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Name, age: Martin, 28
Annual income: $120,000
Debt: $0
Savings: $30,000 in savings account, $110,636 in tax-free savings account (TFSA), $34,771 in registered retirement savings plan (RRSP), $18,049 in first home savings account (FHSA), $11,045 in cryptocurrency, $55,417 in pension plan, $2,386 in company stock, $2,998 in non-registered investment account
What he does: Senior product marketing specialist
Where he lives: Vancouver
Top financial concern: “Being able to get the goalposts to stop moving and actually feeling good about it. Ultimately the plan means nothing if I don’t feel good about it when the time comes.”
Martin started his career in 2020, at the start of the pandemic, and says he benefited financially from many aspects of working from home.
“I was like, ‘Okay, this is cool, I can work from home and not spend any time and money on commuting,’” he said. He soon realized he was also saving money by not needing an extensive office wardrobe and not regularly going out for lunch.
He still works from home most of the time. His team is spread across several cities, so there’s little motivation to go into the office, he says.
“I don’t know how, as a society, we’ve always been going in every day,” he said. “You waste so much of your day, you need nice clothes, you have to pack a lunch. It is a lot.”
Martin moved to Canada when he was younger and grew up in a family that emphasized living within one’s means. His parents saved enough money to cover his university education, so he finished school without debt.
“I had a head start,” he said, acknowledging that paying back student loans is often a main focus for people his age. “I am very grateful for that.”
He says the disparate financial stories of his grandfathers gave him examples of what to do and what not to do.
“One had a lot of money, didn’t take care of it and lost everything,” he said. “The other started with very little and was able to build a very comfortable life.”
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Martin’s approach is to plan out how much he’d like to save in a given year – always more than the previous year – and figure out how to reach that number between his pension contributions, company stock buys, performance bonus and regular paycheques.
He’s also thinking ahead to retirement, saying his dream is to be able to live off his investments by his 50s. However, he’s not sure how having a family one day, something he is interested in, might affect that.
“In the next 15 to 20 years, that’s what I am going to have to answer,” he said. “At what point do I say, ‘This is comfortable, I am good.’”
His typical monthly expenses:
Investment and savings: $3,860
$616 to pension. “Defined contribution plan.”
$2,744 to various investments. “Includes maxing out TFSA and FHSA.”
$500 to savings account
Servicing debt: $0
Household and transportation: $2,000
$1,800 for rent. “Two-bed, two-bath apartment in downtown Vancouver with a friend.”
$20 on renter’s insurance
$100 on utilities
$30 on transit. “I don’t own a car and live in a central location, close to public transport.”
$50 on Uber or taxis
Food and drink: $675
$350 on groceries. “In the last couple of years, I started spending more on groceries, coffee and treats.”
$75 at coffee shops. “I’ll go into a bougie coffee shop and not think too much about the price of the latte.”
$250 at restaurants
Miscellaneous: $3,465
$1,750 to income tax
$492 to Canada Pension Plan
$135 to Employment Insurance
$20 on Netflix
$30 on Spotify
$100 on clothing. “Don’t really buy clothes often.”
$200 on memberships. “Gym, sports rec league.”
$83 on hobbies. “Mostly skiing.”
$30 on haircuts
$375 on vacations. “Last year, I did one big trip. This year, I did a few smaller trips.”
$250 on entertainment and going out
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.