Like that 2025 has come to a close. I thought we would have flying cars right now like the Jetsons, but there are robots that can do your chores and take 45 minutes to load your dishwasher (at the cost of over $25,000), and cars that can drive by themselves, and AI that can help you be a better parent (the soothing messages of ChatGPT help me with parenting advice). Pretty advanced stuff. I hope to be a 95 year old who is able to keep up with the tech in the future. I just started using ChatGPT and find it quite amazing.
Life keeps going on, and the progress you put into yourself will slowly compound. A decade later you will reap the fruits of your labour.
Speaking of progress (or attempted progress) that we put in ourselves, here’s how I did with my 2025 personal finance goals.
Max Out TFSA
The 2025 TFSA contribution limit is $7000 this year.
If you have never contributed to a TFSA before and you were of age when the TFSA was first introduced, you will have $102,000 in contribution room. That is six figures! If you are still using it as a “savings account” please don’t.
It is a powerful investing tool that can supercharge your retirement plans, and the full market value of your TFSA will be received tax free to your estate or beneficiary upon death.
| Year | TFSA Contribution Room |
| 2009 | $5000 |
| 2010 | $5000 |
| 2011 | $5000 |
| 2012 | $5000 |
| 2013 | $5500 |
| 2014 | $5500 |
| 2015 | $10,000 |
| 2016 | $5500 |
| 2017 | $5500 |
| 2018 | $5500 |
| 2019 | $6000 |
| 2020 | $6000 |
| 2021 | $6000 |
| 2022 | $6000 |
| 2023 | $6500 |
| 2024 | $7000 |
| 2025 | $7000 |
| 2026 | $7000 |
| Total | $109,000 |
I plan to move $7000 in my non-registered account to my Questrade TFSA on January 1 (12:15 am haha)
COMPLETED: I think I really did transfer $7000 on January 1 2025 at 12:15 to my TFSA. Next year’s TFSA contribution room is $7000 again, so there will be $109,000 total contribution room.
Max Out RRSP
As with other years, I’m not sure what my RRSP room will be. This goal will be done once I find out what my RRSP contribution room is from the 2024 Notice of Assessment after my taxes are done.
Last year I transferred US dollars from my margin account, contributed some US dollars, and transferred some shares in kind. It was a hodge podge of contributions.
My RRSP contribution room is usually low (between $5000 to $10,000) because of my defined benefit pension.
COMPLETED: My RRSP contribution room was very low (under $2000?) and I transferred the amount after I received my Notice of Assessment. To fund it I sold Verizon (VZ) in my non-registered in May and moved the cash over to my RRSP.
Increase Dividend Income to $39,000/ Year
In 2024 my goal was to reach $36,000 in annual dividends. I ended the year with $36,909.
This year I am going to go for $39,000 in projected annual dividend income for 2025.
I am reducing my contributions to the portfolio by 25% so this is a conservative amount, I think. I was going to aim for $38,000 but given the drastic increase in annual expenses for our family and for myself compared to 2023, I think I will need more passive income. Inflation is real (and nasty).
I tend to be overweight in Canadian dividend stocks (I try to keep it under 33% of the portfolio).
Since I don’t need the income right now because I am still working part-time, I will focus more on ETFs, exchange traded funds like VXC and VTI and add to my position in Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) which doesn’t pay a dividend at all (gasp the horror I know).
I am scaling back on my investment contributions to build cash up.
COMPLETED: This was completed in August. Ended the year with over $42,000 in annual income.
Build Up Cash Pile
I still feel uncomfortable with the lack of cash and would like to build my cash reserves back up but at the same time I would like to continue to invest.
I’ll start off with aiming to save another $35,000 in cash for the year to add to what I currently have. It’s not going to be 28% cash like Berkshire Hathaway but I would like to aim for 8% cash.
I planning to reduce my monthly investment contributions by 25% compared to last year to facilitate this cash savings.
PASS: I did not get to 8% cash. It’s less than that but I did save another $35,000 in cash, so I give myself a PASS, but not completed.
Read 5 Personal Finance Books
Here are the 5 investing and personal finance books that I hope to read and then write about in 2025.
The first one might be a bit of a shocker to people who have been following my journey. I will update with more details later on.
Now that I am into my 4th decade of life, it makes sense to focus on the retirement or early retirement aspect of learning. I believe all of these authors are Canadian too.
- Buying US Real Estate: The Proven and Reliable Guide for Canadians by Richard Dolan
- 5 Years to Freedom: A Canadian Guide to Early Retirement by Rejean Venne
- Victory Lap Retirement: Work While you Play, Play While You Work by Mike Drak
- The Rule of 30: A Better Way to Save for Retirement by Fred Vetesse
- Happy Go Money by Melissa Leong
COMPLETED: This one I completed very quickly because all the library books sort of came at the same time. The links above are to the book reviews. I also read “The 5 Types of Wealth” by Sahil Bloom which was really good. I started a habit of reading 30 minutes a day while the kids are settling in bed (I sit outside of their rooms until they fall asleep) and it has stuck!
The US Real Estate was exciting but it’s a lot of red tape and accounts to open up, also the pricing hasn’t been good enough yet, so I am still looking.
If you are looking for reading inspiration, here are other personal finance books and dividend investing books I recommend.
New Year’s Resolutions That I nEver Seem to Get
- Sleep before 12 (I was really bad with this the latter half of the year. I think I just need better time management… and more time to myself- pipe dream!) ** Again this is not going very well… I went to bed last night at 12:40am.**
- Meditate 10 minutes at least 4 times a week (I will put this in my schedule) ** I basically stopped this completely**
- Add a 30 minutes yoga session per week on top of the current 3 times a week run and 1 time a week weight training. ** This is going very well, I pretty much do something daily, I am doing pilates videos on the days I don’t run and I don’t do weights**
- Stop snacking on chips or other non healthy snacks at night **I give my self a 75% grade on this one, if I feel hungry I grab a spoonful of peanut butter and that seems to help**
It’s hard to change, people are hardwired to resist change. Once the habit sticks though it gets easier. These small decisions on how you spend your time (or what you put in your body) compound over time, just like your portfolio. Your body (and mind) at 85 is typically a result of delayed gratification of your lifestyle choices over days and decades- minus some unfortunate genetic predisposition to disease.
James Clear’s book about changing your set up so you can change your habits would be helpful to read. I’ll put “meditation” in my daily calendar now.
How was your 2025? Happy holidays!
GYM is a 40 something millennial writing about personal finance since 2009 and interested in achieving financial freedom through disciplined saving, dividend and ETF investing, and living a minimalist lifestyle. Before you go, check out my recommendations page of financial tools I use to save and invest money. Don’t forget to subscribe for a free dividend yield spreadsheet and the free Young Money Bootcamp PDF.