long are you going to keep the SM alive?
All my best!
Mark
Chris
November 24, 2024 at 8:38 amGreat to hear from you and wonderful you are doing well. Some big changes with the Coast FI which is awesome and one of the kids in university now. I’ve loved the freedom that FI gives so I can jump from doing photography work to politics to enjoy CoastFi or as Mark would say FIWOOT. The freedom to live a life that fulfills us the most is the ultimate goal and that is exactly what you and your family are doing. Keep up the great work.
Teresa
November 25, 2024 at 3:12 pmI can only say that your boss and team are very lucky to have you! You are the most dedicated, contentious and knowledgeable person I know!!!
Jean
December 19, 2024 at 7:21 amGlad to hear you are embracing this next stage of life. How many hrs. / wk. do you work now?