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Name, age: Katherine, 29
Annual income: $120,000, including $10,000 performance bonus
Debt: $0
Savings: $4,000 in bank accounts, $36,000 in tax-free savings account (TFSA), $30,000 in registered retirement savings plan (RRSP), $12,000 in first home savings account (FHSA)
What she does: Marketing for a not-for-profit
Where she lives: Prince George, B.C.
Top financial concern: “The feeling of being behind, which is chronic of the generation I’m in. I have friends who are married or who have long-term partners who have been able to buy houses … because they have a dual-income household. Two people can stomach risk that I just can’t.”
Katherine stayed at home in Prince George for university, graduated with about $10,000 in debt, then moved to a smaller – and cheaper – community to start her career.
“I resisted the urge that a lot of my fellow classmates and friends pursued, to move to Vancouver or Toronto,” she says. Where she was living, rent was cheap and there wasn’t much to spend money on. “I didn’t have these enormous expenses that some of my friends had.
“I paid off my student debt just over two years after I graduated.”
Her career also benefitted from her willingness to move. Katherine says there was lots of opportunity for an ambitious young person where she lived, and she got promotions and raises faster than her peers in more competitive urban areas.
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She eventually got a good job that allowed her to relocate back to Prince George – right around the time that she had a health scare – so she moved back in with family while she went through treatment. Katherine, 29, is back on her own again now and making more than $100,000 a year working in marketing for a not-for-profit.
Even still, she feels that she has to watch her money closely to be able to live well as a single person with no roommates. She avoids making major purchases, doesn’t have immediate plans for home ownership and expects not to have children – all sacrifices in order to keep her finances in check.
“Trying to bear any kind of risk on a single income gives me a lot of nerves,” says Katherine, explaining that to own a house, she would need a second unit with a tenant and she doesn’t like the idea of her stability relying on whether the property is occupied and the person actually pays.
She has known friends who don’t make enough and depend on their partners, and some who couldn’t leave a relationship for financial reasons, and never wants to find herself there.
“I have prioritized freedom,” she says.
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Katherine has been diligently saving for retirement, but her recent health scare made her realize one never knows how much time they have left.
“There’s definitely that balance of ‘wouldn’t it be awesome if I could put an extra $200 towards retirement a month?’, or I can use that money to travel to a different part of the world,” she says.
Her typical monthly expenses:
Investment and savings: $1,688
$150 to RRSP. “With matching from my employer.”
$375 to TFSA on average. “Anything I have left over from the month. This can range from $150 to $600.”
$330 to other investments. “Life insurance account that allows me to draw down from it later in life.”
$833 to FHSA. “Max out my annual contributions by putting my bonus and tax return towards it.”
Servicing debt: $0
Household and transportation: $1,735
$1,400 to rent. “I’m blessed with an ethical landlord that ‘does not understand how people are expected to get ahead in this rental market.’”
$30 to renters insurance
$75 on gasoline. “I’m lucky to work from home.”
$80 on car maintenance
$110 for car insurance. “Insurance Corporation of British Columbia monopoly prices, despite being a no-accident driver.”
$40 to cellphone. “My work reimburses [the rest of] my cellphone expenses”
Food and drink: $830
$550 on groceries. “Includes other household goods.”
$20 at coffee shops. “Unless I travel, then this is much higher.”
$200 at restaurants and going out. “This is my monthly budget, but I travel for work a lot and am a huge restaurant lover.”
$20 on alcohol. “A bottle of wine here and there for cooking a special meal.”
$40 on cannabis. “Depends on how stressed or in pain I am.”
Miscellaneous: $3,077
$1,849 to income tax
$25 on Spotify
$250 on clothes and other discretionary items. “I try to resist utilizing it at all and instead focus dollars towards savings.”
$46 on a fitness membership
$300 on pets. “I try to make sure they eat well and have regular appointments.”
$300 on hobbies. “Travel, books, attending workshops.”
$50 on haircuts. “$100 every other month.”
$115 on nails
$100 on medical expenses. “I get 80 per cent coverage through work so this is the remainder.”
$42 on gifts. “Family birthdays, Christmas etc.”
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.