Q&A with Mark from My Own Advisor – Reaching FIWOOT

The financial independence retire early (FIRE) community is a very supportive and tight-knit one. Because the community is made up of folks who have different backgrounds and different ages, it’s very diverse (not just a bunch of caucasians from high tech). 

One thing I appreciate from the diverse FIRE community is that there are people ahead of us who are always willing to share their knowledge and help others slightly behind them on the FIRE journey.

I am happy to have Mark Seed from My Own Advisor and Cashflows and Portfolios to join us for this Q&A session. Mark recently reached the semi-retirement milestone, or as Mark calls the lifestyle, FIWOOT, Financial Independence, Work On Own Terms.

Q1: Welcome back, Mark. You’ve made so many appearances on this blog, it’s always nice to do a Q&A session with you. First of all, congratulations on reaching FIWOOT. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? 

Happy to be back, Bob. Always nice to connect with you and your readers!

Well, thanks very much. What can I say? It’s been a journey to Financial Independence, Work On Own Terms but the financial journey is far from over. While we’ve reached financial independence and could fully retire from the workforce today, we haven’t yet. I enjoy my role at work, I’m fortunate to work part-time at it, and so why not continue to contribute for a bit?

For those who don’t know about me via your site, I’m now in my early 50s. 

I live in Ottawa with my wife. We love our cat to care for but have no kids. I enjoy travelling, cycling, hiking/walking, golfing, being outdoors in general and not to mention a good craft beer too. 

I’ve been a DIY investor for over 20 years now and I’ve been running My Own Advisor as my own DIY financial advisor for over 15 years now. 

Q2. You and I utilize hybrid investing, a combination of individual dividend stocks and low-cost ETFs. What made you decide on utilizing hybrid investing in the first place? 

I’ve been a hybrid investor for almost 20 years. 

The way I see it, I get the best of both worlds as a hybrid investor. 

Via dividend stocks/owning some individual stocks, I choose the portfolio – with a slight focus on income investing over growth this way. While total return is always important, you simply don’t know when or how much growth will occur from your portfolio – but that will happen. With dividend stocks, there is a bias to income investing – the decision to obtain/earn income is made for you. The Board of Directors makes those decisions for you: how much dividends to pay to shareholders is determined by them vs. you selling your stock shares. I’ve written on my site over the last 10-15 years that I like the optionality that comes from owning dividend paying stocks, which is why I own them. I can either take the income as cash and save it, spend it, or reinvest that cash as I please as part of a total return approach. I own many Canadian stocks in my portfolio and have done so for almost 20 years now to serve as bond-proxies with some capital upside. 

I own low-cost ETFs for extra diversification. I don’t have time to research 50+ stocks and if I owned 50+ stocks I would probably be better off as an index investor anyhow since that’s like creating your own fund – not to mention navigating all the transaction fees that may come with maintaining a large DIY stock portfolio. I own low-cost ETFs since I know my portfolio of mostly Canadian stocks needs growth including growth beyond Canada. One of the best ways to invest for growth is to own a low-cost, globally diversified Exchange Traded Fund that invests in a world of stocks – so I do. 

Tawcan: exact the same reasons why we are hybrid investors, too!

Q3. I love the term FIWOOT, Financial Independence, Work On Own Terms. It reflects the idea that despite reaching financial independence, you’re not sitting on the beach all day, sipping Piña coladas. Why is work on own terms, or work optional so important? 

Ha, thanks very much. I came up with this concept many years ago when FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) really didn’t resonate with me.

FIRE concepts are great (i.e., save your money, mind your expenses) so don’t get me wrong, these are good things but they are not new concepts. 

Gen X (me) and Boomers (my parents’ generation) have been working towards various forms of early retirement, semi-retirement, and other labels long before social media and the 2000s began. FIRE is catchy and fun but it’s not realistic for most people either. It’s also misleading. I don’t know of any 30- or even 40-something who is fully retired and doesn’t still work for a bit of income, here and there. They probably just work on their own terms now. Now, maybe there are people out there who retire and never work again for income, but I don’t know of anyone that does so in that age range. 

FIRE is largely marketing in my opinion. 

FIWOOT is a more accurate description of what I am actually doing – so that integrity is important to me. I am working on my own terms. 

I will stop working for income though, eventually. That could be a year or a few years. I have no idea. What’s why FIWOOT was important to me 20 years ago and it is today – I get to choose. 

Q4. It’s not a surprise that you’re a planner, just like me. What made you and your wife decide to step back from full-time employment? Was it a decision that took years to make? Was it a difficult decision? Why and why not? 

