As the year winds down, it’s time for my 2024 financial check in.
One of my annual November goals on The Lifestyle Digs website!
It’s been quite a year for me. Not as difficult emotionally as 2023, but probably just as difficult financially as I draw down my savings in retirement.
If you recall in my Inching Towards Retirement Check List, retirement comes down to where, when, and how we retire. Retirement is something we have to think about. Finances keep getting more and more complicated. We’re seeing rising inflation rates. Grocery prices and gas prices keep going up. Housing keeps getting more and more expensive. It’s not going to get easier when we retire and our job income shuts down.
And that’s for sure. On my meager retirement income, my choices were to stay in Canada and struggle, or hit the road and become a nomad and spend time in places where it doesn’t cost me so much money.
My 2023 financial check in
In 2023 life changing events happened. Priorities changed. Retirement happened.
I wrote my 2023 financial check in last year in England, and a year later I’m back in my home country. Didn’t see that one coming a year ago!
The year started off with me housesitting in Folkestone, England. A seaside village where on a rare clear day the mountains in France can be seen across the English Channel. I just loved my daily walks along the sea with the white cliffs of Dover in the distance.
When the homeowners returned, I headed up to Scotland for two weeks. I wanted to spend time in Glasgow where my mother is from and visit my granny’s grave (my father’s mother) in Tarbert, a small fishing village.
I hadn’t been here in decades and it took me a long time to find the marker, especially since the sea air has damaged it to the point of being able to barely read all the names on it. My granny’s parents and some siblings also rest here.
I had brought a small Canadian flag with me and picked up some stones on White Rock beach, the last place my granny lived before passing in 1971. I couldn’t find flowers. This village is too small for a florist. The grocery store had some fresh cut flowers, nothing in a pot. I cleaned up the moss on the marker and left my offerings. I’d like to return another time and plant crocuses on the grave like I’d seen on another site.
I took a day sightseeing trip and one of the stops was up a mountain, the name I do not recall. One of the other passengers took my photo. I love it. I’m windblown and this just looks like freedom to me.
I’m living my best life!
The biggest retirement expense
The biggest expense I have in retirement is horse boarding, vet costs, and the other costs that come along with owning a horse.
Cajun lives on a ranch that specializes in retired horses and absentee horse owners. He’s living the good life.
Unfortunately he’s had some health issues this year beginning in February with suspected pneumonia. And he’s had a persistent cough that may be due to allergies. This is nothing he had while living in Coastal BC. Anyway, costing me the big bucks.
Oh well. One of the joys of horse ownership. He’s my lifelong responsibility.
Yup, some of us have expensive hobbies…
I miss my little guy and the health issues with me being so far away caused me emotional distress and I had to make my way back to him. Finding a housesit in Toronto for the last part of 2024 got me back to Canada. I will make my way west early 2025 and see him again.
Finances
When it comes to the stock market – things are up, things are down.
Overall, I haven’t had too much volatility when it comes to my money situation.
Except — one of my ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) delisted earlier in 2024. That means the company closed it down and the investors received a financial payout.
This was annoying to me on two levels. First, this stock paid me about $100/month in dividends so that’s gone. Second, the shares were significantly lower in price than when I bought them. I had no plans to sell them. As long as I’m getting a nice monthly income, I’m in for the long haul. My total losses were about $5,000 when the company decided to delist. So that sucks. I mean you don’t make or lose money in the stock market until you sell.
Capital losses. My accountant will know what to do on my next tax return because I don’t have a clue!
For the time being I put the money into a GIC. There’s a possibility I might need to use the funds to buy another vehicle. But no plans until 2025 – so wait another year to read my next financial check in!
Travel insurance
Before leaving Canada in 2023 I purchased travel/medical insurance for a year. It cost nearly $2,000 – Yikes! But when you need it…
In February I flew to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to volunteer with an animal welfare organization on Mayreau Island, one of the Grenadines. It was cheaper to book a return flight than one way, so my plan was to stay about 5 months. My return flight to London was booked for July 7.
