Michael, 34, says soldiers face unique challenges when buying homes

paycheque project

Name, age: Michael, 34

Annual income: $78,000 from salary, $16,800 from location bonus

Debt: $0

Savings: $6,000 in savings account, $100,000 in tax-free savings account (TFSA), $65,000 in registered retirement savings plan

What he does: Canadian Armed Forces desk job

Where he lives: Ottawa

Top financial concern: “How expensive everything has gotten. Three or four years ago, my primary concern was rent. Now it’s like everything else has gone up too.”

Michael came to Canada from Asia when he was about four years old. He spent most of his youth in the Toronto area and joined the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) shortly after graduating high school.

“When I first joined up, I was in Petawawa, two hours north of Ottawa,” he says. He moved to Nova Scotia after that,