I just about drove off the road. Seriously.I was driving to a family get-together to celebrate my birthday. All good. But I was listening to QR77 AM radio, a talk show. And the host had two tax experts on. What they said, shook me to my core.The feds are after your home equity ... that's right, everything you worked for and paid for, all these years. When you sell, the Trudeau Liberals are looking at taking a piece of your nestegg.Think I'm messing with you here? I'm not messing with you. Here's the deal.The Liberals ordered a study into what should be done to help millennials, who are priced out of the market. A study group, Generation Squeeze, produced a report suggesting a "modest" capital gains tax for homes over $1 million. Those funds would then go to help millennials. Undisclosed is how it would be dispensed and who would control it. That is another matter altogether.But said the experts also, if the Liberals would launch this, it would be political suicide.No kidding. Said one expert, "Trudeau would not be safe anywhere in Canada."They were also concerned that a government would even look at such a thing — taxing people on their primary home sale.My God, what next? Dipping into our RRSP funds to pay for those F-35 fighter jets?Anyway, I was listening to this while in a traffic jam on 36 St. N.E., the worst street in North America. Filled with lights, LRT crossings and who knows what else. A testament to bad planning. But, the rest of the afternoon was fine.But it did not dull my shock and utter dismay, that the liberals would go after home owner equity. It bothered me all day. Let's face it, almost every home in the GTA or in Vancouver, sells for more than a $1 million. New infills being built now in Cowtown, are about $700,000. That's going to sweep in a lot of homeowners. This ain't about high prices folks. It's about the supply of affordable housing and an economy that is not growing with industry and exports, and high paying jobs.The tax, or supposed tax, shows failure. Absolute failure by the reigning government.I mentioned this to another friend, who said, well if it's a modest hit on million-dollar homes, and it goes to help millennial home buyers, then maybe that's not such a big sacrifice. In other words, it's OK to go after the rich folks (or wealthier middle class) in the Robin Hood sense.That friend, naturally, would not be affected by such a tax law. He and his wife own a two-bedroom condo in downtown Calgary that is probably worth $450,000 plus. And I definitely would not be affected, because I rent a condo.But that friend also told me things are even worse in Australia, where new families have absolutely no hope of ever owning a home. The gap Down Under is frighteningly huge, and not getting any better. The trouble is, I fear we are heading in the same direction. According to ABC News in Australia young and low-income households are forced into an increasingly pressured private rental market. More than 60 per cent of people aged under 30 are renting, with this age group experiencing the sharpest increase in renting arrangements of any demographic group since 1996, the report said.As you would expect, welfare payments and casual jobs are no match for rising rents in Australia, or in Alberta, or anywhere in Canada.In fact based on current rates for renting one bedroom in a two-bedroom unit, an average 18-year-old working in hospitality or retail meets the definition of housing stress in every capital city in Australia.Renting permanently is the reality for a growing number of low-income people, including youth, older women, those with disabilities, and Aboriginal people, the report said.Deloitte's 2022 Global 2022 Gen Z and Millennial Survey shows the biggest issue plaguing Millennials and Gen Z is the rising cost of living. Almost half of young people globally live from one payday to the next. On top of the sense that the rising cost of living will price them out of having a family, many fear delivering their future progeny into a perceived climate apocalypse.Folks, that is a tidal wave heading our way, regardless of what government is in the PMO today or tomorrow. Governments have failed to catch up with this seismic shift in rental dependency. Human dignity and security of tenure are railroaded by landlords, who routinely price gouge, abuse tenants and offer inadequate, poor-quality housing.I myself was a victim of a Toronto landlord, whose name I can't even pronounce, who decided to flip my brand new rental unit in Sage Hill after only one year. Thankfully, the good folks at Ally Realty rode to the rescue, and found me another unit in the building — basically saving my bacon.But not everyone is this lucky.I was told by one real estate agent that one Calgary couple with two cats, saw their rent double! Thankfully, they found a place at the last minute. But greed is the order of the day in our once great city. Lives are being destroyed, as we speak.One only has to look at the poor pets being returned to the Calgary Humane Society, as a sign of the times. These shylock landlords should be named and face prosecution. How dare we let landlords double rents?Name them, I say. Let's let everyone know, who they are. And let the chips fall, where they may.My rent increase? Would you believe $20? The cost of one breakfast at the Blackfoot Diner. And I thank my lucky stars for that, believe me.So, in the Tolstoyan sense, what then must we do? Should we be doing something, tax-wise, to help millennials?But is it fair to go after your home equity, if your residence is worth more than $1 million? You tell me. I look forward, to your comments, as always.With files from QR77 AM radio.