However, my body wasn’t feeling right. I went to the medical clinic and had my blood pressure checked. It was through the roof! And I have no history of hypertension. This was environment caused.
Fortunately the travel insurance included trip interruption and changing my return flight was covered. After I got back to England my blood pressure began to come down. And has returned to normal range. Whew!
Health scare!
Having full travel/medical insurance was a good financial decision even though it costs a lot of money. I did not have medical costs due to this. The clinic did not charge me and I didn’t require follow up medical visits in England as I was able to self monitor my blood pressure going back down.
The other thing is that Hurricane Beryl hit on July 1 – six days before my original return date – and Mayreau was hit hard. I followed the news closely and was very glad not to be there. The one time a health scare was advantageous for me.
Travel oopses
Being a nomad comes a few oopses. The biggest expense is transportation. The second is accommodation. Especially if it’s in the higher priced summer season. Sometimes that can’t be helped.
I found myself back in England mid-May. Fortunately I found a housesitting gig that began a week later, so I only had a week’s worth of hotels to deal with.
After that housesit ended, I bought a Eurail pass and headed for Europe to do some train travel. Yes, we are now in June. Popular – read expensive – time to visit the continent. I had to suck it up. Who knows when/if I’ll return. Enjoy it while I can.
I would have loved to find hotels closer to $100 a night, but the reality was closer to $200/night. Even though I was enjoying myself my frugal self figured out pretty quickly I couldn’t sustain this expense for too long and started applying for housesits back in England.
On June 26 I took my final train trip on the Eurostar back to London and then on to Oxford for a housesit.
Aside from a couple of days here and there for hotels, my accommodation costs for the rest of the summer were very low.
Click here to read about my big Eurail adventure.
I’ve been bad about tracking my expenses in retirement. Let’s just say the Eurail adventure cost around $3,000. Having the freedom to live an amazing life – priceless!
My TFSA
I’ve talked about my TFSA (Tax Free Savings Account) a few times. This Government of Canada website explains the contributions better than I can!
Without steady job income, my TFSA is no longer being funded.
I keep some of my TFSA money in high interest savings or GICs, but the majority of my money is invested in stocks. One EFT that tracks the S&P 500 is doing amazing well, another stock is doing pretty good, and a third is slowly increasing. Two other stocks I bought a couple of years ago not doing well, up and down from the original purchase price.
Overall I’m happy with the investments and so far I haven’t had to dip into my TFSA to fund my retirement.
Other saving goals
To be honest, I really have no savings goals at this time. In the retirement phase of life it’s all about living frugally and switching from saving for retirement to spending what you saved.
Expenses
How is everyone doing with their expenses this past year with rising prices at the grocery stores and gas pumps?
I don’t understand how gas prices can jump up 20¢ a liter in a day in Canada. Has anyone in the states seen their gas prices jump up a dollar a gallon in a day?
OK, moving on.
Let’s talk shrinkflation. That’s when manufacturers put less product inside the packaging and put the price up too.
This time of year, many of us like to pick up a box of Pot of Gold chocolates. They’re inexpensive and pretty good value for the amount of chocolates inside the box. Except the 2023 edition introduced the new reality – half the chocolates and more packaging. LOL. Check out this article called Pot of Plastic that shows a photo of what you get now thanks to shrinkflation.
Pot of Gold chocolates were always something to toss in the shopping cart to have on hand. No more.
Housesitting and volunteering
The biggest expense people have is rent or mortgage.
Right now my plan is to housesit. That’s where I stay in someone’s house and take care of their pets in exchange for a free place to live.
Check out my post Discovering London While Housesitting.
Also read, Turning my Travel Dreams into Housesitting Adventures.
Even though volunteering in the Caribbean didn’t end as planned for me, I’m still open to volunteering with organizations that provide accommodations.