Very much a planner. In my current part-time role at work, related to projects, portfolios, strategy-setting and improvements in our organization, I know first-hand the value in thinking ahead.

That said, I never get it 100% right. I’m not perfect – I can’t see the future. But the process of planning and forecasting is very important. It’s a good skill to have, at least it has been for me and our financial independence journey.

Once we got out of debt (approaching two years ago now; that was a major financial milestone for us), it allowed us to focus on the second and final part of our financial independence puzzle which was having enough returns from our portfolio that exceeded our expenses. 

We essentially reached our crossover point in summer 2024.

I define our crossover point as this: 

The income/returns generated from our personal investment portfolio > expenses.

That means, income/returns earned without my small DB workplace pension, without any government benefits like CPP or OAS now covers our lifestyle spending. 

For example, say my portfolio was worth $1 million, and it generally earns/returns 5% annualized, then as long as that $50,000 earned covers my expenses and then some, with a bit of buffer, we are “good”. Certainly, if I just live off my portfolio dividends and distributions only, coupled with CPP and OAS later in life, I might have some taxation issues to navigate – so I will drawdown our portfolio over time. That’s the point of saving and investing – to enjoy it. 🙂

For those interested, we report monthly dividend income updates like these here on my site.

April 2025 Dividend Income Update

Those updates focus on income delivered from our RRSPs (2), our non-registered accounts (2), and my small LIRA from work. I report it that way since those are the first five (5) accounts we will tap in retirement. 

The decision to step back from full-time work was not something that took years to make but rather it was years in the making.

Q5. Tell me more about your plans for the new chapter of your life. Can you share how you and your wife negotiated with your employers on working part-time? Were there any pushbacks? What were some of the challenges? 

The new chapter is still unfolding!

In terms of working with our employer, it was a good process overall but it took time. I won’t get into specifics since many work colleagues know of my site and follow it, but I will say it was a mind-bender from some folks to wrap their heads around – why would I want to work part-time in a senior position?

It’s just not common. You work, you get older, you retire. That’s how it works. 

It’s not common to want to semi-retire but it is my hope that more employers and management teams at many companies will consider it. 

Q6. Outside of writing blog posts, financial consulting, playing golf, and watching hockey games, what other projects are you planning on in FIWOOT? 

That’s a pretty good start, no? 🙂

Not sure yet!

Since I’ve gone part-time earlier this year, I’ll still trying to figure that out but I’m enjoying the process. 

I’ll probably work out more. Do more hiking/walking. Probably make some day trips around the area more frequently. Potentially looking at volunteer work in my local community. Have more time to visit my family, in-laws, and some relatives.

Essentially, I can do more things I want to do with the extra time that I’m able to use. 

Q7. Tell me a bit more about your portfolio withdrawal strategy. I believe you plan on withdrawing from non-registered (N) and registered (R), and leaving TFSA (T) untouched for as long as possible? Are you planning to collapse you and your wife’s RRSPs early? Or do you envision converting RRSPs to RRIFs at some point?

That is correct, that drawdown order should work well for most investors unless you have no or very little non-registered assets, then it’s really just a focus on the registered assets, first, then leaving TFSAs until later in life. 

An NRT drawdown order for me basically means:

Non-registered (N) assets are spent first (i.e., live off dividends from those accounts) along with some corporation withdrawals I will make – since that is also a non-registered account.

RRSPs/RRIFs and LIRAs/LIFs as registered assets (R) will be withdrawn in early retirement years, over a period of many years, to smooth out the taxation there, since I have deferred taxes inside these accounts to date. I will likely convert my RRSP to a RRIF at age 65.

TFSAs (T) will be withdrawn last, since I don’t want to interrupt tax-free compounding power.  

I would suggest most DIY investors consider this NRT or R then T drawdown order.

Q8. When people retire, they typically travel more. Do you have any travel plans lined up? Any plans to come for a visit to Vancouver? 🙂 

We plan to visit Victoria in the fall of 2025 but unfortunately no visit to Vancouver near-term but it could be on the radar again in a few years. 

We are thinking about a transatlantic cruise in another year or so and likely another visit to Belize will occur as well over the coming winters.

We have our eyes on visiting Portugal again for some winter downtime for a few weeks but we have an aging cat to care for so we don’t want to travel too far, too often. 

Q9. Why is it important to “learn” how to spend money and enjoy life a bit more in FIWOOT rather than a “save-save-and-save-some-more” mentality so many FIRE seekers tend to have? 

