About Tawcan Hi, I’m Bob Lai from Vancouver Canada. Tawcan.com is a Canadian personal finance and dividend investing blog dedicated to chronicling my quest for joyful life and financial independence. My wife and I started our financial independence retire early journey in 2011 after a financial epiphany. We realized that we needed to take charge of our finances. By investing in US and Canadian dividend stocks, we are aiming to achieve financial independence in our 40s and living off dividends. A Little About Me Growing up, money has always been a topic that my family and I discussed openly. Raised by frugal parents, I have learned the long-term benefits of being frugal and having money working hard for me. When I was younger, I did a lot of weird things to save money. I demonstrated my extreme frugality while working in Germany for 8 months. Despite the low monthly income, I managed to travel all over Europe. I learned a lot of things about myself and what I wanted to do in life from this experience. I started investing when I was in my early 20s. Back then I didn’t have much investing knowledge, so I invested in mutual funds or stocks based on other people’s advice and hot tips. The returns never matched the fund performance reports that I received semi-annually and the stocks always performed poorly. Then I realized the high management expense fees (MERs) were eating into my returns – I had to pay the high MERs regardless of how the funds were performing! I wish I had known about these 10 lessons back then! After my financial epiphany, I decided to take charge of my own finances. I started reading books on personal finance and dividend investing to increase my knowledge. I also started my own self-managed dividend portfolio while focusing on being as tax efficient as possible. As a dad to two young kids, I plan to teach them about personal finance and continue to openly discuss any money topics. My goal is to raise them to be financially responsible individuals. My Story My family and I immigrated to Canada from Taiwan in the mid 90s when I was a teenager. Back then I knew a very limited amount of English – the 26 English alphabet letters and a few basic phrases. The first year in Canada was tough. For many months, I didn’t understand anything that my teachers and classmates said. To improve my English proficiency quickly, I studied English on my own after school every day. After an intense year of learning English, I was removed from the English as Second Language (ESL) classes. Through this experience, I realized that determination would always lead to success. I met my wife just before the 2010 Winter Games. She was an exchange student from Denmark exploring Canada. For some reason, the mix between a Dane and a Taiwanese was inseparable. Although we came from places half the world apart, we shared many similarities. dividends - living off dividends

I proposed to her at her birthday party, in front of many of our friends. I was pretty sure she’d say yes! She was expecting a sewing machine as her birthday present. Nobody at the party expected a marriage proposal. She was beyond shocked when she opened her eyes and saw me kneeling on the ground. We got married three times and spent less than $9,000 altogether. This was 27.8% of the Canadian national average wedding cost in 2014. Needless to say, frugality runs deep in both of us. Since starting our quest for joyful life and financial independence, we have added a son and a daughter to our family. They are our sunshine. My Plan For Financial Independence Financial independence retire early is not an unfamiliar concept to me as my dad retired in his early 40s, one of my cousins retired in his early 40s, and another cousin reached financial independence in her mid-40s but decided to continue working. Looking back, I really appreciate that my dad had the time to attend a lot of my school and sports functions. In the summer, the whole family was able to go on several 2-months long cross-continental road trips. My love for travel was born. To me, the term early retirement means sitting on the beach drinking piña colada or playing golf all day. Full leisure is not something I want to do, I would get bored pretty quickly. Rather, I am aiming to reach financial independence where our passive income exceeds our monthly expenses. When I am financially independent, I can continue to work because I choose to, not because I have to. This is the power of being financially independent. Through frugality, dividend stock investing, and other passive income streams, I am targeting to reach financial independence in 2025 or earlier (in my early 40’s). My wife and I want to become financially independent to gain more freedom and choices in life. When financially independent, I plan to continue working. My ultimate dream is to one day travel around the world and live in different countries for extended periods of time to learn about the local culture and explore the surrounding area. Want to follow my quest for joyful life and financial independence? And all the cool updates that I post on this blog? There’s no better way to do that then sign up for the newsletter. I’d be thrilled if you’d join in by filling out the form below! Learn how to create passive income & reach financial independence. Subscribe Loading… Subscribe Loading… Thank you! You have successfully joined our subscriber list. An email has been sent to confirm your subscription. If you don’t see the email, please check your spam folder. window.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', function() { function ml_webform_success_3734197(){var r=ml_jQuery||jQuery;r(".ml-subscribe-form-3734197 .row-success").show(),r(".ml-subscribe-form-3734197 .row-form").hide()} }); Why Joyful Life and Financial Independence? Why do my wife and I want to become financially independent? It comes down to our desire to have more freedom and choices in life. We want to have an extraordinary life, not just an ordinary one. While being financially independent is important, it is just one of the many goals that we have in life. We put a high priority on having joy and happiness every day. Hence, we regularly ask ourselves if the choices we make in life make us a happier person. For some ideas to start, here are a few of our popular posts: How We Increased Our Net Worth by 250% in 5 years How Much Do You Need to Retire? Why I Practice Being Financially Independent Despite not FI yet… And Why You Should Too Weird Things I did to Save Money in My 20’s Have-Do-Be or Be-Do-Have? That Is The Question Using Google Spreadsheet for Dividend Investing The Early Retirement/ Financial Independence Spreadsheet Calculator Step-By-Step Guide on How to Make a Dividend Portfolio Spreadsheet FIRE. RIP. 2014-2018 What Is Tawcan Tawcan is a name I invented when I first started using the internet in the 90’s. It stands for Taiwanese Canadian. Since nobody uses this username, it just stuck with me ever since. 🙂 My Mission When I started this blog I simply wanted to share my knowledge on personal finance, investing, and life philosophy. I also wanted to chronicle my financial independence journey and keep myself accountable. After a few years of blogging, I have managed to connect with many like-minded people and received many encouraging emails from readers. My mission for this blog is to show that financial independence is indeed possible and provide support and guidance to all my readers. As a millennial, I am here to share my knowledge but also to learn from my peers and readers. Learn More About Me Bob Lai in the Media. My Life Philosophy How & Why We Got Married 3 Times I am a part time professional photographer I co-authored two cookbooks Get In Touch! I would love to hear from you. Here are some ways to get a hold of me. Email me at tawcan.com@gmail.com Follow me on Twitter at @Tawcan Follow me on Facebook at Tawcan Disclaimer: All content posted on this blog represents my personal opinions and views. I am not a licensed investment advisor. I am also not a life coach. You should do your own research and consult with a professional before you make any decisions that may impact your life.

