Monday, September 20, 2010

Pt 2 Do Canadians have clear goals for the good life?

Recently, an article that related to peoples’ goals and entitled ‘Canadians Dream’ (subhead - Canadians have clear goals for the good life) caught my eye.

Canadians do dream, but what do they dream about? And do Canadians actually have clear goals for the good life?

Almost all respondents said they hope for financial stability one day. 61% of Canadians want to buy a home, 50% want to travel, and 40% want to retire early.

How is that working out for us?


["What would bring you peace of mind?": photo GH]

Canadian debt has never been higher. We have proven as a country we pay back debt only 20% of the time. Personal and provincial debt is through the roof.

Now, there is nothing wrong with dreaming, but maybe we need a reality check.

Maybe we should dream about a much smaller house than the norm. And while we’re at it, maybe we should dream about a stay-cation and how much to save for any type of retirement, let alone an early one.

Respondents to the survey did get something right.

“Unpredictable swings in the economy were cited as the single biggest factor that could inhibit those goals.”

Here in Ontario, with our growth strongly tied to the US economy (we are 80% dependent upon US growth), we should be worried about growing struggles next door.

We should also be dreaming about how we can live under our means rather than over our means as we have consistently done for the last 50 - 60 years.

Again, there’s nothing wrong with dreaming but what would really bring you peace of mind?

A house? A vacation? Early retirement?

Dream again.

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