thaaat's right...
Meet Eric and Ilsa.
Eric, 41, is a physician who works one day a week in a medical clinic, for which he earns $200,000 a year. He works one additional day at a university, for which he makes another measly $100,000 annually.
Ilsa, 39, is a dentist currently on maternity leave who will bring in another $150,000 when she returns to work.
And yet, despite their seeming prosperity, this Vancouver couple can’t make ends meet. What’s to be done?!
The doctor and dentist wrote in to the Globe and Mail recently and their story was featured in Friday’s “financial facelift” advice column, in which experts weigh in on how regular folks can balance their budgets.
According to the Globe:
They are living rent free in a relative’s house (they pay taxes, utilities and upkeep) and “regret not having bought a house years ago,” Eric writes in an e-mail. Houses in their Vancouver neighbourhood have doubled in price in the past two years. The house where they live is going up for sale soon, so they need to move quickly.
Last fall, they bought a building lot for $1.1-million and are planning to build a house large enough for their family and a live-in nanny. But with a combined income of $360,000 ($450,000 when Ilsa returns to work) and an $800,000 mortgage, can they afford the builder’s $1-million price tag? Who will lend them the money?
That is quite a pickle, but in addition to long-term problems around securing enough money to build their Versailles, Eric and Ilsa also have more immediate problems. They seem to be about $6,000 in the red each month, on a net income of $25,000. And despite this alarming deficit, they still plan to send all their children to private schools at a cost of $5,400 a month, just one of their many expenses.
Monthly disbursements: Mortgage $3,800; property tax (both properties) $1,000; utilities $490; insurance $90; maintenance, garden $190; transportation $800; groceries $2,000; clothing $520; children’s activities $1,000; tuition $5,400; summer camp $600; child care $2,800; gifts, charitable $320; vacation, travel $2,000; dining, entertainment $200; sports, hobbies $200; miscellaneous (furniture, toys) $400; health insurance $50; cellphones $220; telecom, Internet $80; RRSP $3,000; professional associations $6,000. Total: $31,160
more first-world 1% problems:
Vancouver couple struggles to make ends meet on only $25,000 a month | canada.com
Meet Eric and Ilsa.
Eric, 41, is a physician who works one day a week in a medical clinic, for which he earns $200,000 a year. He works one additional day at a university, for which he makes another measly $100,000 annually.
Ilsa, 39, is a dentist currently on maternity leave who will bring in another $150,000 when she returns to work.
And yet, despite their seeming prosperity, this Vancouver couple can’t make ends meet. What’s to be done?!
The doctor and dentist wrote in to the Globe and Mail recently and their story was featured in Friday’s “financial facelift” advice column, in which experts weigh in on how regular folks can balance their budgets.
According to the Globe:
They are living rent free in a relative’s house (they pay taxes, utilities and upkeep) and “regret not having bought a house years ago,” Eric writes in an e-mail. Houses in their Vancouver neighbourhood have doubled in price in the past two years. The house where they live is going up for sale soon, so they need to move quickly.
Last fall, they bought a building lot for $1.1-million and are planning to build a house large enough for their family and a live-in nanny. But with a combined income of $360,000 ($450,000 when Ilsa returns to work) and an $800,000 mortgage, can they afford the builder’s $1-million price tag? Who will lend them the money?
That is quite a pickle, but in addition to long-term problems around securing enough money to build their Versailles, Eric and Ilsa also have more immediate problems. They seem to be about $6,000 in the red each month, on a net income of $25,000. And despite this alarming deficit, they still plan to send all their children to private schools at a cost of $5,400 a month, just one of their many expenses.
Monthly disbursements: Mortgage $3,800; property tax (both properties) $1,000; utilities $490; insurance $90; maintenance, garden $190; transportation $800; groceries $2,000; clothing $520; children’s activities $1,000; tuition $5,400; summer camp $600; child care $2,800; gifts, charitable $320; vacation, travel $2,000; dining, entertainment $200; sports, hobbies $200; miscellaneous (furniture, toys) $400; health insurance $50; cellphones $220; telecom, Internet $80; RRSP $3,000; professional associations $6,000. Total: $31,160
more first-world 1% problems:
Vancouver couple struggles to make ends meet on only $25,000 a month | canada.com
