Re: How Rich Are You ?
 

For every pound that I could earn in Britain, I could make 1.85 dollars in Canada, at today's exchange rates. That means I get 85% more money for the same effort. This can be spent on assets such as a bigger house - and they're bigger in Canada to begin with!!

Re: How Rich Are You ?
 

That's baffling. If I spend money on having a bigger house surely I'm taking that money away from the care and maintenance of the children. I accept that there's an argument that having a happy parent is good for children but that would hold whether it's a big house or an exotic holiday that makes me happy.

Re: How Rich Are You ?
 

Quite. We are hurling money at (my) stepson at the moment in an attempt to, hopefully, secure the purchase of a property for him. Souvette's long-term plan is to convert the place back from a triplex into a duplex, with one unit being the granny apartment.

She does take a rather long view on things. I don't look beyond tomorrow.

Re: How Rich Are You ?
 

Indeed. Plus, state of mind is everything IMHO.

I can't think of anyone in my network who don't earn a fair stash, 100 is an average, and some get bonuses of (you don't want to know). If money was everything they'd be happier, and maybe even kinder but I don't think that's the way it works.

Re: How Rich Are You ?
 

Where the naff does it all go? :(

Re: How Rich Are You ?
 

It's a cinch.

Re: How Rich Are You ?
 

Money would buy me happiness...lol...About 85% of my un happiness is stress related from being low income.

Re: How Rich Are You ?
 

If you have a job where more work = more money to accumulate more assets. ;)

Re: How Rich Are You ?
 

There was a study done in Britain last year which determined a "happiness range" for income. Below a certain level people lack of money was a cause of unhappiness, above a certain level, more money did not necessarily equate to happiness. Although very wealthy peoeople tend to be happy (it is a myth that they don't).

Re: How Rich Are You ?
 

You're right. Sorry, I didn't mean to be insensitive. Money of course does solve a lot of issues, but just from looking at many people I know, a whole range of other issues then pop up. It doesn't mean money doesn't help. Of course it does. But for happiness, I think state of mind is key. And that's another area of study.

Re: How Rich Are You ?
 

Evidence.

Re: How Rich Are You ?
 

Simply what I have read over the years. Logic suggests the same. The cases of lottery winners who end up rich lonely and miserable are the exception rather than the rule.

Re: How Rich Are You ?
 

I saw a similar one in Canada, I think the amount mentioned was in the 80-90k a year range before it didn't seem to matter, I'll have to see if I can find the article I read.

Re: How Rich Are You ?
 

Here's a link to the UK one...not far to go JS!

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk...0-8968255.html

Re: How Rich Are You ?
 

Gotcha, but I'm not so sure.

Re: How Rich Are You ?
 

Converting the amount mentioned to CAD (I know its not the most accurate way, but I am not familiar with UK enough to determine cost of living, and all that there, so no idea if the 22,100 mentioned is a good wage there or not.)

But for me, that amount according to xe.com is about 40,000 a year, and that would do me fine, like I have mentioned before, I have no desire to be wealthy, and frankly don't want to own a home, and we have no plans for kids, so if I could make that, combined with the part-time work my partner does (it varies based on her health, she doesn't always work) we would be pretty happy, it would allow us to meet our basics easily, have some left for savings, and allow us enough freedom to do the things we enjoy.

I know for some, it seems like a low amount, but I didn't grow up in a wealthy family, we were lower middle class but not low income, so I learned to do without spending large sums of money, its just gotten to a point, the cost of housing and food, along with hydro have created a major crunch since my income has not gone up in years, I make the same today as 8 or 9 years ago when I got my first job in Canada, but everything has gone up a lot.

My first apartment here was 400/month, that same building today, rents for 800 a month, and if we had to pay market rent in the town we are in, well we would be homeless, its above our ability to pay. (market rent runs around 800-900 a month for a 1 bedroom apartment.)

Re: How Rich Are You ?
 

Jsmith1, I wonder if I may presume to offer some advice?

Going only from what you've posted here, it seems as though your work involves babysitting a building at night. Two things strike me - firstly, long term night shift is not good for mental health, and secondly, having nobody to interact with also provides no stimulation and allows you too much time to think and worry.

