Couple is aggressively trying to pay off mortgage before retirement, but is it too much?

financialpost.com:

Clive* and Juliana are laser-focused on saving for the future. They are living frugally and aggressively paying off their mortgage to make sure they can retire in five years when they both turn 60, at which point they want to enjoy the sacrifices they are making today.

They are pretty sure they will be able to realize this goal, but they also wonder if they’re sacrificing too much today to fund their retirement.

Ideally, the couple would like a roadmap between now and retirement that outlines how much they should be saving now and where they should be investing. Once they retire, they’ll need to determine the most tax-efficient way to draw income from their savings and ensure they have enough money to see them through their later years.

They each earn about $150,000 a year before tax, with a combined net biweekly pay of $6,200. Each also has an employer’s pension.

Clive works in the telecommunications industry and contributes $300 biweekly (these funds are matched by his employer) to a self-directed, defined-contribution pension returning more than 10 per cent per year. It is currently valued at $550,000. Juliana works in the public sector and contributes $1,200 a month to a defined-benefit pension indexed to inflation that should pay her $5,500 a month if she retires at 60 and $6,000 a month if she retires at 65.

Clive and Juliana have maximized their registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) contributions and have a combined $650,000 invested in balanced mutual funds that return eight per cent per year. Clive actively manages their tax-free savings accounts (TFSAs), which are worth a combined $200,000 and invested in between 50 and 60 stocks across various sectors as well as high-interest savings exchange-traded funds.