Pull up a comfy chair, pour a martini, light up the pipe and enjoy the releasing of the hate.
49 Replies to “What Percent of the Elite Earn It?”
Mo Strong, where are you?
Feel the Power. Turn to the left and cough.
a good read & the reason why one should never be judged by the truck they drive or the job they hold.
The sad thing though, the deadbeats will drag everyone down.
Yep, a community of multi-millionaires because they’ve borrowed multi-millions. With no real prospect or intention of paying it back – just living on paying the interest on the principle – and when that’s not enough – borrowing more. Waiting for inheritances, life insurance, whatever – to keep the music going . . . . .
Deplorable
Awesome rant and every word rings true. Integrity and respect are not baubles one can purchase with borrowed character and stolen cash.
And in the end those of character will pay the tab for those without.
Syncro
That was so well written and I enjoyed every word of it. I wonder, living in Ottawa Canada, if there is that high a percentage of posers in our wealthy neighbourhoods.
Captain :
Dollars to donuts most of the 700 billion bail out to ease the pain of these cons mortgages. Money guys like you worked hard for, taken in taxes. Will go to these bums because they have connections or a college degree. Which today means nothing, but becoming a political parrot for Socialists. Even the technical schools have been infiltrated.
Being an economic moron myself, its barely understandable to me the dynamics of the situation, but this is pretty plain.
In my book responsible, conscientious, people like you shouda been running the bank.
another great read! thanks captain.
my gf’s dad lives in minneapolis.. next time i’m down there i think i’ll drive to this place and check it out!
The Hank Reardons of the world like you and I who pay our bills and work hard should just unite and do something about all of this. It’s time to rebuild the world not revert back to some sort of collectivist cult society.
That kind of thing is maddening. But, I still have faith.
Wasn’t it Rush Limbaugh who used to talk about how eighty-something percent of all millionaires are self-made successes?
The point is that inherited wealth is relatively rare. Most wealthy people come from entirely average backgrounds and build up their financial standing by working hard (and failing a couple of times along the way).
Yes, there is then the next generation that you point out here. But, they usually squander the money since they didn’t learn the same lessons as their parents and did not have the discipline to keep it going.
You always appreciate what you earn more than what is given to you.
That’s why names like Trump, Kennedy, and Hilton are famous. They are the exceptions…not the norm when it comes to wealth.
Seriously…does anyone know a famous contemporary Onasis? How are John Pierpont Morgan’s descendants doing?
So, Captain, while these examples (people) you speak of are annoying…I think that most of them get theirs in the end.
Ditto Steve…family, roots…down there. Who woulda thunk it in Minnesota.. wow!
This was an another amazing piece and I thank you for giving all of us a confidence and morality check…
but just wondering instead of a martini is a nice cold Canadian Chardonney alright?
“Arthur Andersen, the accounting giant which collapsed following a conviction for obstructing the course of justice in the wake of the Enron collapse, had its conviction overturned yesterday in the US Supreme Court. The presiding judge ruled that the judge in the original trial had given the jury “flawed instructions.”
Andersen’s conviction of “corruptly persuading employees to destroy documents” relating to the audit of the energy company Enron lost the firm its licence to audit. The previously 90,000 strong organisation swiftly collapsed, ushering in a new obsession with corporate governance and compliance, embodied most demandingly in the Sarbanes Oxley Act.” http://www.accountingweb.co.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=141707
KMPG pays $456 million U.S. in 2005 to settle $2.5 billion U.S. federal probe.
TheStarPhoenix August 29, 2008
Deloitte & Touche L.L.P. pay $26 million for GM misleading financial statements as far back as 2000 and GM agrees to pay $277 million US.
The Bottom Line October 2008
What investor fraud???? Best CA firms ever.
Times change. Overalls to overalls in four generations instead of three?
“Pull up a comfy chair, pour a martini, light up the pipe and enjoy the releasing of the hate.”
Captain, I give you full points for truth in advertising.
I must also add that you do indeed have a talent for writing.
R. Moore 8.07 No I don’t think so. I also live in Ottawa. The city is buttressed by embassies and their staff and high tech millionaires) those whop managed to keep it).
Bu the majoprity of people in Ottawa thrive off teh tax payer – they ARE the government.