I know it's easy for me to say, but perhaps if you were able to find a job that was dayshift and provided interaction with other young people, you'd be in a much better position to see and be seen if and when other opportunities for advancement/promotion/better paid work come up? Any job - bar work? Cycle courier? Waiter? As long as it involves other people it's got to be better for you than sitting alone at night, pondering.

Apologies if this post comes across as patronising, but I felt I had to mention it. You seem like a bright lad who has found himself stuck in a rut and not sure how to get out.

Re: How Rich Are You ?
 

You'd think a night auditor would be a natural for doing income tax - maybe there's a way to make a little cash on flex-time or from home for one of the tax prep companies without quitting your job and learn a back-up skill (though seasonal) at the same time. Could you be a book-keeper for a business? Any company doing good volume business needs one and they don't have to do the dracula shift.

Re: How Rich Are You ?
 

I'm not so sure.

In actual fact I saw a BBC show on Lottery winners that painted a picture that was not quite so rosy.

People alienated by friends, bored with time on their hands etc.

There was also a damning stat that the suicide rate among lottery winners was higher than the normal populous.

I think one chap summed it up quite well. He won 8 million pounds and went out and bought a house and car and then after that he was at a loss. The excitement had died down and he would wake up in the morning wondering what to do with his day as all his friends were working. People would say to him "You must be so happy you won the lottery". His response "I don't wake up everyday thinking whoopy woo I won the lottery- I wake up trying to figure out how to get on with it".

It's a marginal utility thing. People should always be careful of what they wish for.

I do agree that having no money is a cause of misery. I remember when I wiped all my debts out. It was a great sense of freedom and weight of my mind.

I'd be delighted if I won the lottery for a day or two but then I know I would need to re-invent how I spend my days and life so that they are constructive and I feel progression. I think this is the challenge for most unhappy people. I know when I feel in a rut it is simply that what I once viewed as progression and growth has become boring routine.

Simply put it is the journey rather than the destination that brings true wealth.

I need a beer.

Re: How Rich Are You ?
 

What is it they say? Money can't buy you happiness but it sure does buy a better class of misery.

Re: How Rich Are You ?
 

To be fair, I'm likely a lot happier than a guy in Africa getting a few dollars a day. Money, in that context, certainly helps make me happier.

Re: How Rich Are You ?
 

Are you?

I've spent quite a bit of time in Africa and you'd be surprised how far a few dollars in a day goes.

I bet he hasn't had to shovel much snow or battle a polar vortex this winter.

Re: How Rich Are You ?
 

My income is down at the bottom of the scale but I know most people in the world don't enjoy the same quality of life so I count my blessings. I watch the news and see people getting blown apart all over; all my problems are small ones.

Re: How Rich Are You ?
 

A recent email from Africa included:

"A couple of days ago, the fighting started again in earnest. Yesterday was the anniversary of the coup d'etat so this is not a surprise. Two nights ago the shooting and grenades were close enough that I had trouble sleeping."

That made even me count my blessings.

Re: How Rich Are You ?
 

I may have to look into that next year, I never really thought of that. Income tax prepare seems to be basically data input much like what my job entails.

I am not sure about bookkeeping, unfortunately modern day hotel night auditors do very little auditing and are mostly button pushers and data entry clerks.

After midnight I select 3 buttons on the computer and that is the audit, 50 pages of reports print, I take certain data from said reports and enter it into an excel sheet. Its evolved into a mostly automated system, and only reason the position really exists anymore is because someone still needs to be there overnight..

In a large full service hotel, its more complicated, but in the medium size hotels I work in, its all automated these days.


No worries, advice is always appreciated and accepted.

I am looking for days jobs, and there is a company hiring in town with a job fair next week, hiring 70-80 people, and will end up in the top 10 largest employers, its apparently the largest mass hiring in this town in a long number of years.

Tourism, well overnight tourism is down here a good chunk, the hotels in town are really struggling, so close to Whistler yet far enough to not benefit from the ski season.

We have turned into a commuter town, those who can head to Vancouver for work do, those who can't tend to stay in their jobs for years since its so hard to find another job in town.

This town was a mostly industrial town with logging, mills and rail, but all have more or less shut down, and they haven't been able to successfully turn the town into a large tourist destination, we get tourists, but not on a level where it creates many jobs, and such, and most are just brief stops for gas and food on the way to/from Whistler.

We get random events that bring large numbers for a weekend here and there, but its not consistent.