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Will Our Quality of Life Decline?

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Quality of Life (QOL) can be defined in many different ways. Most North Americans think of increased leisure time, early retirement, time to enjoy our hobbies, home ownership and the ability raise a family comfortably. Others want worry free living. That’s probably a bit of a stretch for most of us. This is likely the state of North American and OECD view of QOL. Since 1950 the lifestyle of Canadians and Americans has become increasingly rich and easy.

The rise of unionized labour, pension largesse, top notch medical coverage, cheap products from Asia and the ability of Canadians and Americans to borrow and accumulate debt in an unrestricted mode has meant that there are not many lifestyle amenities out of reach. It has indeed been a great 5 decade party akin to 50 years of Ferris Beuhler’s Day Off! QOL has been sustained by uninhibited borrowing.

However increased QOL is defined differently by citizens in the emerging world (Emergica). In Emergica there is more emphasis on income and jobs that provides enough to attain some of the accoutrements of the modern world. Savings rates are much higher in Emergica. Indians revere gold. You cannot be married without significant gold endowment in India. Gold is considered the way to create and store wealth in India. Chinese citizens are buying gold and silver at breakneck speed in units from single gram cards to kilogram bars. Gold is a quality of life asset in these countries.

Nevertheless, governments everywhere try to stimulate a growing QOL, however defined, in the culture of their country. One look at the domestic reaction to Greece’s forced “austerity” should convince one of this government’s priorities. Greece is once again feeling the heel of Europe’s jackboot. Remember the recent (1990 to 2007) “Flip that House” folly here in the U.S.? The government notion (with a big assist from Wall Street) that we should have a “chicken in every pot” housing policy was supported by both Republican and Democratic administrations. Housing was considered a quality of life asset. Subsequent to August 2007, much of what we have all experienced in North America, particularly the United States, has been fostered by this unsustainable orgy of low interest rates, easy loans, no down/ low down home ownership supported by cement mixer mortgage and investment bankers who rattled off mortgage bonds so quickly that they cannot now be unwound. Welcome to continued Quantitative Easing and “Too Big to Fail!

Across the globe, there are different views of a “good” quality of life. That’s part of the great strength of the democratic way of life in which humanity can strive to be better. My parents simply wanted to own their home free and clear, save for retirement and send their children to University.

But social scientists view lifestyle analytics differently in their efforts to measure and compare any country’s QOL over time (increasing happiness) and with other countries (relative happiness). Australian social scientists focus on immigration as a key driver of increased QOL.

For example here’s how the United Nations Human Development Agency views QOL i. The index is calculated using three sub-indices to construct an HDI index. They are per capita income, health (life expectancy) and education (years of schooling).

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The following diagram shows the increase in this index as estimated by the United Nations Human Development Program for a group of OECD countries.    Norway sports the highest index value, the U.S. ranks 4th and Canada 6th according to the study.

These time series and graphs imply that the quality of life as measured by the HDI index has increased for these countries over the past 30 years. In 1980 The U.S. sported the second highest index while Canada ranked third (in the world). They now rank 4th and 6th respectively. I think this is what Mark Faber was getting at in his research results that the QOL of the West was falling and likely to fall further relative to other countries.

….read pages – 3- 6 HERE

The teacher told the principal, the principal called Child and Family Services and they called police. The cops met Sansone at the school when he tried to pick up three of his children, told him he was charged with possession of a fire arm, handcuffed him and put him in one of the several squad cars waiting outside.

While Sansone was being strip-searched at the police station: told to disrobe, lift his testicles and bend over, his wife was home with their 15 month old daughter. “They came to my house, told my wife that I had been charged with possession of firearms, that she would have to come with them, and that Sundae (their infant daughter) would have to go with the social worker,” said Sansone.

Ezra Levant rips the Police and Teachers apart, noting amongst the many mistakes in this case, the police did all of the searching without a warrant.

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When will they ever learn?

Great Britain has instituted tax on incomes and it failed to generate the expected revenue. 

So it only missed its target by 50%. Not bad for government work.

The same thing happened in Illinois and New York when they raised taxes on the supposed rich. The result was less revenue than they expected. And in the case of New York, the flight of thousands of millionaires to friendlier climes.

 

….read more HERE

5 Retirement Planning Tips

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As the global economy plunges and retirement portfolio shrinks, many Canadians are worried more than ever for their financial well being after retirement. Some retirees will be able to maintain their expected living standard regardless of how the economy does. However, this may not be the case for everyone. If you need to work or are thinking of working after retirement, here are some tips to help you with your decision.

 

1. Some of the government programs for retirees such as Old Age Security (OAS)credit, the government pension plan (CPP), and so on may be affected if you work full- or part-time after retirement.

 

2. The best way to handle your clawbacks or drawbacks to government benefit programs is to consult a financial planner or tax specialist. They have tools andcalculators to show you exactly what your own numbers will look like based on your unique situation (as everyone’s scenarios are different)

 

3. There are free online tools and calculators available as well to help you with your retirement planning. Such online tools and calculators are available here: Retirement Tools and Calculators

 

4. Service Canada offers Canadian Retirement Income Calculator to generate retirement income information and post retirement benefit information, including CPP benefits and OAS.

 

5. Regardless of how much research you do on your own, my suggestion would be to still sit with a retirement professional and discuss your situations. Due to the complex nature of retirement benefits and clawbacks, it is worth paying for advice and take action based on accurate and updated information. 

 

More A Dawn Articles:

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The Continuous Depletion of Time Account

5 Tips to Automate Your Finances and Manage Your Debt

5-Year CDS of Eurozone Countries vs % of Men Living with Parents

The chart below depicts the correlation between 5-year CDS (a form of insurance to protect against a credit event) of eurozone countries and the percentage of men ages of 25 to 34 still living at home with their mom and dad.

It’s pretty obvious what the pattern is…

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