Real estate built the first foundation
More than twenty years ago, Michael and Sophie arrived in Canada and started from scratch. They built their real estate career step by step: serving clients, building trust, supporting their family, paying mortgages, and gradually accumulating investment properties.
Yet being close to the property market also allowed them to see its limitations clearly. Real estate may create wealth, but it can also be illiquid, sensitive to market cycles, and heavily dependent on active work.
Retirement required a broader strategy
After 2020, inflation became more visible. Then in 2022, rapid interest rate hikes cooled the real estate market. Michael and Sophie began to think seriously about retirement, cash flow, and concentration risk.
They began with four investment loans
In November 2020, with Ai Financial’s assistance, they completed four investment loans totaling $400,000. The capital was allocated into segregated fund structures rather than short-term speculative products.
Over the following years, they experienced market volatility, including downturns, rebounds, and renewed corrections. Several times, they considered exiting the market and paying off the loans. After discussions with Ai Financial advisor Tiffany, they chose to remain focused on the long-term strategy.
A withdrawal changed their perception
In April 2026, they withdrew $7,500 from each of the four accounts, for a total of $30,000. The process was smoother than they expected and helped them see that investment assets could be both growth-oriented and usable in real life.
That experience strengthened their confidence in long-term compounding and later supported their decision to add another investment loan strategy through B2B Bank.