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Name, age: Kristjan, 35
Annual income: Earns around $200,000 in professional corporation, pays himself a roughly $94,000 salary
Debt: $5,166 credit card debt, $221,000 mortgage
Savings (shared with partner): $50,000 in corporate chequing account, $518,266 in tax-free savings accounts, $303,878 in registered retirement savings plans, $182,000 in non-registered and corporate investments
What he does: Visual effects artist
Where he lives: A city in the prairies
Top financial concern: “The feeling of guilt of having quietly saved more than most all of my family, friends, peers, and seeing the pressure my generation generally faces financially. And AI gutting the middle class and ending my career.”
Kristjan, 35, started working right after high school while he was still living with his parents. He taught himself 3-D animation from materials available online and has since built a lucrative career.
“That’s where the saving began,” says Kristjan, who, along with his partner, has about a million dollars in savings and investments, plus a house on which they owe $221,000.
Kristjan knows that investing early and often can be powerful, and has prioritized doing so throughout his career – even if that meant forgoing time off or needed home maintenance.
“I lean so heavily on the side of compounding gains,” said Kristjan, who works often with American clients and makes about $1,000 a day right now, after the exchange rate. Kristjan has found it difficult to justify taking time off, considering that even a week of vacation would mean losing out on $5,000.
He described a time where he worked two back-to-back eight-hour stretches in the same day for different clients, rather than turn down the work. Kristjan and his partner recently went on a month-long vacation, his lengthiest break by far since he started working.
“It was the first time I just let myself not think about work for a month. It really opened my eyes to how much I had just been grinding,” he said.
Paying a big chunk of his income to taxes pushed Kristjan to incorporate, and he accumulated a significant sum in the corporation, which he owned with his partner. To get that cash out, he performed a surplus strip, a complex tax-driven maneuver that allows owners to get funds out of a corporation at capital-gains tax-rates rather than dividend rates.
The 2023 federal budget closed this opportunity and since he knew the rules were changing, Kristjan hustled to execute the move. Rushing ahead of the deadline caused him a lot of stress because if the money ended up being taxed as income, he would have lost a significant amount.
“I did it a week before the decision making it illegal was about to be ratified,” he said, adding that he had “serious moral qualms about pursuing” the surplus strip, but also wanted to keep as much of the money he had earned as possible. “I might have been the last person in the country to do this.”
“I ended up in therapy after that week,” he said. “I had stress-induced tinnitus and lots of sleep loss.”
His typical monthly expenses:
Investment and savings: $500
$500 to TFSA
Servicing debt: $1,600
$1,600 to mortgage
Household and transportation: $1,439
$140 to property insurance
$225 to property tax
$150 to utilities
$50 on small household repairs
$160 on gasoline
$350 on car insurance. “Two cars, one recreational vehicle.”
$140 on car maintenance
$20 on Uber or taxis
$120 on cellphones
$84 on internet
Food and drink: $660
$450 on groceries
$180 at restaurants. “At peak stress, was spending $500 a month on DoorDash.”
$30 on alcohol
Miscellaneous: $2,385
$150 on going out
$90 on nicotine gum and pouches. “Aiming for 0 in 2026.”
$65 on streaming services. “Netflix, YouTube Premium, Spotify, Amazon Prime.”
$80 on clothing. “Rarely buy clothes, more replacing shoes.”
$25 playing squash
$40 on subscriptions. “Newspapers, Patreon.”
$150 on pets. “Some crazy overnight vet bills this year.”
$500 on cycling. “$6,000 on a bicycle. Yes, middle-aged spandex.”
$15 on haircuts. “Two per year for partner, 0.5 per year for me.”
$10 on toiletries
$200 on therapist
$50 on dentist
$160 on prescriptions
$100 on donations. “Far too low.”
$250 on gifts. “Try to treat friends as much as they’ll let me without making a show of it.”
$150 on electronics. “Surround-sound speakers.”
$350 on trips
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 who would like to participate in a paycheque profile? Send us an e-mail.
Participate in the Paycheque Project
Welcome to Paycheque Project, a regular series in The Globe and Mail that looks at how much young Canadians are earning – and where that money is going. We’d like to hear from young adults from a diverse range of backgrounds, geographic locations, and earnings ranges.
If you’re a millennial or Gen Z and would like to participate, fill out the form below or send an email to Roma Luciw at rluciw@globeandmail.com. Please include your name, age, where you live, occupation, your biggest financial concern and your email. And remember, Paycheque Project is a judgement-free zone.