Money
Walking to work in uptown New Westminster or taking the ferry out of the Gulf Islands, and I get a terrible, twisting, disgusting feeling in my stomach. I have to cringe and look away, because it confronts in me a deep-seeded desire I never realized I had. I walk or sail by these beautiful heritage homes or homes on pristine waterfront property, and I am jealous. I am so jealous my teeth ache.
I hadn't realized that after more than a quarter-century of hearing my mother long for a cabin on the water but barely scrape together enough to make ends meet in our suburban home that I both deeply wanted the same waterfront cabin, but was fundamentally opposed to living so tightly wound around money for decades.
The added bonus of difficulty to this problem is that with chronic health problems, even in Canada, I am going to struggle financially in retirement. Add to that that I can't bring myself to do any other job besides teaching, no matter how lucrative, and buying a home at all seems impossible, let alone the quaint character home of my unrealized dreams.
However, after some discussion, Calvin and I have come up with a way that just might work. Knowing that we could easily save $10,000 a year (which we did this year) with our current incomes and living expenses (and both our incomes will rise significantly in the next 2-5 years), then we could certainly put together around $50,000 for a down payment on an apartment on the mainland after 5 years (near a skytrain station, etc.), especially if we're borrowing against an RRSP that we start now, with the money we were given by our parents as wedding gifts.
(This is all provided that we don't have kids, which for now, I am completely on board with.)
We can also afford to start two RDSPs (for people with disabilities). While we can't use them for anything until we reach 60, for the first few years the government matches what you put in by 300%, and then by 100% for the years after that, maxing out at $200,000. They will also give us grants for things like reaching a certain amount, or having had the RDSP for x number of years. AND, unlike an RRSP, we can start it with $5, and add as much or as little as we can manage. At 60, it would give us enough to really develop Calvin's family property on the island, beyond just making it a trailer-friendly plot.
At this point, the choice is whether we set up these RRSP/RDSPs with our bank, which has a lower interest rate available but more security if there are economic problems, or with an independent financial adviser who specializes in disability financial planning and has a much higher interest rate (5%-12%, instead of the 3% maximum offered by the bank) but less security should there be economic problems.
I really, really don't need anyone to TELL me what I should do, or even really VOLUNTEER more information that might make it "easier" to decide. I'm at the point where I want a specific answer if I ask a specific question, but I don't need this stress to invade all areas of my life, which is what happens when I'm forced to have a far-reaching discussion about something that doesn't come naturally to me at all. It's already taken me nearly a week to break down everything we've been told to this point. It's like studying for one multiple choice exam when you are being taught by a series of guest lecturers.
I am acting like a grown-up, and not feeling ridiculously stressed out by it, at this moment. Now all I have to do is go around praying that nobody ruins it for me.
Let's see how long that takes.
I hadn't realized that after more than a quarter-century of hearing my mother long for a cabin on the water but barely scrape together enough to make ends meet in our suburban home that I both deeply wanted the same waterfront cabin, but was fundamentally opposed to living so tightly wound around money for decades.
The added bonus of difficulty to this problem is that with chronic health problems, even in Canada, I am going to struggle financially in retirement. Add to that that I can't bring myself to do any other job besides teaching, no matter how lucrative, and buying a home at all seems impossible, let alone the quaint character home of my unrealized dreams.
However, after some discussion, Calvin and I have come up with a way that just might work. Knowing that we could easily save $10,000 a year (which we did this year) with our current incomes and living expenses (and both our incomes will rise significantly in the next 2-5 years), then we could certainly put together around $50,000 for a down payment on an apartment on the mainland after 5 years (near a skytrain station, etc.), especially if we're borrowing against an RRSP that we start now, with the money we were given by our parents as wedding gifts.
(This is all provided that we don't have kids, which for now, I am completely on board with.)
We can also afford to start two RDSPs (for people with disabilities). While we can't use them for anything until we reach 60, for the first few years the government matches what you put in by 300%, and then by 100% for the years after that, maxing out at $200,000. They will also give us grants for things like reaching a certain amount, or having had the RDSP for x number of years. AND, unlike an RRSP, we can start it with $5, and add as much or as little as we can manage. At 60, it would give us enough to really develop Calvin's family property on the island, beyond just making it a trailer-friendly plot.
At this point, the choice is whether we set up these RRSP/RDSPs with our bank, which has a lower interest rate available but more security if there are economic problems, or with an independent financial adviser who specializes in disability financial planning and has a much higher interest rate (5%-12%, instead of the 3% maximum offered by the bank) but less security should there be economic problems.
I really, really don't need anyone to TELL me what I should do, or even really VOLUNTEER more information that might make it "easier" to decide. I'm at the point where I want a specific answer if I ask a specific question, but I don't need this stress to invade all areas of my life, which is what happens when I'm forced to have a far-reaching discussion about something that doesn't come naturally to me at all. It's already taken me nearly a week to break down everything we've been told to this point. It's like studying for one multiple choice exam when you are being taught by a series of guest lecturers.
I am acting like a grown-up, and not feeling ridiculously stressed out by it, at this moment. Now all I have to do is go around praying that nobody ruins it for me.
Let's see how long that takes.