I just about drove off the road. Seriously.I was driving to a family get-together to celebrate my birthday. All good. But I was listening to QR77 AM radio, a talk show. And the host had two tax experts on. What they said, shook me to my core.The feds are after your home equity ... that's right, everything you worked for and paid for, all these years. When you sell, the Trudeau Liberals are looking at taking a piece of your nestegg.Think I'm messing with you here? I'm not messing with you. Here's the deal.The Liberals ordered a study into what should be done to help millennials, who are priced out of the market. A study group, Generation Squeeze, produced a report suggesting a "modest" capital gains tax for homes over $1 million. Those funds would then go to help millennials. Undisclosed is how it would be dispensed and who would control it. That is another matter altogether.But said the experts also, if the Liberals would launch this, it would be political suicide.No kidding. Said one expert, "Trudeau would not be safe anywhere in Canada."They were also concerned that a government would even look at such a thing — taxing people on their primary home sale.My God, what next? Dipping into our RRSP funds to pay for those F-35 fighter jets?Anyway, I was listening to this while in a traffic jam on 36 St. N.E., the worst street in North America. Filled with lights, LRT crossings and who knows what else. A testament to bad planning. But, the rest of the afternoon was fine.But it did not dull my shock and utter dismay, that the liberals would go after home owner equity. It bothered me all day. Let's face it, almost every home in the GTA or in Vancouver, sells for more than a $1 million. New infills being built now in Cowtown, are about $700,000. That's going to sweep in a lot of homeowners. This ain't about high prices folks. It's about the supply of affordable housing and an economy that is not growing with industry and exports, and high paying jobs.The tax, or supposed tax, shows failure. Absolute failure by the reigning government.I mentioned this to another friend, who said, well if it's a modest hit on million-dollar homes, and it goes to help millennial home buyers, then maybe that's not such a big sacrifice. In other words, it's OK to go after the rich folks (or wealthier middle class) in the Robin Hood sense.That friend, naturally, would not be affected by such a tax law. He and his wife own a two-bedroom condo in downtown Calgary that is probably worth $450,000 plus. And I definitely would not be affected, because I rent a condo.But that friend also told me things are even worse in Australia, where new families have absolutely no hope of ever owning a home. The gap Down Under is frighteningly huge, and not getting any better. The trouble is, I fear we are heading in the same direction. According to ABC News in Australia young and low-income households are forced into an increasingly pressured private rental market. More than 60 per cent of people aged under 30 are renting, with this age group experiencing the sharpest increase in renting arrangements of any demographic group since 1996, the report said.As you would expect, welfare payments and casual jobs are no match for rising rents in Australia, or in Alberta, or anywhere in Canada.In fact based on current rates for renting one bedroom in a two-bedroom unit, an average 18-year-old working in hospitality or retail meets the definition of housing stress in every capital city in Australia.Renting permanently is the reality for a growing number of low-income people, including youth, older women, those with disabilities, and Aboriginal people, the report said.Deloitte's 2022 Global 2022 Gen Z and Millennial Survey shows the biggest issue plaguing Millennials and Gen Z is the rising cost of living. Almost half of young people globally live from one payday to the next. On top of the sense that the rising cost of living will price them out of having a family, many fear delivering their future progeny into a perceived climate apocalypse.Folks, that is a tidal wave heading our way, regardless of what government is in the PMO today or tomorrow. Governments have failed to catch up with this seismic shift in rental dependency. Human dignity and security of tenure are railroaded by landlords, who routinely price gouge, abuse tenants and offer inadequate, poor-quality housing.I myself was a victim of a Toronto landlord, whose name I can't even pronounce, who decided to flip my brand new rental unit in Sage Hill after only one year. Thankfully, the good folks at Ally Realty rode to the rescue, and found me another unit in the building — basically saving my bacon.But not everyone is this lucky.I was told by one real estate agent that one Calgary couple with two cats, saw their rent double! Thankfully, they found a place at the last minute. But greed is the order of the day in our once great city. Lives are being destroyed, as we speak.One only has to look at the poor pets being returned to the Calgary Humane Society, as a sign of the times. These shylock landlords should be named and face prosecution. How dare we let landlords double rents?Name them, I say. Let's let everyone know, who they are. And let the chips fall, where they may.My rent increase? Would you believe $20? The cost of one breakfast at the Blackfoot Diner. And I thank my lucky stars for that, believe me.So, in the Tolstoyan sense, what then must we do? Should we be doing something, tax-wise, to help millennials?But is it fair to go after your home equity, if your residence is worth more than $1 million? You tell me. I look forward, to your comments, as always.With files from QR77 AM radio.
