Update: 6 months of RE (Canada)

That’s 6 months of retirement in the books. Wooo! It has gone by in the blink of an eye, but at the same time feels like I’ve been RE forever!

Previous posts are here: Post 1, Post 2, Post 3

I’m a regular poster on the various FI forums under my main account. I’m using an alternate for these posts because I periodically purge my main.

Updates will be annual going forward.

Numbers

45F. Single. No kids. Medium COL. Ontario, Canada. All numbers in 2025 Canadian dollars.

Assets

There have been two big changes to my assets since RE. I sold my rental property, and I cashed out my DB pension. The pension wasn’t previously included in my retirement assets, which is why that’s showing a larger jump in value.

The rental property was a planned sale. It was always my goal to sell it within the first 5 years of retiring. My tenants gave notice earlier this year, and the local condo market was showing signs of softening, so I cut and ran while I had the opportunity. Turns out my instinct was right. My unit was the last one to sell in that building, and the sale closed 5 months ago!

I decided to commute my corporate DB pension because it was horrible. It was under-funded, not indexed, and I wouldn’t have been able to touch it until I was 60. Now that it’s in a LIRA, it’s locked in until I’m 55, but I have full control over how it’s invested.

Asset Allocation

• US Equity – 33.0%
• Canada Equity – 19.9%
• International Equity – 19.8%
• Canada Fixed Income – 14.1%
• Crypto – 3.7%
• REITs – 3.4%
• Emerging Markets – 3.0%
• Cash – 2.4%
• Bullion – 0.8%

58% of my retirement assets are fully taxable. 42% are in tax-deferred and tax-free registered accounts.

Future Income

Confirmed 6-figure inheritance in the next 10-20 years.

Expenses & WR

My first year of RE was fully cash-funded before I pulled the trigger. I’ll be starting to sell assets later this year. I’m also currently withdrawing all dividends from my NREG and TFSA accounts. For the next 15-20 years, the bulk of my income will be split between the RRSP and NREG. For tax management purposes, my goal is to empty my RRSP before I start drawing from the LIRA, OAS and CPP.  The TFSA withdrawals will allow me to double my annual contribution room, and I plan to max that out every year with TIKs from my NREG.

I’m using a variable withdrawal strategy aiming for the 4-6% range in typical years. In the case of a severe market downturn, I can reduce that to about 2-3%.

A normal annual spend for me is about $65-70k. I’ve spent $62k in the last 6 months 😱😮😱

Some of that overage was planned, some of it was not. The planned expenses were carrying costs for the rental property and some debt repayment.

The biggest unplanned expense was a 5-figure tax bill that is under review with the CRA. I should be getting that money back in a few weeks, but that spend wasn’t on my bingo card. The good news is that I have a separate account for tax expenses, and I had enough set aside to cover it. The bad news is that I’ll be giving most of it right back again when I file my 2025 return. Sigh. At least it will be a planned expense this time! 😆

Seeing my accounts solidly in the green despite blowing up my budget has also given me a boost of confidence in my portfolio. Of course, the markets aren’t going to behave like this every year, but it has given me some peace of mind regarding my contingency planning and ability to adapt to unexpected expenses.

Daily expenses have been about what I expected. Utilities, Transportation, Health, and House Maintenance costs have all increased since I retired. I’m home more, so water, gas, and electricity use are higher. Also, because I’m home more, I see all the little DIY projects that I’ve been putting off for 10 years. I’m driving more now which increased transportation costs. Health costs have gone up because I no longer have extended health insurance coverage. Plus, I’m now actually going to all the doctor’s appointments and screenings that I had been putting off. Healthcare costs should return to baseline later this year. I’ll also be signing up for the Canadian Dental Care Plan in 2027 when my taxable income will be low enough for 100% coverage.

Food costs have gone down because I’m no longer eating out for every meal. Everything else has held steady. With the money I was previously saving for retirement now freed up, the changes balance out in the wash. I’m net neutral against my pre-retirement budget.

Retired Life

My priority over the last 6 months has been my health – specifically burnout recovery. The first couple of weeks were confusing. I wanted to rest and relax, and I knew I needed to. But I felt a weird sort of obligation to get out and do things.

I ended up booking a last-minute trip about 6 weeks after my last day of work. Some time on a beach, sipping cocktails was just what the doctor ordered. It gave me a clear mental line of separation between work and retirement.

Since then, every day has been better than the day before. I’m almost entirely recovered from burnout. I’ve lost 30lbs. I have a solid gym routine going, and all my negative health markers are back to baseline.

The biggest surprise for me since stopping work has been that I don’t have a lot of interest in my previous hobbies. I still enjoy them when I do them, but the drive is just not there. Having the freedom to now do things whenever I want has lessened my motivation to do them somehow.

The second big surprise for me has been on the social front. I’m very much an introvert and value my alone time. As a result, most of my socializing was done at work. I thought I was going to need to fill that gap in retirement. Turns out I was severely over-socialized by work. I’ve been content keeping my social contact with friends and family the same as it was while I was working. That may change in the future, but for now, I’m savouring the time alone.

My plans for 2026 are still pretty loose. My current daily routine consists of a morning workout, at least one outdoor activity, studying towards my master’s degree, and cooking healthy & tasty meals from scratch. I might start adding some more structure into my days and scheduling time for some of my hobbies and interests. For now, I’m still enjoying the freedom of unscheduled time. I’ve got a couple of tentative trips in the works for next year (Mexico and Spain), but nothing has been booked yet. I’m sure I’ll throw in a few local road trips, camping trips, and flights home to visit family as well.

TLDR; Retired life is good. No regrets. 10/10. Do recommend.