Thursday, September 4, 2008

Atlantic Canadian Wealth

The following news story offers some food for thought. Feel free to leave a comment.

HALIFAX - A new study on debt, financial security and the wealth gap in Atlantic Canada suggests things have grown worse for the region's poor over the past decade.The GPI Atlantic report says there is a very uneven distribution with the richest 10 per cent of Atlantic households owning about half the region's wealth while the poorest 40 per cent together own only 3.6 per cent.
The authors say one-quarter of Atlantic Canadian households have no wealth at all, since their debts, on average, are at least as great as their assets.
The region has at least 11,000 millionaire households.The study says there's also an ongoing shift of wealth out of the region with households in Atlantic Canada experiencing the fastest growth in debt in Canada during the six-year period between 1999 and 2005. Consumer bankruptcies have also risen sharply in the region to levels much higher than in the rest of the country.
(The Canadian Press)

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Lots of politicians talk about the "poor" and seniors on fixed incomes, however they forget about the working "middle class" Our incomes are also fixed, I can't get more money from my employer just because my oil bill has doubled. We make too much money to qualify for rebates and not enough to take advantage of tax write offs, etc like the wealthy can. The tax burden always falls to us, regular working families. Sometimes we think about taking a second job, not to buy a new car or go on vacation, but to pay the ever increasing bills. Who looks out for us??

Peter Harrison said...

I hear you. Many people are lucky enough to receive wage increases in line with the Cost of Living increase. Unfortunately, those wage increases come just once a year while gas, oil and food prices go up all the time. Wouldn't it be great if we could get a wage increase every time the price of a household necessity went up?

Anonymous said...

This is a very complex issue. I am fortunate that I don't live paycheque to paycheque, but that is because I saw my parents struggle while I was growing up so I became a saver. Having said this, that doesn't mean I am rich and I don't feel the pinch of the rising gas prices, cost of food and every aspect of living in todays' society. I haven't had a raise in 2 years because my company feels they are paying me a competitive salary. My parents are new to the senior ranks and are just learning how much more difficult it is to survive on pension income. My dad went back to work just to earn enough income to pay the basic bills and allow some extra for non essentials.

I work in the financial industry and the public misconception is that just because someone has $1 million in assets makes them a millionaire and self sufficient. I have seen many cases where this illusion has hurt people. They think the funds are never ending. If you become a spend thrift or your health needs change your wealth can disappear quite quickly. Just because they had some changes to the nursing care and other social systems does not mean your capital is protected. I have seen persumed wealthy clients assets deplete in a matter of a few years due to change in family dynamics, personal health and other reasons.

We will always have social classes and issues or solutions adopted to help all classes, but IMO there will never be a real fix. My brother lives close to the proverty line, but that was his personal choice not to advance his education when he had the chance. Now with 2 kids and a wife who refuses to work he will continue to struggle to work 2 and 3 jobs just to make enough to pay his bills. My parents can no longer help to keep him afloat.

I personally don't look to the Government to put in new policies to help me lower my taxes etc. I make a realistic plan and try to stick with it or makes cuts of unnecessary things when I have to.