Original column: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe...ticle22496585/
About the backlash: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/01...n_6502356.html
So, there was a pretty big viral story in Canada about a couple in Vancouver who were having trouble getting by on their $450,000 annual household income. The original piece was from a financial advice column in the Globe and Mail (a big national newspaper) called "Financial Facelift." The Globe has stated that the question was real and that they did a background check to make sure that these people were for real. They don't usually give advice to the rich, but I think they took this story on to make a statement about the insane house prices in Vancouver. Anyway, the gist is that he's a doctor who works 2 days a week as a physician and 1 day a week teaching at a university (it doesn't say which one, because they apparently want to protect their identities) for a total income of $300,000 (all prices are in CAD) annually. She is a dentist who works part time for $150,000 annually, though she is currently on maternity leave (6 months in Canada). They have 5 kids and live rent-free with relatives. They own a lot that they bought for $1.1 million, but they haven't built anything on it yet. They send all of their school-age kids to private school.
Before anyone freaks out about the price of their property, I'd like to note that that is pretty much in line with the average property price in Vancouver at the moment. It's pretty hard to find anything cheaper than that (and a million usually just gets you a lot or a lot with a wreck of a house on it). They -could- conceivably live outside of Vancouver, but that also has a lot of challenges. Most surrounding areas of the Greater Vancouver Area are also pretty expensive, and you have to add commuting costs to your budget, which can get high. To see any significant savings, you have to get a couple of hours out of the city, which makes a pretty challenging commute. People do it, but I'd say that since their high income would allow them to pay off their Vancouver mortgage if they'd just be smarter with their other costs, the property purchase wasn't totally unreasonable.
Anyway, personally, my beef with this was less the fact that they work part-time and more the issue that they DO have enough money to have a pretty comfortable life. Yet, the column doesn't even mention cutting costs. Instead, it suggests that he works one more day a week. I know that could also work, but he has since stated (see HuffPo piece) that, although he works few days per week, he still pulls in a lot of hours, which is believable for a doctor (though, I'd debate his 80-100 hours statement, because even if he worked 20 hours per day, it couldn't possibly add up to that many hours....either he is low-balling how many days he works or overestimating the hours he puts in).
Their monthly costs are INSANE, and I think they're trying to live a millionaire lifestyle with 5 kids. They could -probably- pull it off if they had 2 kids, but they have 5. That means they should really be cutting some corners. I just don't understand why Financial Facelift wouldn't even suggest that. I mean, their budget includes sending FIVE children to private school. I know that school scores have been slipping in Canada, but as far as public education goes, it is still one of the top countries in the entire world. BC is ranked towards the top in comparison to the rest of Canada, and as someone who knows a fair amount of teachers, I'd say that the quality of public education is VERY high in the province. There is really no need to send your kids to private school...they're not going to get -that- much out of it, especially if they have a supportive home environment (the kids who would benefit the most from smaller class sizes and more one-on-one attention are the ones from lower income, single-parent families whose parents don't have as much time or skills to help them with homework, or who are special needs). Their food budget seems pretty crazy, but after some debate on Facebook, I'll give that one a pass, because food prices in British Columbia are crazy. They could probably spend a little bit less, but according to friends who still live there, it's not the most "out there" item on their budget. They budget $2,000 per month for vacation and travel....come on. They send their kids to expensive summer camps that cost them $600 per month in their budget...totally not necessary. They work part-time and have a full-time nanny...nannies are luxuries.
Anyway, I have a really hard time feeling sorry for people when there are people in Vancouver who do NOT earn a household income of $450,000 per year (FYI, most people in Vancouver don't earn that) who are struggling with the totally insane cost of living in the city. This sort of feels like a slap in the face to those people. Like, boo hoo....you can't afford luxury vacations and a full time nanny. How sad for you.
About the backlash: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/01...n_6502356.html
So, there was a pretty big viral story in Canada about a couple in Vancouver who were having trouble getting by on their $450,000 annual household income. The original piece was from a financial advice column in the Globe and Mail (a big national newspaper) called "Financial Facelift." The Globe has stated that the question was real and that they did a background check to make sure that these people were for real. They don't usually give advice to the rich, but I think they took this story on to make a statement about the insane house prices in Vancouver. Anyway, the gist is that he's a doctor who works 2 days a week as a physician and 1 day a week teaching at a university (it doesn't say which one, because they apparently want to protect their identities) for a total income of $300,000 (all prices are in CAD) annually. She is a dentist who works part time for $150,000 annually, though she is currently on maternity leave (6 months in Canada). They have 5 kids and live rent-free with relatives. They own a lot that they bought for $1.1 million, but they haven't built anything on it yet. They send all of their school-age kids to private school.
Before anyone freaks out about the price of their property, I'd like to note that that is pretty much in line with the average property price in Vancouver at the moment. It's pretty hard to find anything cheaper than that (and a million usually just gets you a lot or a lot with a wreck of a house on it). They -could- conceivably live outside of Vancouver, but that also has a lot of challenges. Most surrounding areas of the Greater Vancouver Area are also pretty expensive, and you have to add commuting costs to your budget, which can get high. To see any significant savings, you have to get a couple of hours out of the city, which makes a pretty challenging commute. People do it, but I'd say that since their high income would allow them to pay off their Vancouver mortgage if they'd just be smarter with their other costs, the property purchase wasn't totally unreasonable.
Anyway, personally, my beef with this was less the fact that they work part-time and more the issue that they DO have enough money to have a pretty comfortable life. Yet, the column doesn't even mention cutting costs. Instead, it suggests that he works one more day a week. I know that could also work, but he has since stated (see HuffPo piece) that, although he works few days per week, he still pulls in a lot of hours, which is believable for a doctor (though, I'd debate his 80-100 hours statement, because even if he worked 20 hours per day, it couldn't possibly add up to that many hours....either he is low-balling how many days he works or overestimating the hours he puts in).
Their monthly costs are INSANE, and I think they're trying to live a millionaire lifestyle with 5 kids. They could -probably- pull it off if they had 2 kids, but they have 5. That means they should really be cutting some corners. I just don't understand why Financial Facelift wouldn't even suggest that. I mean, their budget includes sending FIVE children to private school. I know that school scores have been slipping in Canada, but as far as public education goes, it is still one of the top countries in the entire world. BC is ranked towards the top in comparison to the rest of Canada, and as someone who knows a fair amount of teachers, I'd say that the quality of public education is VERY high in the province. There is really no need to send your kids to private school...they're not going to get -that- much out of it, especially if they have a supportive home environment (the kids who would benefit the most from smaller class sizes and more one-on-one attention are the ones from lower income, single-parent families whose parents don't have as much time or skills to help them with homework, or who are special needs). Their food budget seems pretty crazy, but after some debate on Facebook, I'll give that one a pass, because food prices in British Columbia are crazy. They could probably spend a little bit less, but according to friends who still live there, it's not the most "out there" item on their budget. They budget $2,000 per month for vacation and travel....come on. They send their kids to expensive summer camps that cost them $600 per month in their budget...totally not necessary. They work part-time and have a full-time nanny...nannies are luxuries.
Anyway, I have a really hard time feeling sorry for people when there are people in Vancouver who do NOT earn a household income of $450,000 per year (FYI, most people in Vancouver don't earn that) who are struggling with the totally insane cost of living in the city. This sort of feels like a slap in the face to those people. Like, boo hoo....you can't afford luxury vacations and a full time nanny. How sad for you.
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