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On Saturday, I met up with a friend for brunch. Since restaurants weren't taking reservations, we met at Brunswick and Bloor to maximize our chances of finding a spot on a patio. We settled on the Middle-Eastern café By The Way. Unlike my recent restaurant eats, you had to register your phone and email info for contact tracing purposes.

We were served by a very gregarious server. I'm usually stand-offish about instant chumminess but perhaps the extended isolation has made me more open to friendly interactions. I opted for a Shakshuka entrée ($18) and a strawberry and rhubarb tart ($8). The version of this dish here was heavily tomato-based and came with two poached eggs. Although I enjoyed my brunch, the Shakshuka came in last when ranked against other local ones. The dessert had a nice mix of texture and flavour. A light wrap-up to brunch but not worth the price.

My friend elaborated on their recent epiphany regarding finances. The strategy was propounded by William J. Berstein and Jack Bogle: a slow and steady approach to building a retirement nest-egg via a balanced set of investment buckets and ETFs (Exchange Traded Fund). The authors also had advice about sunk-cost, the long view, financial discipline, etc. It seemed as good an approach as any. But I forgot to ask them how this translated to their plans to "retire" early. Even if they started decades ago (which was unlikely), Berstein's advice only claimed 15 years of retirement funds (the other 10 would come from government aid) for 25 years. Furthermore, this was meant for a retirement at 65. Where would regular income come from? Did they mean to generate it from selling ETF shares instead of re-investing everything?