luvly November 19, 2021 at 3:29 pm Very inspiring! I, too, came to Canada when I was 13 in 1996 🙂 So like yourself, I was very determined to learn English. (Thanks for your explanation about where the name ‘Tawcan’ came from. I had a guess and I was right! LOL) Reply

Kyna Ng October 18, 2021 at 6:18 pm Thank you for starting this blog. Super useful! Reply

Alain Guillot March 23, 2018 at 2:55 pm Hey, Nice to meet you. I am a personal finance blogger and podcaster based in Montreal Canada. I am also an amateur photographer. I am looking through your archives… We have a few things in common. Reply

Matt March 23, 2018 at 9:07 am Hi Bob, your site has been incredibly helpful. I use your google spreadsheet but I can’t seem to get the new yahoo formulas to work. Do you have a link to the spreadsheet with yahoo formulas in it? Thanks again Reply

Tawcan March 23, 2018 at 9:23 am Hi Matt, Please take a look here https://www.tawcan.com/step-step-guide-make-google-spreadsheet-dividend-portfolio-template/ I have updated the formula. Reply

Dipu January 26, 2017 at 12:40 pm I mean an article about you Reply

Tawcan January 26, 2017 at 12:54 pm Thanks, I know about that. Hope you enjoyed reading it. 🙂 Reply

Dipu January 26, 2017 at 12:37 pm HI Taw can, There is a news about you on http://www.moneysense.ca. A portfolio that pays $12K a year Great! keep it up Reply

Route To Retire January 9, 2017 at 10:14 am Hi Bob, nice to put a face with all the great articles! I hope to do the same at some point down the line once I am able to quit the 9-5. — Jim Reply

Team CF January 2, 2017 at 3:24 am Hey Bob, impressed that you decided to put your name and photograph out there. You have more guts than I/we do. Hope it helps your brand! Best of luck. Reply

Tawcan January 3, 2017 at 1:57 pm Hi Team CF, Thanks, for me it was the right thing to do. 🙂 Reply

Money Miser @ Money-Miser.com December 15, 2016 at 2:57 pm Nice to see another Vancouver FI blogger, you’re the first I’ve seen! It’ll be interesting to see your approach to financial independence whilst living in this unbelievably expensive city! Reply

free2pursue August 28, 2016 at 5:33 am Quite enjoy your fine city, though I can’t imagine navigating its real estate market! Ouch! I’ll take the Canadian prairies for now, though we do like to visit the west coast ;). I’m looking forward to learning more about your take on PF and Investing. Reply

americandividenddream November 4, 2015 at 6:20 pm Early 30’s and a dad… both characteristics that are very close to myself. Happily married, late 20’s, no kids yet but hopefully in the near future. It’s nice to see a lot of the same attributes in other bloggers that are trying to achieve FI. It makes things much easier and shows that it is doable. We are not quite at the 5 figure dividend income like yourself but we are certainly pushing ourselves to get that as quick as possible. It’s a fun journey for sure! You definitely have a reader for life. I look forward to following your journey over the years. Cheers, ADD Reply

wgmast01 October 9, 2015 at 7:41 pm Awesome, sounds like we have a lot in common! Reply

Dividend Freedom August 19, 2015 at 11:59 pm Great blog Tawcan! I am about the same age married and with kids. So already there we have a lot in common 🙂 Best of luck in future, I will definitely follow you in the future. Stay in touch. Dividend Freedom Reply

Alex June 11, 2015 at 2:12 pm Tawcan: I enjoyed your easy on the eyes “about” page. Your mentioning of family and friends in several different ways is beautiful. You have your priorities set and straight. I look forward to following your journey to financial independence where you, obviously, already have a strong foundation built. Best, Alex P.S. I hope you do not mind my adding you to my blogroll — if so, please let me know. Reply

Our Next Life June 4, 2015 at 5:39 am Hi there! Found you through Rockstar Finance, and looking forward to delving into your blog more. We’re fellow skier/outdoor types seeking FI, just a bit south of you. 🙂 Reply

Mr. FSF April 18, 2015 at 3:07 pm Based on your blog, you do seem like an all-round nice guy 😉 Will have to do some more reading to catch up! Impressive dividend growth as well, congratulations, hope that you can keep that up. Reply

Dividend Hustler March 26, 2015 at 12:32 pm Thank you for starting this blog Tawcan. I always have a good time visiting your blog. It’s very informative. Keep doing what your doing inspiring others and bettering your lives and others. Take care. Reply

Will October 2, 2014 at 9:38 am West coast, best coast! Heading off to read more! Reply

Steve August 14, 2014 at 4:57 pm Cool! Welcome to the world of personal finance blogging! If by west coast you mean Vancouver, that’s where I am too. Reply

Browse newsletters about fire movement

Tawcan