Well, FIRE-like concepts are great. Save a high percentage of your income, invest wisely, avoid lifestyle inflation, etc. 

But ultimately you have to know your “enough”. 

I can’t say what your “enough” is, Bob, as an example my friend, it could be less or more than what we have but for everyone I believe it’s important to know what that is. 

Your “enough” is not just about money, it’s about what you do with your time, where you put your life-energy so to speak. If you or anyone wants to continue working to save more, invest more, spend more, that’s great. Work and build your “enough” to make you feel fulfilled.

I just always knew that around age 50, I wanted more control over my time and there was a better life-work balance to be had – so I put a plan in place about 20 years ago to help me get there. That plan has come to fruition. 

Being financially independent offers choices. 

Q10. It’s amazing you have blogged for over 15 years (since December 2009). What’s next for My Own Advisor?  

I wish I knew!?

I will probably keep it running for a bit since I really enjoy engaging with other like-minded investors while sharing some personal insights along the way. 

Q11. In retirement, what’s more important, income flow or portfolio value preservation? 

I believe cash flow from your portfolio is important. You can do that via income or growth or both. 

Portfolio preservation is fine to a point but it really depends on your estate plans and such. We saved and invested money over the years to enjoy – so we have plans to spend most of our money/assets while we are alive. That may or may not appeal to others!  

Folks can review a bit more of our spending plans here.

Q12. For the most part, you are heavily invested in equities. Do you plan to shift more investments into bonds? Or are you holding more cash during FIWOOT? What’s your plan in terms of protecting yourself from an extended bear market and emergencies?  

Nope, no plans to shift to bonds. I’ve written about that many times on my site. Again, a personal preference. 

Over the last few years, we’ve been building our cash wedge for semi-retirement or retirement spending. Folks can revisit what that means on my site anytime – there are a number of articles related to that theme. 

We will spend from our N and R cash buckets (from the NRT drawdown order above) in Year 1 of retirement, then as equities deliver both income and gains during that first spending year, the cash buckets will fill up again for more spending in future years. Rinse and repeat for the first few years of retirement, maybe selling some equities here and there but not required if we enter a prolonged bear market – we can also cut back a bit of discretionary travel spending. 

We are entering retirement with at least one-year worth of spending as cash or cash equivalents. That’s always been our plan to protect our spending needs for a year or so against any bear market. 

We have an emergency fund beyond that spending bucket too – always have and will keep that intact for any emergencies.

Q13. You have your name and picture on your blog and social media so you probably get recognized a lot. Do you have any funny encounter stories you can share with us? 

Nothing too outrageous to be honest, not that famous, ha, but I have been recognized here and there at times and it’s always very nice to hear and know of readers that say: “I enjoy your blog and reading about your financial journey”.

Q14. Looking back on your financial independence journey, are there certain things you would have done differently or changed if you were to start the journey today? 

Well, I’ve got a few posts on my site that reference some big financial mistakes – I posted those so others don’t have to make the same investing mistakes I have.

In hindsight, in my 20s and early 30s, I could have saved more and invested more but at the end of the day I turned out just fine. 

My advice to any 20- or 30-something when it comes to investing or personal finance matters is to figure out your “whys”. 

Why is money important to you? 

Why are you saving? 

Why do you want to invest? 

That leads to what is your money going to be used for? Is any spending aligned to your values? 

Once you figure out your “whys” I think it will motivate you to think about what and how to structure your own personal finance plan. Everyone is different and a constant refrain on my site is: personal finance is personal for a good reason. 

Q15. What would you tell someone like me who is trying to achieve financial independence? Do you have any advice for FIRE or FIWOOT? 

Beyond what I mentioned above, figure out what type of investor you are – what triggers your investing decisions and then what will keep you invested. Ultimately, long-term financial success will probably come down to a few foundational elements for most:

1. Saving more than you earn – investing the difference.
2. Keeping your investment costs/transaction fees/advisor fees low to non-existent.
3. A bias to equities for growth vs. bonds or fixed income. 
4. Diversification across your equities from companies and industries from within Canada but maybe just as importantly from many countries from around the world. 
5. Staying the course for years on end.

Anyone that can follow these steps, consistently, should do very well over time. 

Save, invest, keep mostly equities in your portfolio and just keep buying more of them over a few decades. That’s it. No costly wealth manager necessary. You can be Your Own Advisor too. 

As always, thank you, Mark, for your insight and stories and for agreeing to do yet another Q&A on here. Since we are a few years behind you on the FI journey, I always appreciate talking to you and learning a few things from you. I look forward to reading more about your FIWOOT journey and all your new adventures.