Name, age: Jayaram, 32<\/p>\n
Annual income: $140,000 plus $10,000 bonus<\/p>\n
Debt: $0<\/p>\n
Savings: $4,789 in savings account, $9,430 in tax-free savings account (TFSA), $19,358 in registered retirement savings plan (RRSP), $10,983 in first-home savings account (FHSA), $38,247 in non-registered investments<\/p>\n
What he does: Financial reporting at a publicly traded company<\/p>\n
Where he lives: Downtown Toronto<\/p>\n
Top financial concern: His investment growth. \u201cWhen the tariffs were announced and everyone\u2019s gains were wiped out, it was not fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jayaram, 32, is new to Canada and is building a life in Toronto.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a whole sort-of reset that happens when you end up moving out of a home country,\u201d said Jayaram, who is from India, but has also lived in Singapore and Hong Kong. He has a job in financial reporting that pays about $150,000, and has been here for about a year, but has found it hard to develop a network.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you come here as a student, the opportunity to build connections and develop a network is a little easier…,\u201d he says. \u201cMoving here for work is as good as saying a pretty permanent goodbye to what you knew and hello to what you don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jayaram knew a couple people living in Toronto and has a brother in Boston. His girlfriend lives on the East Coast. He lives alone in a 500-square-foot apartment in a busy area, and pays $2,400 a month in rent. His vegetarian diet and habit of cooking at home keeps his grocery costs low, at about $229 a month.<\/p>\n
Among the routines he\u2019s developed here is near-daily yoga classes from an instructor in India through YouTube. He pays about $5 monthly for a subscription. \u201cIt\u2019s much more affordable compared to what you would get in yoga studios here,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Jayaram\u2019s experience in financial tracking and reporting is evident in the detailed handle he has on his personal balance sheet. He puts about $2,000 a month into savings and investments \u2013 whatever is left after his expenses. <\/p>\n
Despite his strong position, he says he\u2019s always second-guessing his financial strategy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have been told that the rate at which my investments are growing now is pretty good,\u201d he says, \u201cand I know I am pretty privileged to be able to put away most of my paycheque, or a substantial amount. But the worry that I face is, despite doing that, should I be doing something else? Should I be investing in specific stocks?\u201d<\/p>\n
He says the uncertainty in the markets brought on by the U.S. tariffs has triggered even more anxiety.<\/p>\n
His typical monthly expenses:<\/p>\n
Investment and savings: $2,101<\/p>\n
$2,101 to various savings. \u201cAny excess is invested into RRSP\/TFSA\/FHSA\/non-registered investments.\u201d<\/p>\n
Servicing debt: $0<\/p>\n
Household and transportation: $3,465<\/p>\n
$2,400 to rent<\/p>\n
$28 to renters\u2019 insurance<\/p>\n
$80 to utilities<\/p>\n
$263 to home improvements. \u201cReed diffusers, container stool, IKEA purchases, posters\/paintings.\u201d<\/p>\n
$104 to gasoline. \u201cI don\u2019t own a car, so this is entirely for rental cars.\u201d<\/p>\n
$276 on rental cars. \u201cVisits to my brother in the USA, occasional road trips.\u201d<\/p>\n
$50 on transit. \u201cMonthly average for Presto card recharge.\u201d<\/p>\n
$130 on Uber or Lyft<\/p>\n
$22 on toiletries and cleaning products<\/p>\n
$52 on cellphone. \u201cFrom Fido, after factoring in their recent price hike.\u201d<\/p>\n
$60 on internet. \u201cFrom Rogers, after factoring in their recent price hike.\u201d<\/p>\n
Food and drink: $612<\/p>\n
$229 on groceries. \u201cMostly fruits, vegetables, breakfast items (cereal, bread\/bagels), oat milk, chocolates, rice, and pulses\/lentils.\u201d<\/p>\n
$11 on hot chocolates at Starbucks. \u201cI don\u2019t drink coffee or tea.\u201d<\/p>\n
$332 on restaurant food. \u201cMeals ordered in through DoorDash or going out with friends.\u201d<\/p>\n
$40 on alcohol. \u201cWhen I go out with friends.\u201d<\/p>\n
Miscellaneous: $5,489<\/p>\n
$4,098 to paycheque deductions<\/p>\n
$212 on entertainment. \u201cConcerts, tourist attractions, movies.\u201d<\/p>\n
$11 on Amazon Prime. \u201cI use my family\u2019s Disney+ and Netflix accounts.\u201d<\/p>\n
$64 on subscriptions. \u201cThe Globe and Mail, The Economist, and PlayStation Plus.\u201d<\/p>\n
$74 on clothing. \u201cI only buy new clothes if I really like what I see and if I absolutely need them.\u201d<\/p>\n
$5 on online yoga membership<\/p>\n
$200 to parent care. \u201cMonthly remittance to parents back in India.\u201d<\/p>\n
$31 on beard trims. \u201cFor special occasions.\u201d<\/p>\n
$39 on cosmetics. \u201cFace cream and face wash from The Body Shop, and one indulgence (Chanel Eau de Toilette) from Paris airport.\u201d<\/p>\n
$51 on massages at airports<\/p>\n
$533 on vacations. \u201cA trip to India for a friend\u2019s wedding, a week-long vacation in Vancouver and a couple of trips to Halifax to visit my girlfriend.\u201d<\/p>\n
$70 on gifts. \u201cWine bottles for friends, housewarming gifts, birthday gifts for my girlfriend, and a liquor set for a friend\u2019s wedding.\u201d<\/p>\n
$5 on dry cleaning. \u201cJust one this year.\u201d<\/p>\n
$45 on electronics<\/p>\n
$21 on investment management fees<\/p>\n
$30 on credit card fees. \u201cBMO Mastercard.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Name, age: Jayaram, 32 Annual income: $140,000 plus $10,000 bonus Debt: $0 Savings: $4,789 in savings account, $9,430…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":110814,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[1397,45,49,48,10526],"class_list":{"0":"post-110813","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-appwebview","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-ca","11":"tag-canada","12":"tag-paychequeproject"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110813","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110813"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110813\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110814"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110813"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}