Bad day at the office.Justin Horrocks/Getty Images/iStockphoto
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By Rob Carrick
Millennials, young adults in their 20s and early 30s, are ripping each other apart over who is truly suffering in today's economy. It all started with this blog post, an open letter from a young woman to her boss about how she's not making enough money to afford the high rents in the city where she lives, San Francisco.
This young woman was fired from her job after the post, but what really has to hurt is the criticism she's getting from fellow millennials who call her whiny and entitled. OK, the original letter is not as self-aware as it could have been, but millennials are wasting their outrage. It's better directed at the corporate people who won't hire them for the kind of full-time work with benefits that their parents built careers on, and the politicians who seem oblivious to the risk of a creeping marginalization of the young.
Here's one blogger who seems to get this point.
Rob's top web links
Fiscal fitness
> Eight ways to save on your fitness routine. You don't have to blow a bundle on a gym membership.
The real retirement
> Wondering how much income you'll need in retirement? On average, a new report says, Canadians are living on 62 per cent of their working income. Use the Globe's Retirement Readiness calculator to find out how much you'll need.
How we came to spend more on groceries
> A fun read about a revolutionary but overlooked feature of modern day supermarkets – the shopping cart.
The real lottery losers
> Keeping up with the Jonses can kill your finances. A new study cites Canadian data suggesting that when someone wins the lottery, bankruptcy rates among neighbours rise.
Winning the real estate lottery
> All about how retirees in Toronto are increasingly looking at cashing in their big gains in real estate and moving to smaller communities outside the city. Makes me wonder about a new frontier of income inequality between people who retire in cities with hot and cold real estate markets.
Financial red flags in a relationship > I keep reading about how money issues are becoming more important when people are in the early stages of a relationship and deciding how serious to get. Here are some red flags to watch for.
Today's featured investment tool
Our Can I Afford to Move Out Calculator was developed for the young adults of Gen Y. My most recent book was called How Not to Move Back in With Your Parents. But I have to concede that with rents rising in some cities, it can be a stretch for young adults to move out on their own.
Ask Rob
The question: "EQ Bank and Zag Bank have recently begun offering what would appear to be unusually high interest rates for deposits based on the premise that they have no brick and mortar costs. These rates seem too good to be true. What do you think? Are these legit?"
My reply: Short answer: Yes. The real question is whether the rates on savings accounts offered by EQ at 3 per cent and Zag at 2.5 per cent are here for the long term. Here, the answer is no. These are introductory rates designed to grab attention, and will at some point decline to more normal levels. Teasers like this are used all the time by banks, including the biggest players. Me, I'm grabbing these high rates while I can.
Do you have a question for me? Send it my way. Questions and answers are edited for length.
Featured Video
Being an American citizen living in Canada can mean tremendous tax headaches. Here's the financial case for renouncing U.S. citizenship.
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Rob Carrick