Financial Goal Setting For 2026

With 2025 quickly coming to a close, it's time to reflect on our goals from this past year and set our new financial goals for 2026. Looking back, it's going to be tough to top this year from a financial perspective.

Earlier this year I had the absolute honour and privilege to speak with my personal finance idol, David Chilton, on The Wealthy Barber podcast.

Our business revenue increased by nearly 50% this year. Our investments are up almost 23%. And we made a significant change to optimize the way we pay ourselves from our business (salary vs. dividends).

Personally, I had a scary episode of atrial fibrillation in May that sent me to the ER in an ambulance. The good news is that I've been feeling fantastic ever since I got my heart shocked back into rhythm that day. Overall, I've lost 15 pounds this year and have been moving more, lifting heavier, cutting back on caffeine and (mostly) cutting out alcohol. Here's hoping that was just a one-off incident that I can keep in check with good healthy habits.

I also applied and was approved for British citizenship this year. Don't worry, we're not going anywhere for a while. Just opening up doors for ourselves and our children in the future (Scotland, anyone?).

We smashed our 2025 goals by each contributing $50k to our TFSAs (snowball catch-up method), maxing out our kids' RESP contributions in January, taking three incredible trips (Cancun, Italy, and Scotland), exceeding our business revenue goals, buying back some time with bi-weekly cleaning and summer lawn care, and, drum roll please, surpassing the $2M net worth milestone.

That's right, barring a catastrophic market collapse in the final few trading days of the year, we will have exceeded our big hairy audacious net worth goal in 2025.

So, what's in store for 2026?

1. Complete our TFSA catch-up – each maxing out our lifetime contribution limit by the end of 2026.
2. Contribute to our RRSPs for the first time in six years (target ~$20k each).
3. Contribute $5,000 to our kids' RESPs in January 2026 (the final contribution year for our age-17 child)
4. Increase salary (and decrease dividends) so that we're able to contribute the annual maximum to our RRSPs in 2027.
5. Take four (!) trips (Mexico, France/Switzerland, Paris for our 20th anniversary, and one surprise trip)
6. Apply for my British passport, then apply for British citizenship for our kids.

Once we've caught up on our TFSA room we only have to come up with the annual contribution amount each year ($7k each). That frees-up tens of thousands of dollars that can go towards other goals.

For us, that coincides with our oldest child going to post-secondary in the fall of 2027. She plans to go to university abroad, so the amount saved in their RESPs won't cut it. We'll need to help with additional funding.

Also our mortgage will come up for renewal in 2027 and, depending on interest rates, we may bump up our payments to better align the mortgage pay-off with a potential early-or-semi-retirement.

Finally, we're going to continue travelling and taking in all of the bucket list experiences that we can. My wife's MS, and my recent Afib scare, are a reminder that tomorrow is never promised and so we don't take our health for granted for one second.

Forget the someday, maybes. We're all about making those memories now.

It's a tremendous privilege to make a good living doing something I love, working alongside with my wife to grow a business that we are proud of, and still being able to take time to travel and experience everything life has to offer.

Thank you to everyone who reads, comments, and has reached out for advice (especially the ones who pay for it!). We are so very grateful.

Now let me know in the comments how 2025 ended up for you and what you have planned for 2026.