Great read. My first thought was Tom Wolfe.
ah yes
they say there are 12, yes 12 of those new super sports cars that audi just released in canada, I’v already seen 3 of them buzzing around my neighbour hood, I’m trying to figure out haw to hook a plow on the back end of one of those very expensive audis
there are many “super rich” neigbourhoods in NA, the rich and the fakes gather in these areas. It’s just that I can get to excited about them, one way or t’other
us “workers” are the ones who actually earned the bells and baubles the “rich” play with, and often die with, but that’s life:-))))
Ummmm….for some reason can’t get to your site Cap.Something about server error
My Mom is a loans officer at a bank. She’s told me lots of stories of wealthy overextended families. One guy was CFO at a financial institution. He made $450,000 a year. The wife was asking my mom for a $30,000 loan to buy a car and they didn’t qualify! They had a lower net worth than I did and I was only making $50,000 a year!
Another couple were a teacher and a principal making $140,000 between the two of them. They had no kids. Again, the wife was in my mom’s office crying begging for a loan because they couldn’t pay their monthly loan payments and they didn’t qualify!
Too many people live way beyond their means and “look” like they’re incredibly well off but don’t have any assets or a penny to their name!
Living in a pretty affluent Vancouver suburb, owning a house worth close to seven figures, having recently paid off my mortgage. Whew…. Took me several years of pain, paying four times the required monthly amounts, and man, did that restrict my discretionary spending capabilities.
So now I own my house…have a 1991 van (needed for my beloved golden retriever) and a 1995 sedan…and we love both vehicles, each with low mileages, and we have no plans to replace either vehicle.
But lately I have noticed a disturbing trend in the neighbourhood. The influx of younger couples, purchasing houses clearly beyond their means, and additionally having super-sized plasma tvs, outrageously expensive vehicles, and apparently engaging in many other poorly thought out excesses.
My take on it. There is a crunch coming. And because of these folks who are making poor financial decisions, it is going to have an impact on me, even though I’ve always exercised prudent fiscal policies.
And I don’t like it…
“Great read. My first thought was Tom Wolfe.”
Has anyone seen Sherman McCoy around here?
Maria
The Masters are a little preoccupied right now.
Syncro
There is a great book called “The Millionaire Next Door”. It shows what happens when the millionaires that actually earned the money attempt to set up their kids with the easy life. More often than not the children squander the wealth because they don’t know where it came from. In these times tough economic times, they are revealed because they don’t have the skills to earn wealth.
There is a great book called “The Millionaire Next Door”. It shows what happens when the millionaires that actually earned the money attempt to set up their kids with the easy life. More often than not the children squander the wealth because they don’t know where it came from. In these times tough economic times, they are revealed because they don’t have the skills to earn wealth.
Cough cough – Sgt Lejune it’s shirt sleaves to shirt sleaves, and it still only takes 3 generations – max!
And bryceman; The Hilton name may well be famous, but the progeny sure cause a lot of grief! Had the Paris bitch in here only the other day looking for a job, (and it wasn’t to play piano if you know what I mean)?
Awesome rant and every word rings true.
Well, *every* word rings true ain’t exactly right.
Although I agree with much of the article, and certainly its overall point of view, I’ll quibble about this package deal:
But if you are what I estimate to be that 25-33% of losers who just inherited it, or borrowed it, or worse, just stole it, not only should you have shame, you should be taken to a back alley and have every undeserved penny beaten out of you
One group doesn’t belong there and that’s the folks who inherit their fortune.
The inheritors may or may not deserve it but that’s not the important point; the important point is that the person who *did* earn it has every right to dispose of what they earned and built as they see fit, and the folks who inherit that money have it by right based on that.
There is no shame earned simply by being advantaged by an inheritance. Wasting it might be another story but, in any case, inherited stuff is not “ill-gotten gains”.
I said it’s a quibble, but: confusion on this point is why lefties think inheritance taxes are perfectly OK.
Otherwise, though, carry on…
Hmm well the nice thing about the current losses on the stock market are that everyone gets to claim capital gains taxes on their tax return 😀 In a failing econonmy, Obamas Capital Gains tax increase would actually be a boon for most until the economy turns around hahaha.
Great article Captain!
This is not a new phenomenon. There are always people who want to be rich but can’t do it, so they settle for the appearance of being rich. Go read Theodore Dreiser’s An American Tragedy.
