Tundras live: Dumb Dad Jokes, Incorrect Opinions, and Relationship Advice.

Remember when newscasters didn't just say the same thing over and over again a dozen times a minute?

 

I don't think I can ever remember this happening. Remember WTC? Same story for a week straight. I actually got my degree in broadcast journalism. About half way through the program I knew I'd never work in the field.

 

Maybe Canadian broadcasters have higher standards.

 

Doesn't surprise me.

 

Actually that's not a bad thing. The medical billing industry is less competent than the federal government. I too have always paid my medical debts. But when we were buying a second house many years ago, we had to pay .25% higher in mortgage. There was a collection on our credit score, from a medical bill years before that got sent to collection. The bill was sent to an address we hadn't lived at for ten years. For less than $200,credit score fucked.

The mortgage person we were dealing with said that the whole industry knew medical bill credit hits are bullshit, but they couldn't be ignored because of some fair lending act.

Maybe the credit score companies need to be eradicated along with the medical billing industry.

 

This... this is gold!

 

I had to look up the acronyms. It sounds like two different government retirement plans. One you pay into, one you don't. Am I off base?

 

That's pretty much what I know about them. Also, they pay peanuts so anyone who's smart has an RRSP.

 

OAS- OLd age security you have to be a citizen and live here 10 years to collect
CPP- Canadian pension plan, if you work as an employee ,it comes off your gross pay. If you work your whole life you max it out.
Co worker recently retired and between the two I believe he receives around $1800/month, kicks in at 65.
My facts are likely incorrect but that is kind of how it works.

 

Damn, that don't sound like much. I don't know how much we've paid in, but between me and my wife we get a little more the $4000 a month for social security.

 

Another acronym I had to look up, but sounds like our 401K.

 

Is social security given to everyone? My old man lives in Florida but I still have no clue how Murica operates.

You definantly need a back up plan, but there are programs in place for people with nothing eg subsidized housing.

 

You're on the right track.

CPP (Canada Pension Plan) is paid into by both employers and employees so that everyone has at least some for of pension. It's a pittance and if I could opt out and invest the same amount that's deducted off each paycheck for CPP, I'd be way way farther ahead. How much you recieve is based off your employment history. Someone who worked 40 years in Canada will receive more than someone who only worked 10.

OAS (Old Age Security) is funded from general revenue, aka taxes. It's there as an addition pittance of a pension and is based on residency rather than employment.

If I remember the numbers correctly, currently the average CPP benefit paid is $800 per month. OAS is another $700 per month. So assuming a person qualifies for the max of both, they're pulling in $1500 per month. You're not even paying rent on that.

Right now, if you make over $66,000 per year you pay the max contribution of $3754 per year for CPP. That's roughly $144 bi-weekly off each paycheck. Let's eliminate the CPP, so now a smart Canadian who paid attention in high school starts investing that $144 bi-weekly at age 20 into an index fund that returns 8% average. After 45 years, at age 65, this Canadian now has over $1.6 million. Doing a safe 4% drawdown per year, that Canadian now has $64,000 per year or roughly double what the CPP and OAS combined provide. Nevermind if they're smart enough to put even more money aside over their life.

I realize we need to account for dummies, disabled and people who have no discipline (also, dummies). That's where OAS comes in, but also community and a country with more robust charity and support systems due to more disposable income. I know far too many Canadians who don't save for retirement because "I'll get CPP and OAS". It provides a dangerous false sense of security more than a true safety net.

This discussion has also centered primarily around taxation. We've left out the royalty income from resource extraction that in my utopian country would be encouraged and supported. A portion of that income could go to support the subset of the population who didn't or can't save for themselves, though it would require recipients to abide by certain rules (no drugs, drinking, smoking, must live in gov housing buildings etc). Due to the high levels of financial education I would push to have in schools along with the the fact that not saving results in a shitty retirement by not being able to leech off the system, I believe the dependent population would decline drastically.

I'm sure many holes can be poked in my theories. Alot of these thoughts have been developed through listening to economics, philosophy and political books/podcasts under a welding lid while staring at a bright light and inhaling shielding gases. I like to think I have at least the groundwork for a decent idea though.

 

Opinions, butt holes, internet.

 

Canada itself is amazing. Beautiful country, more opens space than we know what do with, lots of resources, lots of critters to hunt and fish to catch.

The Canadian government is dumb and nobody likes it.

To paraphrase Agent K:

"A Canadian is smart. Canadians as a whole are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals"

To paraphrase someone else:

"Canadians vote for their government and they deserve to get it, good and hard."

 

It just got a LOT better today!

 

It'll get better when we can finally have an election. We're smiling out here in Alberta though.

 

Do you know anyone who did that? Also, returns aren't guaranteed. I'm averaging about 8% and doing a lot better than the market/index funds are, especially in down years.

 

You'd have to send all the recent immigrants and "refugees" back where they came from and stop pandering to the natives.