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Money & Career

Why you're poorer than ever

A message to all you readers who are between 25 and 34 - you’re getting paid less than ever! That’s right: MoneySense magazine crunched some numbers from Statistics Canada data and found incomes for Canadians aged 25 to 34 haven’t increased a cent in 30 years.

Why you're poorer than ever

A message to all you readers who are between 25 and 34 - you’re getting paid less than ever! That’s right: MoneySense magazine crunched some numbers from Statistics Canada data and found incomes for Canadians aged 25 to 34 haven’t increased a cent in 30 years. In fact, when you factor in inflation (things aren’t getting any cheaper you know!) your incomes have actually DROPPED two percent.

Bottom line - you haven’t had a raise since 1980. In fact, you’re poorer. (flashback - you still wouldn’t be able to afford Jordache jeans.)

Jump to the other end of the age scale and your parents are getting richer - Canadians 65 and up have seen their incomes jump a whopping 54 percent for the same time period.

Of course, we’re not just talking about pay cheques - things like housing values and tax breaks are a big part of the picture (think income splitting).

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But it makes you wonder why there’s such a huge disparity in income growth between people who are just starting their careers and people who are ending them - after all, your tax dollars will need to fund the benefits that are supporting the older generation as they retire.

Mostly, it worries me because I write a lot about the importance of planning and saving for the future. If young working Canadians starting their careers are losing ground on the income curve, how can they kick-start their savings at a time when governments are cutting back benefits and companies are chopping pension benefits? Starting early is so important when it comes to saving - it’s what I like to call the magic of compound interest. The younger you start, the further ahead you’ll be.

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While no one expects to earn their parents’ salary out of the gate, you hope that one day you’ll be able to afford at least a few of the things your parents had: like retirement savings, a home of some sort, sending your kids to university….

Hey policymakers, maybe it’s time to think about incentives and tax breaks for the under 34 set?

Meantime, I think I’ll go ask my Mum for a loan….

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