Bruce 10.18
Yeah – I agree with your concern – your hard work to pay off the mortgage is commended, but as you speculate – the real estate exuberance in YVR pushed up prices perhaps irrationally – they may fall – perhaps the Olympics will keep things humming – I’m in YVR right now – there is a lot of building going on – as there is in Calgary – who is going to buy all these downtown condos?????
I grew up living alongside some of these people.
I have to say that many of those that remained in the place, have stayed much the same – overly concerned about upward mobility, outward appearances, and now at our age, plastic surgery, fitness, not for fitness sake, but for the sake of maintaining a youthful (marketable) appearance, nice, new fast cars (and boats) and big, big, massive houses (and fancy cottages, on only the best lakes), kids who attend (as opposed to learn at) the ‘best’ universities and the ‘right’ coterie of friends and business associates.
I recently met an old schoolmate working in a newly established high-end furniture store as a designer. I couldn’t afford a thing in the place but was there out of curiosity. I didn’t recognize her but she recognized me and immediately asked where I was living. I told her – not an upscale neighbourhood by any means, and yet she was somehow driven to tell me about her ‘old’ home, in the old upscale neighbourhood, before telling me where she now resided. It was apparent that in her mind, at least, the new digs were of a far less consequential address, so she hastened to add that they had recently downscaled because the children had left. I’m not sure what was more embarrassing – her discomfort with her current address or my discomfort at wondering why in the hell she cared about what I thought about where she lived.
I veered way off the path when I moved away, for adventure, so I no longer ‘fit’ with my old crowd which in some ways makes me sad as it has meant that I’ve had to let go of a lot of old friends but in many respects it is a blessing as I do not have the worries that come with trying to maintain that place in, what I now view as very stunted society. “I is what I is”, middle-class warts and all but not only do I enjoy my own company, I tend enjoy the company of whomever comes my way, and they me.
It wasn’t always like that, as I too was once driven by coin and appearances. I well remember looking down my nose at farmers, blue-collar workers and clerks. Truthfully, living in Alberta and Saskatchewan cured me of that disease. That, and marrying a farmer from family of ten who eked out, at least part of a living, during the dirty thirties on a quarter section of land in two sod houses, a boy’s house and a girl’s house, in Northern Alberta.
I honestly feel sorry for many of my old friends as while they may be widely traveled, nicely tanned, well fed, countrified, house-kept and nannified, they are minimally life-experienced and so ill-suited for hard times. I suspect that the people Captain describes are similarly handicapped. It really is a curse. A good life demands so much more than that.
well said captain
well said captain
I enjoyed the captain’s article. I’ve worked in banking, primarily commercial lending, for the last 11 years myself. I have met many of the posers the Capt. describes.
“I is what I is”, middle-class warts and all but not only do I enjoy my own company, I tend enjoy the company of whomever comes my way, and they me.
Nicely said, anonymous.
The likely source of the current financial situation is the notion of “everyone else is doing it, and if there are enough of us in the same boat, ‘the system’ can’t afford to take us ALL down, so why not?”
Which sounds suspiciously like a Ponzi Scheme to me, unwittingly (or not) acted-out by a few dozen million peer approval-seeking/shallow oneupmanship baby boomers.
Perhaps they felt an inner need to out-do the “greatest generation” but went about it in entirely the wrong way.
Somebody ought to write a book.
Nice anonymous 11.52
I will freely admit I’m part of the first useless generation – I can’t do my own electrical work, carpentry, vehicle repairs, plumbing, etc etc
If we have to go back to looking after these things ourselves rather than “outsourcing them”, we (or maybe just I) am hooped
Hey, *I’ve* got a book contract, but it’s nothing people here will ever read. The deadline is looming but not enough is done because I spend too much time at SDA.
