In this episode, The Money Mechanic and The Economist talk with Stephanie and Gillian from Our Freedom Years. We discuss how working as an ex-pat can help you on your path to FI and how Stephanie and Gillian are finding early retirement. 

Libations [1:10]

• Barnside Brewling – Ladner Clay IPA [1:22] 
• Buffalo Trace Distillery – Stagg JR [1:40]
• Bandit Brewery  – Wizard of Goze [2:16]
• Bandit Brewery – Hoppelganger [2:52]

Our Freedom Years [3:35] 

• Singapore is the best place in the world for ex-pats via Business Insider [5:00]
• LinkedIn [7:35]
• Climbing Kilimanjaro via stingynomands.com [10:00]
• Determining your residential status via canada.ca [11:50]
• Annual Wage Supplement (13th-month bonus) [15:00]
• Canadian Armed Forces Pension Plan [18:15]
• The Art of Slow Travel via SmarterTravel.com [26:54]
• Taxation in Retirement as non-residents [28:15]
• VWRD – Vanguard Irish Domiciled ETF & tax benefits via Bogleheads.org [30:00]
• Interactive Brokers [30:20]
• Syndicated Mortgages via Financial Services Commission of Ontario [30:50]
• Brokers that Stephanie and Gillian use [32:00]:
  • Foremost Financial [34:43]
  • Romspen [34:30]
  • Gillian’s Notes: 
    • We have been participating in syndicated mortgages through Foremost Financial since 2014. They are mainly focused on the Greater Toronto Area, which doesn’t provide any diversification but we like their in-depth knowledge and experience with the Toronto market. They do a lot of repeat business working with experienced borrowers and builders.
    • We have participated in Romspen’s fund since 2010. They are much larger than the one below (3.3 billion in their fund vs 165 million in Foremost’s fund) and cover a larger geographic area including some U.S. mortgages.
    • A couple of other points to mention… 1) A person needs to qualify as an accredited investor for this type of investing. 2) The funds are RRSP eligible but you need to open a self-directed RRSP account for this – ours are with Scotia Wealth Management
• E-mail Stephanie and Gillian [41:30]
• E-mail The Money Mechanic [41:30]
• E-mail Email the Economist [41:30]
• #14 – Are we Too Conservative? via FIGarage.ca [41:45]
• Interview #11 – Do you have a risk plan for FIRE? Via FIGarage.ca [43:10]
• How to Manage Risk in Early Retirement via Our Freedom Years/YouTube [43:10]
• Our Freedom Years YouTube Channel [43:30]
• OurFreedomYears.com [44:40]
• Our Freedom Years Instagram [44:50]