Canadian boasts about his financial status. Check out the brilliant rebuttals.

First let me recommend a Globe and Mail article on income inequality in Canada. One of several very interesting facts is a study that "found that reducing income inequality by just 10 per cent extends the length of economic expansions by 50 per cent." However it is the comments sections that has caught my


Posted below is from the comments sections. The part of the discussion which I post here is responses to poster, RichardThe Lion Heart asking why he should worried about income inequality. He claims he worked his way up the income inquality scale.




Richard the Lion Hearted 4 hours ago

My roots stem from being the only son of a single mother. Her Net Worth when she died was $7,500 in 1985. I was fortunate to be blessed with her mind and I earned two engineering degrees, both debt free in 1960. This welcomed me into the middle class where I worked at one U.S. company in Canada for 33 yeras. This earned me a fixed pension in 1993. Now 20 years into retirement with the purchasing power of my pension well reduced by inflation,

However, I am not. As a DIY investor, I have managed well. I am like SmithBarney wealth managers ... I earned my way up the income inequality scale the old fashioned way. I earned it.



And so, despite myself, I am now enjoying the income inequality gab ... thank to no one but myself ... and I am not one bit sorry for it.


child of the north 4 hours ago

By your own admission though you state that you worked for the same company for 33 years and they provided you a defined benefit pension. So, in reality, you do have another system to thank for your employment and pension - ergo, you do have somebody else to thank because it wasn't just you. You also invested in a stable, some-what reliable stock market. All of this is mostly gone for today's young workers. Very few are fortunate enough to have lifetime jobs with the same company or a DB pension. The stock market today is a rigged casino of day traders and robots and is being propped up by central bank money printing. It will collapse along with your savings. Please read David Stockman's book. He was in Ronald Regan's cabinet and he is issuing dire warnings about how unstable the US economy, stock market and political system is.

www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-11-07/david-stockman-blasts-brace-explosion-mother-all-bubbles

'The blame (and benefactors) are clear, he blasts, "how could someone in their right mind believe that you can have interest rates... at zero for nine years?... That is the greatest gift to the speculators, to the 1%, to the leveraged traders, to the carry trade ever imagined!" He concludes, "we're almost on the edge of another explosion at the present time."'

snip

Richard the Lion Hearted 2 hours ago

child of the north, I disagree with your arguments for the following reasons:

In 1960, pensions were offered by most companies. I would not have accepted a job with a company that did not. Do not blame my wisdom, or the times for my pension. It was all part of the compensation ... and I earned it the old fashioned way ... by being productive in my company. So sorry, I don't apologize for my fixed pension which now earns about 50% of what it did in 1993.

With respect to investing in the market today, even you can invest in large capital, blue chip, dividend paying, Canadian stocks, buy and hold. I continue to invest in 9 such companies, all well known [BCE, ENB, RY, BNS, EMA, TA, TRP, CU, TD]. 20 year Internal Rate of return = 10.65%. Divs are reinvested by myself. Went through some pretty bad patches ... and hung on and slept well. So, don't cry me a river about being lucky and times were always good. Have faith and earn your money the hard way.


Teleology 2 hours ago

Excellent rebuttal Child of the North. Richard seems to be living out retirement in a bubble of self-congratulation, unable to see how radically the economy and conditions of social opportunity have changed. Surprising because in other posts on various topics he always seemed a bit more empathetic and aware.

Richard, you should certainly pat yourself on the back for a life well earned through your intelligence and hard work. But to state "thanks to no one but myself" ignores that you came of age during a period of incredible post-war opportunity and phenomenal economic growth. Sorry Richard, there was something going on around you in the economy that enabled you to gain an educational advantage and to translate that advantage into a long rewarding career (and other factors as Child outlines).

And surely you are aware that the economic value of your degrees in 1960 was significantly higher than in today's environment of hyper-competition. In 1961, almost half of Canadians did not even complete high school. In 1961, while approximately 3.5% of Canadians completed a university degree, in 2013 those with a degree is now over 25%. Not only is the competition to gain entry to good schools and programs significantly higher, the larger number of people with similar educational attainment entering the workforce is elevated thereby reducing the return on educational investment. And lets not forget further competition with the entry of immigrants with post-secondary education or the outsourcing of employment including engineering to other countries.

As you note, you were blessed by your mother's mind. You won the lottery in life so to speak despite whatever economic challenges you faced. Not all people win the lottery blessed with intelligence - but do you really think they should be written off and condemned to a life of poverty in a society of increasing economic inequality and income mobility?

Goodness me, my father only had a Grade 10 education but after paying his dues by being orphaned in the midst of the Depression and then combat in WWII, was able to enter the 1950s and secure a good middle class life. Fortunately, he was also blessed with awareness and could see the world changing, less so for me, more so for his grandchildren. He knew before he died that if he had come of age in the 1990s he would not be able to secure such a decent life with so little. Despite the "dues" he had to pay and all the hard work, he knew he was lucky in many ways. And you, about ten years younger than he would have been were even luckier.

Pop the bubble Richard. Examine closer all the factors that now allow you to enjoy a well earned retirement of leisure and start to think about it was not just "you" to thank.















Richard the Lion Hearted 2 hours ago

child of the north, I respectfully disagree with you for two reasons:

In 1960, most Cdn companies offered pensions as part of the compensation package. I would not have joined a company that did not. So, to maintain that pension I had to be productive and work my tail off. So, I do not apologize one iota for my pension.

With respect to investing opportunity today ... even you could invest in Cdn, blue chip, dividend paying, stocks and prosper over the next 20 years. I did and my 20 year Internal Rate of Return = 10.65%. And I'll continue to buy and hold the same 9 stocks, which you could do as well. So, your argument here today for others holds no water. BTW, over my 20 year period, 1993 to 2013. the market went through some pretty bad patches. I bought on the downside and held for the long term. So, you do have to earn your rewards with a little hard SmithBarney work.

child of the north 2 hours ago

@Richard - Again, you admit that corporations in the '60s offered great benefits like a DB pension. They don't do that anymore and that is what this piece in The Globe is about - the disappearance of the middle class and why. Can't you admit that this generation have lost a significant benefit you were fortunate enough to collect on? There are many young, productive workers who will never see a defined benefit pension. You were and are not the only hard-working, intelligent, productive person to be in the workforce.

As for your savvy investing, do yourself a favour and read and listen to the link I've provided. Stockman is not some young, uninformed guru. He was part of the Reagan administration and he is crying out a dire warning. You wouldn't be the first person to see their life savings gone overnight, while you sleep peacefully.




Read more at

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/time-to-lead/the-wealth-paradox-what-growing-income-inequality-is-costing-canadas-future-generations/article15350903/comments/