{"id":938156,"date":"2026-10-18T23:34:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-18T23:34:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/938156\/"},"modified":"2026-10-18T23:34:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-18T23:34:11","slug":"tech-worker-making-175000-lives-with-her-parents-while-she-saves-for-their-retirement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/938156\/","title":{"rendered":"Tech worker making $175,000 lives with her parents while she saves for their retirement"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

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

Name, age: Grace, 26<\/p>\n

Annual income: $175,000 plus equity<\/p>\n

Debt: $16,600 in student debt<\/p>\n

Savings: $15,000 in savings account, $82,000 in tax-free savings account (TFSA), $64,000 in registered retirement savings plan (RRSP), $39,000 in first home savings account (FHSA), $97,000 in non-registered investments<\/p>\n

What she does: Technology worker<\/p>\n

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

Top financial concern: \u201cThe longevity of this job, because I am working in tech and it\u2019s super volatile right now. If I want to get a home or save for my parents\u2019 retirement, I need a predictable stream of income.\u201d<\/p>\n

Grace was born in Korea and moved with her family to Toronto when she was in elementary school. Her mom stayed home with their three kids, and her dad picked up various low-paying jobs \u2013 sometimes several at once. <\/p>\n

\u201cBeing immigrants, they didn\u2019t know about RRSPs or TFSAs,\u201d Grace said. \u201cThey were missing a lot of the fundamental knowledge of things that would have set them up for a better situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

She knew she\u2019d have to support herself through university, so she worked hard to get good grades in high school, earning a scholarship that included residence fees for her first year. She chose a co-op program that combined math and business and was able to earn income during her co-op stints. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere was exponential growth from term to term in terms of the salary I was able to make,\u201d said Grace, who is now in her second full-time job since graduating. The first was at a large company based in Europe. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt had a huge focus on work-life balance,\u201d she said. \u201cNow I am at a startup and it\u2019s definitely a grind. My hours have probably almost doubled.\u201d<\/p>\n

But her salary has almost doubled as well, and she says being in a small company makes it easier to show off what she\u2019s capable of.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt my previous company, I was many layers removed from the C-suite. Now I interact with those decision-makers every day,\u201d she said. \u201cIf they find you valuable, they will do what it takes to keep you there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Grace moved back in with her parents after graduating. She doesn\u2019t pay rent, but she helps out financially a lot, paying the family\u2019s property tax and covering expenses such as car repairs or plane tickets back to Korea for a family emergency.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re barely making it paycheque to paycheque,\u201d she said. \u201cThey have no real retirement savings.\u201d<\/p>\n

She\u2019s saving as much as she can to help fund her parents\u2019 retirement while also striving toward her own goals, such as home ownership, marriage and children. Grace has a long-term partner and is interested in taking the next step, but isn\u2019t sure what combining her finances with someone would look like given how much she supports her parents.<\/p>\n

She spends most of her time around other high-earning tech workers and says it\u2019s hard not to notice how wealthy many of them seem.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s people in the same position career-wise, but they might not have the same responsibilities to family or are even getting help from their family,\u201d she said. \u201cI try not to compare myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Investment and savings: $6,750<\/p>\n

$583 to TFSA. \u201cFull contribution at the beginning of each year.\u201d<\/p>\n

$1,500 to RRSP. \u201cXEQT ETFs.\u201d<\/p>\n

$667 to FHSA<\/p>\n

$1,000 to savings <\/p>\n

$3,000 to unregistered investments<\/p>\n

Servicing debt: $220<\/p>\n

$220 to student debt. \u201cOnly the interest-free portion is left.\u201d<\/p>\n

Household and transportation: $770<\/p>\n

$0 to rent. \u201cLiving with parents.\u201d<\/p>\n

$450 to property tax. \u201cPaying for parents.\u201d<\/p>\n

$30 to gasoline. \u201cOccasional gas top-up on parents\u2019 car.\u201d<\/p>\n

$50 to transit. \u201cOffice commute.\u201d<\/p>\n

$200 to Uber or taxis. \u201cOffice commute and leisure.\u201d<\/p>\n

$40 to cellphone. \u201cPublic Mobile $35 plan.\u201d<\/p>\n

Food and drink: $370<\/p>\n

$100 on groceries. <\/p>\n

$40 at coffee shops<\/p>\n

$200 at restaurants<\/p>\n

$30 to alcohol. \u201cCelebrations, vacations or work events.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miscellaneous: $6,372<\/p>\n

$4,000 to payroll deductions. \u201cVaries monthly.\u201d<\/p>\n

$50 to going out<\/p>\n

$10 to streaming<\/p>\n

$20 to apps. \u201cAppleCare and iCloud.\u201d<\/p>\n

$100 to clothing<\/p>\n

$100 to sports. \u201cRunning, tennis.\u201d<\/p>\n

$800 to parent care. \u201cSome months it can be $2,000.\u201d<\/p>\n

$50 to hobbies<\/p>\n

$10 to haircuts. \u201cEvery six months to a year.\u201d<\/p>\n

$30 to cosmetics<\/p>\n

$20 to personal services. \u201cNails and lashes around vacations.\u201d<\/p>\n

$500 to vacations<\/p>\n

$250 to donations. \u201cChurch.\u201d<\/p>\n

$400 to life insurance<\/p>\n

$32 to credit card fees. <\/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":"Open this photo in gallery: iStockPhoto \/ Getty Images Name, age: Grace, 26 Annual income: $175,000 plus equity…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":938157,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[45,49,48,133,10526,131,132],"class_list":["post-938156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-business","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-finance","tag-paychequeproject","tag-personal-finance","tag-personalfinance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/938156","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=938156"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/938156\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/938157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=938156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=938156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=938156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}