I Thought I Was Too Late to Start Investing
I was born in 1973ā¦ and my first experience with money was a bank book.
You didnāt tap a screen. You didnāt check an app.
You physically walked into the bank, handed over your cash, and watched someone update your balance.
And growing up, I was taught something very simple:
š Put your money in a savings accountā¦ and thatās how you build wealth.
For a long time, I believed that.
I wasnāt the kid who excelled in school. I struggled to find direction early on, but eventually found my path through a diploma program and started my first career.
And like a lot of people in their 20sā¦
I didnāt understand money at all.
I made decisions based on how things made me feel ā not what they meant long term. I bought things I didnāt need. I remember buying something brand new on a whim, when a used option would have made far more sense. But at that age, new felt like success.
Looking back nowā¦ I see it differently.
It took years before I had stable, full-time work. No pension. Very little savings. And honestly, no real plan.
Over time, life started to take shape.
I got into real estate. Started with a condo, eventually moved into a townhouse, and later a home with my wife. Real estate became one of the biggest drivers of the equity we built ā not because I had a grand plan, but because I followed the traditional path most of us were shown.
I didnāt drive fancy cars. Most of what we owned was used.
We tried to live within our means ā something my wife has always been better at than me.
And when I transitioned into a new career later in life, I finally had something I thought would take care of everything:
A pension.
I truly believed that would be enough.
So I didnāt focus on investing.
I had small RRSPs here and there, but I let other people manage them. I didnāt understand what I owned. I didnāt ask questions. I assumed thatās just what you do ā give your money to someone else and hope it works out.
At one point, about $50,000 was invested on my behalf.
Much of it disappeared in 2008.
Today, a portion of that still sits in my RRSPā¦ essentially worthless.
And even thenā¦ I didnāt change.
We used our TFSA like a savings account.
At one point, we had a large amount of cash sitting for years earning around 1ā2%, because I didnāt know any better.
That part still stings a bit.
Everything changed about seven years ago.
My father-in-law, who had been managing my wifeās investments, passed away. And for the first time, I had to really look at everything.
What do we have?
What is it invested in?
What should we do next?
I didnāt have the answers.
And I remember thinking:
š āIām 50ā¦ I think I might be too late.ā
That moment forced me to start learning.
And over the past few years, Iāve done exactly that.
Books. Podcasts. YouTube. Conversations. Trial and error.
I started to understand how accounts actually work.
What a TFSA is really for.
How RRSPs fit into a plan.
How taxes play a role.
Why consistency matters more than timing.
We started with about $200,000.
Today, weāre sitting around $460,000.
But the bigger shift wasnāt the portfolio.
It was me.
I stopped outsourcing my understanding.
I stopped guessing.
I stopped assuming it was too late.
And somewhere along the way, I decided to share the journey.
Not because I had it all figured outā¦
ā¦but because I didnāt.
What Iāve realized is there are a lot of Canadians just like me ā people in their 40s, 50s, even 60s ā who feel behind, unsure, or overwhelmed.
And the truth isā¦
Youāre not alone.
Iām still learning.
I still make mistakes.
I still ask questions.
But I show up. I invest consistently. And I keep moving forward.
If youāre reading this and feel like youāre starting lateā¦
So did I.
And Iām still building.
