Today I’m excited to have Sean Cooper on the show. There’s a good chance that you’ve already heard of Sean whether it’s on the radio, TV, or the internet as Sean is the guy that bought his first house when he was just 27 and paid off his mortgage at 30 in 3 years.

As you may know, my wife and I also paid off our mortgage early at the age of 28 and 29 (you can learn more about it by checking out past episodes of the show). But what makes Sean’s story interesting, is that he did it in Toronto (which as we all know has some of the highest real estate prices in Canada), and he did it with a single income. That to me is really impressive, so it was fun to pick Sean’s brain about how he did it, and the strategies he uses and recommends to save money and get out of debt.

UPDATE: Since publishing this episode, Sean has become the show’s Resident Mortgage Expert. If you have a mortgage question, you can speak to Sean for free over at www.BuildWealthCanada.ca/sean

A bit more about Sean: He’s an in-demand personal finance journalist, money coach and speaker. His articles have been featured in publications such as the Toronto Star, Globe and Mail, MoneySense and Tangerine’s Forward Thinking blog.

He makes regular appearances on national radio and television shows to discuss personal finance, real estate and mortgages. He’s also the author of the new book, Burn Your Mortgage, which helps anyone —from new buyers to experienced homeowners — pay down their mortgage sooner and live well while doing it.

Links and Resources

• Get a free one-on-one meeting with Sean to get your mortgage and home buying questions answered at www.BuildWealthCanada.ca/sean
• Top Tools and Resources for Financial Independence (for Canadians): Sign up anywhere on www.BuildWealthCanada.ca for a free guide on all the top tools and sites that I’ve personally used to help us achieve financial independence in our early 30s. They’re also what we use now to optimize and manage our finances, and ensure that we’re paying the lowest fees while getting solid returns on our investments.
• Kornel's investing course with free sample lessons at www.BuildWealthCanada.ca/invest

Questions Covered:

1. To start things off, tell us your story and the steps you took that got you mortgage free at such a young age.
2. Tell me about the moment when you realized that you need to write a book. What motivated you to write it in the first place?
3. With the house prices being where they are, and the frenzy that we seem to be experiencing in the real estate market right now, do you think it still makes sense for millennials to buy a home? (as opposed to renting for a lot less and investing their excess cash flows). Are there exceptions?
4. Are there some creative ways that you recommend Canadians (and millennials in particular) can get into the real estate market?
5. Tell me about the internal dialogue that you had in your head, with yourself, when deciding whether you should pay off your mortgage quicker or invest.
6. Now that you are debt free, are you also financially independent? Tell me your definition of financial independence.
7. If yes, how do you structure your investments, cash flows, etc.?
8. What are you doing with the cash flows that aren’t going towards your mortgage anymore?
   -What are you investing in?
   -Your strategy. Reasoning?
   -How are you using registered accounts? Are you using non-registered too?
9. Have you considered doing a home equity line of credit (HELOC) on your property and using the proceeds to invest?
10. Are you thinking of buying more rental properties?
11. What’s next for you?
12. To finish things off, tell us more about your book and what we can expect to learn from reading it.
13. Where can we follow you if we want to learn more?

Today we have Susan Daley on the show and we’re going to talk all about early retirement, such us how to pull it off, what to look out for, and some of the most common mistakes that Canadians make when trying to plan this out.

Susan is an Associate Portfolio Manager at PWL Capital in Waterloo, where she provides financial planning and investment management services to a wide range of clients. She’s also an Honours BBA graduate from Wilfrid Laurier University, which is actually where I graduated from too, so it’s always fun to chat with a fellow grad about best practices when it comes to financial planning and investing.

Links and Resources

• Top Tools and Resources for Financial Independence (for Canadians): Sign up anywhere on www.BuildWealthCanada.ca for a free guide on all the top tools and sites that I’ve personally used to help us achieve financial independence in our early 30s. They’re also what we use now to optimize and manage our finances, and ensure that we’re paying the lowest fees while getting solid returns on our investments.
• Kornel's investing course with free sample lessons at www.BuildWealthCanada.ca/invest
• You can reach out to Susan at sdaley@pwlcapital.com and she's at www.pwlcapital.com/waterloo

Questions Covered:

1. For somebody that is saving money for a large purchase like a house, wedding, a car, etc., where do you suggest they keep their money to let it grow safely?
2. What to consider when deciding between RRSP vs TFSA vs non-registered? 
3. What if you’re planning to retire or semi-retire early (ex. 30s or 40s where it’s still a long time before government benefits come in). Does that change anything in terms of what accounts you put the funds in? 
4. Is there any time that you would use a non-registered account before using an RRSP and TFSA?
5. How to determine if you’ve saved enough to retire early? 
6. Once you hit that number, what changes do you make to your portfolio since now you’re focused on sustainability instead of growth (changes in terms of asset allocation, and the investment products you choose).
7. Would the answer be different if the person is in their 60s and about to receive government benefits vs if they are retired much earlier (ex. 40s)?
8. What cash cushion do you recommend for those in retirement and semi-retirement?
9. Some advisors recommend real return bonds for those in retirement. What are your thoughts? 
10. How to decide what accounts to take money from in retirement? (RRSP vs TFSA vs non-registered)