Have a Plan B
I have talked about returning early from volunteering in the Caribbean, but I turned lemons into lemonade and decided on train travel across Europe. This meant I suddenly had unexpected expenses in the way of hotels and train travel that I did not anticipate when I began volunteering.
Sometimes things end early and you have to be prepared to spend money on transportation and housing. Or at least have room on your credit card for these unexpected expenses.
I have read horror stories about housesitting, both from the perspective of the housesitter and the homeowner. I’m not getting into horror stories, but sometimes a housesit unexpectedly ends earlier than planned.
The housesitter must be prepared to spend money on travel or a hotel or Airbnb if they leave a housesit earlier than planned. This means being financially prepared. No one wants to spend money unexpectedly, but always have an exit plan.
This also means don’t accept an assignment in a place that might be difficult to leave the area due to iffy public transportation or lacks hotels and Airbnbs.
This is something that has just now happened to me. Due to a medical emergency situation the homeowners returned early but very kindly offered to let me stay in their home until my planned departure date.
Once again I take lemons and turn them into lemonade. I decide to take a little vacation and rent a car.
Yup. Kaching, kaching.
Road trip! Love them!
Destination?
I have a few places in mind. New York City, Atlantic City, and some of the New England states.
I’m leaving tomorrow! Which explains why I’m getting on top of posting my 2024 Check In today.
Financial Plan
Financial plans are something that are constantly changing based on our needs, wants, and life situations.
You don’t need to spend a thousand bucks hiring a financial consultant to write up a financial play for you. We are all about DYI. You can draw up your own plan.
In the past, we’ve talked about various components needed for a financial plan. You want to understand your income and expenses. You want to figure out how to pay off debt, put money aside for retirement, create an emergency fund, and how to achieve your goals.
The following links should give you ideas on things you need to include on your financial plan and how to make them happen.
- Women and Money: Short Term Needs and Long-Term Goals.
- Track your Spending using a Backwards Budget.
- Taking Control of Debt on a Low Income.
- Nobody Cares More about my Money than I Do.
Financial plan in progress
In 2024 my financial plan adjusted by my life circumstances. Retirement means I’m now in the spending phase instead of the savings phase.
As a nomad I try to live life as frugally as possible, but sometimes I have unexpected expenses like the ones I’ve talked about above.
This means my net worth is sinking. And if the stock markets take a turn for the worse, make that rapidly sinking.
I’ve been trying to find a financial plan for retirees, but all I find are financial plans geared towards retirement planning. In other words, working people who should put money aside for retirement.
Right now my financial plan looks something like this:
1. Incur no debt.
2. Research ways to save money.
3. Save $6,000 for horse board.
4. Keep an eye on dividend paying stocks.
Yikes! Pretty lame. I’m really struggling to find a financial plan guide for someone who is already retired.
A financial plan is creating a list of things you’re planning for, and then figuring out how to achieve the items on your list. Maybe at this stage in my life, I just need to work on goals instead of a financial plan.
If you need more information on creating a financial plan, there’s a great article at Clever Girl Finance: https://www.clevergirlfinance.com/how-to-make-financial-plan/
2024 financial check in
As 2024 winds down, I can see that I need to do better financially.
I’m very thankful that I don’t pay rent. My travel expenses, including hotels and Airbnbs, all come to less money than I would spend in a year on rent.
Right now I’m living frugally, travelling frugally, and avoiding debt. My financial plan is to move from place to place for economic reasons.
Travel plans for 2025 are being reevaluated, mostly due to my yearning to be closer to my horse if needed. Right now my loose plan is to become a car nomad and I’m focusing more on housesits around North America where I can drive to.
I’ve also been watching a lot of car life and van life videos on YouTube.
Maybe my 2025 financial plan sucks, but the financial plans I put in place over the years have helped me through my nomad journey.
I’m still figuring it out as I go.
And I hope you are too! xoxo
Published by Cheryl @ The Lifestyle Digs on November 11, 2024.
