Financial Success – Pay-Yourself-First

Don’t save what is left after spending, spend what is left after saving. - Warren Buffet

Bruce Fights TTP doesn’t sound like a place to discuss financial success, but I thought I would give it a try. During my third episode with the rare blood disease Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (TTP), I was wondering if my family would be secured with our finances.

The good news is we are in good shape due to three reasons:

• Pay-yourself-first
• Life insurance
• Personal financial planning

I’ll discuss pay-yourself-first in this posting.

Pay-Yourself-First

Pay-yourself-first has always been my position, even before I read The Wealthy Barber back in the 90’s, where Chilton states "save 10 per cent of all that you earn and invest it for long-term growth." In fact, I have put the maximum into my RRSP every year since university with one exception. I can’t get that year back.

The idea is the first debt you have every year is the one you owe to yourself. You owe the maximum contribution to your RRSP. You also owe the maximum contribution to your TFSA. This debt can be paid on a monthly basis through direct deposit. You won’t even miss the money.

Why?  If you pay-yourself-first, invest in a reasonable way and do not take back, then the sum will grow to a size which will allow you to retire successfully at a reasonable age. The deposit sum can be adjusted if you have a pension, but who gets a pension anymore? We don’t in high-tech.

The first argument is I can’t afford it! Really? Well you need to make yourself afford it. This is just a life choice. Buy a home or rent? Stay-home vacation or a cruise in the Caribbean? GS version of the car or GT? These are just easy decisions which you can make.

What is a reasonable way to invest? Balance of index funds and full global diversification.

Index funds track the various markets at a low cost. Maybe you say index funds are boring, can’t we get something more exciting? No, let’s just stop there.

Quick baseball analogy, wouldn’t it be nice to staff your baseball team with players like Ted Williams, the last player to hit over .400 in major league baseball? It would be great, but Ted hit .400 in 1941 and it hasn’t been done since. Instead, let’s get more modern and try Moneyball, which used an analytical approach to meet major league baseball’s hitting average. (A great movie starring Brad Pitt and the baseball version of index funds.)

You are probably best to discuss these concepts with your financial planner, but the index funds should be balanced for your risk tolerance:

• Income funds versus equity funds
• Global balance between Canada, US and International funds
• Large capital versus small capital

I also wouldn’t worry about equity and how it will perform in the short-term. Equity has many variations, but in the end, it goes up. Here is the Dow Jones Index of my investing term. I have had to live through 1987, 2002 and 2008, but in 2017 the index is now as high as ever. Obviously 2008 was not a good time to retire. Life choice, keep on working. The goal of some individuals was 'freedom 55', but they had to work until age 60. You will also have to make this choice.

In my review with my planner, our pay-yourself-first plan is working well and we are on track to retire as planned.

Pay-yourself-first! You should be your most important debtor.

Thanks, Bruce.

@BruceFightsTTP

Taking Back Our Home

I suppose I came by it honestly. My parents had a bungalow and somehow the unfinished basement always remained unfinished and just filled up with stuff. It always starts with something old you don’t use any more, but you just can’t throw out. Or you get some new furniture, so maybe we will save the old furniture for the cottage. Whatever the decision, it just grows and grows. When my parents’ family home became just the estate, it took four of us a week to purge.

So, it continued in my home. Again, it starts slow. You start by storing items, but slowly you start to store items which will never be used again by the family.

It was probably started by me right after university. I think you can find a full set of text books for electrical engineering in the basement. They are probably combined with another set for an MBA. Why would I think I would ever look at those again? I suppose those expired texts will now just find the black bin.

You start to see the basement filling with old toys (‘keep the best for grandchildren!’), old appliances, old furniture, old hockey equipment, etc. Both of our parents have passed, so there is plenty of history in our storage.

Our family has been involved in Scouting for nearly 20 years. With no permanent group storage solution, leaders tend to accumulate items in their basements. Even worse, you start to store it in your garage. In the end, you have tents, coolers, craft projects, left-over event items - the cars end up parked in the driveway every winter.

So, what does this have to do with Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (TTP)? Well, it’s a little drug called Prednisone, a steroid the doctors use to suppress the immune system. The side affect for me is it makes me hyper with sleeping problems. I don’t like junk. Don’t like messes. I will wash the dishes without looking for other volunteers. In fact, I wrote most of this article at 4 am, in one draft. Weird …

You know that drawer which is full of junk, well I just dump it on the floor. Within ten minutes half of the contents are in the garbage, some items are put in their proper new area and the rest are organized and put back in the drawer. It feels like a rainy-day task has just been completed!

With some TTP recovery time on my hands and my extra energy, I decided to take ownership of the garage. It started by just loading up garbage bags, but garages are complicated. Where do you store old tires? Where do you store harmful waste? We even had a gently-used double bed mattress leaning against one wall.

My brother said you can start by using Facebook Marketplace. Just take a picture and add to your selling list. Wow, within minutes the mattress was for sale, then a couch, then a TV stand. We had great responses. I’m holding a garage sale all over Messenger!

With another call to my Scouting friends (as we have retired now), we reclaimed another area. It’s looking good – the cars will have inside space this winter! Hopefully, there will also be space for a new snow blower.

The home ownership movement also includes the basement. It is quite easy. First just organize. If you are keeping it, then put it away. Find a shelf, or a bin. It you are not keeping it, then get rid of it. Is it garbage? Can you sell it? Can you donate it? Whatever the answer, just get it out of the basement and on its way to its destination.

I know my family is concerned about my issues with TTP but one day they are going to be happy it was easy to clean out the old basement and garage … 😊

Thanks, Bruce.

@BruceFightsTTP

How Much Plasma is Required for TTP?

First, plasmapheresis is not a top up. This isn't like going to a gas station and filling up the tank. Plasmapheresis is a replacement of the plasma. For Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (TTP), this replacement can happen many, many times. In my TTP experience, my plasma has been replaced 39, 10 and 26 times (each of my three TTP episodes). 

The amount of plasma is determined by the weight of the person. Plasma is 55 percent of the blood, so a simple factor is used to determine the amount of plasma. In my case we use 100 kg as the weight. The amount of plasma in my body is 4.2 litres. 

In plasmapheresis, I have had plasma replace at 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 full volumes. In other words, we needed 4.2, 6.2 or 8.4 litres. So, imagine the amount of plasma required when you multiply by 39, 10 or 18. 

About how donors are required? When blood is donated, they receive about 450 ml. About half is plasma, so a little over 200 ml are received by a donor. In my case I receive solvent detergent plasma provided in 200 ml bags. So, for 1.0, 1.5 or 2.0 full volumes, I would need about the amount from 21, 31 or 42 donors. When the blood clinic RV shows up at work for donations and they get 50 donors, those donations could be all used within two or three days by one TTP patient. 

Bruce Fights TTP encourages blood donation to support all patients in their time of need. Please also note, some donors may be able to provide plasma donation. 

Thanks, Bruce.

@BruceFightsTTP