Better days

He has a small construction company in BC. The kind of business that floats along like a cork on the economic sea. When the waves crest, life’s sweet. When they crash, it’s all lost.

Lately, Rick says, everything is under water.

“Compared to 2024, we’re doing about 50% of revenue,” he tells me. “We went from a staff of six down to one. We’ve since added back a second employee, but things still aren’t great. I had to let go of my manager and am now doing both his job (site supervision/project management) and mine (estimating/admin). Not easy. But there are better days ahead?… hopefully.”

For sure. Maybe not that soon, though. Trades and the self-employed in construction are hurting everywhere. The guy putting in a new metal gate to keep Cody contained told me last week this is the worst year in the 28 they’ve been operating. He thanked me three times.

Well, Rick was in touch after a post that appeared here last week. He wanted to share his story.

Here it is.

“I was introduced to your blog in 2018. At the time, I was a bit bummed because I had sold my house in 2017 and couldn’t get back into the market. I made the mistake of claiming low income after spending time working to improve and flip that house (I was young!). So, on paper, I was a loser.

“Fast forward to September 2024: I bought when others were crying. I got a lousy house on a great street in a town near Whistler. And since about early 2025, the construction industry has shit the bed, so I spent time fixing up the house and putting in a suite.

“Your advice from the early days encouraged me to invest and ignore the noise (the best advise possible), so I did, and aggressively for a guy like me. From 2018 to 2023, I put away about $4,000 – $7,000 a month. By 2024, construction and business were great, so I doubled down. My corporation was now investing $10k a month, and I was personally putting another $2k a month into my RRSP. Hot Damn, ETF’s were cheap 2021- 2024. 

“Today, that has grown into a portfolio of roughly $1.2million. Stoked! (millennial word!). And I have the house with a smaller mortgage and Tenants paying most of it

“Besides the Portfolio amount itself, what has me most pleased is the comfort it has provided over the last 18 months while business has been in the crapper, and I’m not exaggerating.

“Anyways, about 5 years ago, prob more, it was pre-covid, I introduced your blog and some of your advice to my best friend, a great guy and also a business owner. He told me that a TFSA was for average people and that he was “in a different league” than me. Seriously. Looking back now, I realize it was actually me who was in a different league than him. Today, he’s barely afloat stressed and struggling like no other person I know. Should I send him your blog link again? Cause I actually want him to succeed.

“Your Blog post on Thursday encouraged this email.”

What did we say here a few days ago?

That post was a depressing litany of the financial failures surrounding us. Most people are simply unprepared for what lies in their future. When a bank report suggests a healthy retirement means saving $1.7 million by age 65, most people shrug. It’s unattainable. Impossible. Life is hard, and the world is scary. Give up.

Moreover, we’ve chosen as a society to bury half or more of whatever wealth we do accumulate in real estate – where it can turn illiquid fast and usually costs money instead of earning it. The best defence against the unknown and the greatest tool for financial stability is a liquid portfolio. Income. Security. Insurance. Peace.

As Rick knows, you get there through discipline and guts. Don’t be emotional. Do not be diverted. Never be deterred.

“Society faces some impossible choices, as debt and public expectations push us into the wall,” this blog said last week. “As individuals, however, we can alter the future. It’s what this blog has been about for the last eighteen years. Choices.”

Dismayed by reality – and my own inability to change it – I added, “Apparently for naught.”

Then a man with a hammer proved me wrong.

About the picture: “I’ve been a huge fan of you blog for years. Your and your colleagues insightful posts are a guiding light in the swamp that’s the internet nowadays,” writes Samuel, in a fine MSU. “Anyways, I hope you can post an article on asset allocations after a person maxes out their registered accounts (e.g. RRSP and TFSA). What’s the right tax reduction strategy if I need to use  a non registered investment account? Thanks for your great work. This is Beany, a failed foster dog. Shes a 9 year old boxer cross. She’s the sweetest pup. Loves walks but is also up for a good cuddle on the couch.”

To be in touch or send a picture of your beast, email to ‘garth@garth.ca’.

Source: https://www.greaterfool.ca/2026/05/24/better-days-2/