How much do you know about financial independence?

A bigger% of people are also fatter than 30 yrs ago

Yep.

… I think dirt bag and finacialy independant might be considered mutualy exclusive?

Mutually exclusive in financial status, but perhaps not in outlook on life. There is a well known climber's quote that came out of Yosemite, "At either end of the economic spectrum lies a leisure class".

OK, great discussion about sleeping in your truck, and eating sandwiches instead of Micky Dee's. That's definitely the first step. I've saved $2400/year by dumping the Big Mac from my diet.

What about going back to MrBond's question - how to buy tax efficient and reduced currency risk US equities. Any tips?

I'm about to pull the trigger on a major switch in RRSP funds, either picking up VUN (not hedged), VUS, (Hedged) or VTI (USD). What are advantages/disadvantages of VUN/VUS, or should I buy VTI to reduce my US withholding tax, but have to exchange CAD/USD?

The thing I can't get my head around in this thread is why so many people do not enjoy what it is they do every day? Maybe I'm deluding myself or call me lucky, but how is it people end up becoming so desperate to escape from their lives (especially their so-called "9 to 5")? Base jumper Miles Daisher said "People ask me if I'm crazy. If you're not doing what you love, then I think you're crazy."

The thing I can't get my head around in this thread is why so many people do not enjoy what it is they do every day? Maybe I'm deluding myself or call me lucky, but how is it people end up becoming so desperate to escape from their lives (especially their so-called "9 to 5")? Base jumper Miles Daisher said "People ask me if I'm crazy. If you're not doing what you love, then I think you're crazy."

Any number of things can change a career that you once loved into a toxic environment.

- Change in upper management that makes your once great job hell.
- Compensation has not changed and will not change in the near / long term.
- More hours piled on without compensation.
- No room to grow inside company "being stuck".
- Location change to make the commute into work hell.

And having the fear of the unknown in looking for a new job and the "what if's" that grip most people into making that change "doubly so with kids to support". The trick is to get past that fear and jump back into the unknown and find what you once loved again.

Easier said than done, which is why some who once loved a job now hate it.

I totally love my job, but i still love mtbing, moto, trials, skiing, trail building, camping, hiking and spending time with the wife and family(i don't have kids but i'm sure even they would be better than any job) more.

I spend roughly 230 days a year doing those things and it still isn't enough. I can't imagine what it would be like to only get weekends off to do those things.

if your job is the best thing in your life then thats great i guess, but for me there is so much more to life than work.

oh i forgot to add travelling in there too. one more thing i don't have enough time for.lol.

What about going back to MrBond's question - how to buy tax efficient and reduced currency risk US equities. Any tips?

I'm about to pull the trigger on a major switch in RRSP funds, either picking up VUN (not hedged), VUS, (Hedged) or VTI (USD). What are advantages/disadvantages of VUN/VUS, or should I buy VTI to reduce my US withholding tax, but have to exchange CAD/USD?

I use VUN. From what I've read, the hedged fund will under-perform in the long run due to the costs of hedging (assuming no permanent divergence of the CAD/USD exchange, which I think is a safe bet). There is also the argument that the currency risk actually reduces volatility over time. Canadian Couch Potato has some good reading on this subject.

I've stayed away from USD funds for the sole reason that I'm not ready to do currency exchange in a low-cost manner. Doing it through a discount brokerage will cost too much, and the solutions are a bit more complex. If you're up to the task of doing cheap currency exchange, then VTI is probably a better choice.

Any number of things can change a career that you once loved into a toxic environment.

- Change in upper management that makes your once great job hell.
- Compensation has not changed and will not change in the near / long term.
- More hours piled on without compensation.
- No room to grow inside company "being stuck".
- Location change to make the commute into work hell.

Sounds like my job (except the commute part)! I guess I'm just able to tune all that out and still love my work …

For currency conversions, use Norbert's Gambit.

http://www.finiki.org/wiki/Norbert%27s_Gambit

It is the cheapest way to convert currency in your accounts as long as you're moving 10k+.

I thought it sounded really complicated, but the first one was a snap and I've used it for at least a half dozen more conversions and never had an issue.

Also one thing to watch is which currency your trades are settled in. Default setting is always back to CAD so if you sell something for USD they will convert to CAD and help themselves to a few points for their trouble. Somewhere in options, find "trade settlement" or something similar and make sure trades are settled in the same currency as the transaction. Then if you need more of either currency, use the Gambit to convert.

OK, great discussion about sleeping in your truck, and eating sandwiches instead of Micky Dee's. That's definitely the first step. I've saved $2400/year by dumping the Big Mac from my diet.

What about going back to MrBond's question - how to buy tax efficient and reduced currency risk US equities. Any tips?

I'm about to pull the trigger on a major switch in RRSP funds, either picking up VUN (not hedged), VUS, (Hedged) or VTI (USD). What are advantages/disadvantages of VUN/VUS, or should I buy VTI to reduce my US withholding tax, but have to exchange CAD/USD?

what type of US with holding tax concerns you? if you are referring to the 15% w/h tax on US dividends it does not apply to RSP accounts in respect of the multilateral tax treaty between the countries on retirement accounts. the same treaty does not apply to the TFSA however.

JBV, Are you referring to something other or more recent than what was described here in 2012?

http://canadiancouchpotato.com/2012/09/17/foreign-withholding-tax-explained/

http://canadiancouchpotato.com/2012/09/20/foreign-withholding-tax-which-fund-goes-where/

yes that's the type of thing i'm speaking to. that guy goes into much greater depth though. that's an exhaustive rat hole analysis for sure. at least he's kind enough to summarize it with the charts/options in that second article.

with investing, you certainly want to do what you can to save fees and taxes, however, there are so many variables overall, that you can't necessarily choose the 'right' security, as there is no right security for each account. the total return (price+dividends+interest if dividends and interest are paid) will vary so much from security to security, etf to etf and fund to fund, that the best you can do is optimize your chances for success. asset allocation, diversification, low fees and time in the market. time in the market, time in the market.

oh, and big money begets big money.

i have a question…when the tfsa started, we put in max 5g a year each for 3 years, until we needed to buy a house, so we withdrew. the following year, we put the 15k each back in, thinking that was ok…i got burned by by govt like $130 each because we contributed over 5k…isn't this allowed?? since then i took the money back out and forgot about my tfsa as it annoyed me a little.

is my total limit now whatever the max cummulated limit would be today, minus 15k? like, if i wanted to put as much as i could back in today, how do i figure it out?

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/rgstrd/tfsa-celi/bt-eng.html

I've never withdrawn, so can only link you to the horses mouth without interpretation.

I'd l