{"id":852752,"date":"2026-08-10T08:28:42","date_gmt":"2026-08-10T08:28:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/852752\/"},"modified":"2026-08-10T08:28:42","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T08:28:42","slug":"tech-worker-37-earning-166000-has-a-toronto-condo-thats-dropped-in-value","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/852752\/","title":{"rendered":"Tech worker, 37, earning $166,000 has a Toronto condo that\u2019s dropped in value"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

iStockPhoto \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

Name, age: Jason, 37<\/p>\n

Annual income: $166,000<\/p>\n

Debt: $18,000 car lease, $355,000 mortgage<\/p>\n

Savings: $215,000 in tax-free savings account (TFSA), $240,000 in registered retirement savings plan (RRSP), $60,000 in locked-in retirement account (LIRA)<\/p>\n

What he does: Product manager at a technology company<\/p>\n

Where he lives: Toronto<\/p>\n

Top financial concern: \u201cAs a tech worker, you have to think about your window. There\u2019s a lot of age discrimination in technology.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jason, 37, was interested in the idea of \u201cFIRE\u201d \u2013 financial independence, retire early \u2013 before he\u2019d heard the term. Following his postsecondary studies, he lived with his parents for several years, saving money he\u2019d otherwise be spending on living expenses.<\/p>\n

\u201cI pretended I was living on my own by saying, \u2018This is how much my rent would be, or this is how much property tax would be,\u2019\u201d Jason said. \u201cIt helped accelerate building my net worth.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also had manageable student debt of less than $10,000. \u201cI got lucky with a lot of grants and summer internships,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Early in his 30s, Jason moved overseas to work for several years. He found there were more opportunities for him abroad, saying that many international companies that have offices in the United States don\u2019t also have offices in Canada. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt accelerated my career,\u201d says Jason, who advises younger workers to be willing to move if they want to climb the ladder faster. \u201cYou get a tech company on your resume and it will help you unlock so many doors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now back in Toronto, he\u2019s not sure whether his FIRE dreams will come true. He lives in a one-bedroom condo he owns, but says it\u2019s worth less now than when he bought it and he\u2019s worried about the future of the condo market. <\/p>\n

He\u2019d like to eventually upgrade to a townhouse, but doesn\u2019t want to find himself in a place where he\u2019s struggling to pay his bills. <\/p>\n

He\u2019d also like to figure out a way to stay in technology but work part-time, which so far has been elusive.<\/p>\n

Jason also acknowledged that finding himself in a serious relationship could make it easier for him financially because they could share living expenses. He\u2019s being selective about who he would consider merging his household with.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs you get older, there\u2019s more financial implications,\u201d says Jason, noting he\u2019s seen many people include details about their financial values in their dating-app profiles. <\/p>\n

\u201cI am not going to say, \u2018Show me your financials and let\u2019s do an audit.\u2019 But understanding their values, like, is money for freedom, or is money for indulgence, is important.\u201d<\/p>\n

His typical monthly expenses:<\/p>\n

Investment and savings: $1,413<\/p>\n

$830 to RRSP. \u201c$415 added by my employer.\u201d<\/p>\n

$583 to TFSA. \u201cU.S. index funds, banks, tech, Brookfield, gold.\u201d<\/p>\n

Servicing debt: $2,800<\/p>\n

$700 to car payment. \u201cI lease a performance sports car.\u201d<\/p>\n

$2,100 to mortgage<\/p>\n

Household and transportation: $1,495<\/p>\n

$520 to condo fees<\/p>\n

$70 to property insurance<\/p>\n

$200 to property tax<\/p>\n

$40 to utilities<\/p>\n

$75 to gasoline<\/p>\n

$270 to car insurance<\/p>\n

$100 to Uber or taxis<\/p>\n

$150 to cellphone payment and plan<\/p>\n

$70 to Internet<\/p>\n

Food and drink: $840<\/p>\n

$500 to groceries<\/p>\n

$300 at restaurants. \u201cToronto has so many great options and there\u2019s a lot of great spots in the suburbs now too.\u201d<\/p>\n

$40 to alcohol<\/p>\n

Miscellaneous: $4,915<\/p>\n

$4,400 to payroll deductions<\/p>\n

$15 to YouTube Premium<\/p>\n

$50 to clothing<\/p>\n

$50 to haircuts<\/p>\n

$300 to vacations. \u201cI will spend more for a nice hotel.\u201d<\/p>\n

$60 to donations<\/p>\n

$40 to life insurance<\/p>\n

Some details may be changed to protect the privacy of the person profiled. We want to thank them for sharing their story. <\/p>\n

Participate in the Paycheque Project<\/p>\n

\nWelcome to Paycheque Project, a regular series in The Globe and Mail that looks at how much young Canadians are earning \u2013 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.<\/p>\n

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.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: iStockPhoto \/ Getty Images Name, age: Jason, 37 Annual income: $166,000 Debt: $18,000…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":852753,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[45,49,48,10526],"class_list":["post-852752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-paychequeproject"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/852752","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=852752"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/852752\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/852753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=852752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=852752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=852752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}