About Firebird Wealth
Welcome to Firebird Wealth Journal.
Let me tell you about a meeting I had in September 2024.
I’m sitting across from my financial planner, and she’s looking at my TFSA and RRSP. There’s a pause. Then comes the nose crinkle — you know the one — and she says: “I think you should be able to retire at 65.”
I think. At 65.
I was 45 years old, and that sentence hit me like a cold Edmonton morning. Not because 65 is unreasonable. But because she thinks I might make it there, and judging by that face, it might be longer.
I drove home and started asking a different question: could I retire even a few years earlier — and if so, how?
Saving more was the obvious answer. But I kept wondering if there were other levers. What role do taxes play in retirement income? Does it matter where you retire? Could geography actually change the math? What does the CRA do to your withdrawals if you leave Canada?
The questions kept multiplying.
To be fair to her — she wasn’t wrong to crinkle her nose. In September 2024, I had $63,000 in my TFSA and $215,000 in my RRSP. Not nothing. But not exactly lighting the world on fire either.
Here’s the thing: I’m an Albertan. I’ve earned six figures for years. Life happened anyway.
I got married. Had a child. Got divorced. Life rarely moves in a straight line. These aren’t excuses — but they’ve had a major impact on my finances, both good and bad. A high-income partnership meant we could build wealth together. The unraveling of that partnership had its own financial cost — divorce restructures everything, including your investments. By the time I sat in that planner’s office, half my TFSA had already been redeployed: some to legal fees, some to the condo deposit that became my fresh start.
The nose crinkle woke me up.
I didn’t act immediately — honestly, I sat with it for a few months. But by spring 2025, something had shifted. I started pulling on threads: What if I didn’t retire in Canada at all? What if the real lever isn’t how much I save, but how little tax I pay in retirement?
That unraveling is what became Firebird Wealth Journal.
This isn’t a site about hot stocks, market predictions, or having all the answers. It’s a journal — my real-time notes on the decisions, experiments, and unexpected revelations that come from trying to rewrite a retirement timeline at 45.
Here’s what you’ll find:
Wealth Notes — how I think about investing, asset allocation, and building long-term financial security.
Tax Notes — how Canadian tax rules, retirement accounts, and cross-border planning actually shape what you keep.
Retirement Notes — the choices affecting when — and where — retirement becomes possible.
Living Experiments — what life actually costs in places like Portugal and Greece, and how geography changes the math entirely.
If you’re a Canadian investor who felt that nose crinkle moment — who suspects there’s a smarter path but hasn’t quite found it yet — you’re in the right place.
In all honesty, I have no idea how this will work. I’m figuring it out too. Come along.
Disclaimer: The information on Firebird Wealth reflects my personal research, experiences, and opinions. It is not financial, tax, legal, or investment advice. Always consult qualified professionals regarding your own circumstances.