Yeah, that’s the ticket, blame someone else…
wow! nice blog n’reads!! Right up my alley.. though, I may not be “up yours.” please peruse my myspace-am a self-professing, non-working, political pawn. Oh yeah, I am disabled by “permanently unemployable” rank. My article: Social Genocide of Disabled in Canada, When Journalism Fails Public Society, When Weakest Links Measure Society..in that order please; I would be thrilled with some commentary; as it has caught the attention of an MP!! and, well, being a non-journalistic clutz.. some critque is called for here, and you may just be surprised.. at my level of accuracy of the scandalous political-issue of Canadian History!! at hand. http://www.myspace.com/northdesigns
wow! nice blog n’reads!! Right up my alley.. though, I may not be “up yours.” please peruse my myspace-am a self-professing, non-working, political pawn. Oh yeah, I am disabled by “permanently unemployable” rank. My article: Social Genocide of Disabled in Canada, When Journalism Fails Public Society, When Weakest Links Measure Society..in that order please; I would be thrilled with some commentary; as it has caught the attention of an MP!! and, well, being a non-journalistic clutz.. some critque is called for here, and you may just be surprised.. at my level of accuracy of the scandalous political-issue of Canadian History!! at hand. http://www.myspace.com/northdesigns
As a good chunk of our family wealth is tied up in real estate(rental properties that yield high returns, that we will NEVER sell)we have had a vested interest in this whole “bubble” thing affecting the housing market. A few observations:
1. This overdue correction will hopefully bring housing prices in line with local rental rates, thus making entry level housing affordable for young families.
2. The price of building materials should decline to the point where the selling price of a house is directly proportional to the cost of building it.(yes, I know the old maxim)
3. It is going to be nice to see the majority of real estate flippers and speculators getting forced out of the real estate market.
4. Market conditions will present some real solid long term buying opportunities.
With the Toronto real estate market on the verge of collapse, is it any wonder that chimpy mcliar is looking nervous these days????
All I can say is that the boomers are going to reap the results of their ego-driven, status seeking duplicitous ways.
LMFAO all the way to the foreclosure auctions, you volvo driving wannabe jerk offs!
keeping up appearances; keeping up with joneses, (a little known fact: the joneses live paycheque to paycheque, making up deficits via credit card limit increases)
I did some studying at university when I was working, so it was an evening course. I’ll never forget the gregarious woman with the big chest and big mouth who talked about life on the escarpment.
there’s a row of houses in the south end above st catharines that is on the edge of the city limits.
she used to scavenge drinking cups for reuse at her pool parties. blech. pool, fancy automobile, very expensive neighborhood (consisting of one side of st davids road) . . . and she *reuses* foam cups. go figure.
this was mid 80s. a lot can happen in 20 years.
google maps pinpoints a spot on the east side of something called wayzata bay.
it has to be the area since there is a Minnetonka Blvd, Minnetonka, Tonka Bay and Minnetonka Beach in the vicinity according to the google map.
zooming in stops 1 1/2 notches from the maximum.
one of those ‘exclusive properties privacy’ things no doubt.
try it. open the google browser and click on ‘maps’ and go from there. I suspect its the whole patch of smaller bodies of water and the very irregular shoreline that is the minnetonka lake, but without the google label.
individuals, families, neighborhoods, communities, cities, states and provinces, nations and the whole world financially overextended. there is a law of gravity with finance. why do you think its called a ‘golden parachute’?
up down up down up down goes wall street, bay street, nikkei, fleet street, beijing exchange. as well as the housing market, slower because its wealth is tangible if not constant.
I guess we’re going to see ’29 happen again. ya. 2009 with the two zeroes taken out to represent the zero assets of those hit hardest.
The story brought to mind one of Danny Finkleman’s proposals: that licence plates be issued in three colours – one for those cars that were fully owned, a second for those on which there was less than 50% owing, and a third (red, perhaps) on which more than 50% had yet to be paid.
I foresee many high end cars will soon be available on ebay. Cheap. Lots of levered-up yuppies bailing out of their loans.
That’s kewl, I could use the engine out of one of those fancy Audi supercars in my sand rail. Bitchin’!
I’m with the Captain. I have NEVER been able to understand how all these guys in Toronto afford the car and the house in Rosedale. I mean, how many guys really have a million+ a year income? Because that’s what it takes to -afford- what they sleep in and drive around, plus the private school for the 2.5 kids, the cottage, the boat, the ski vacations, the ex-wife payments, and etc. Just paying the minimum on the credit card every month, I guess.
Oh well, going to be a cold winter. Good thing my truck is paid for, I’ll be able to go get fire wood.
GR-8 piece, Captain.
the bear: “The sad thing though, the deadbeats will drag everyone down.”
syncro: “And in the end those of character will pay the tab for those without.”
Bruce: “My take on it. There is a crunch coming. And because of these folks who are making poor financial decisions, it is going to have an impact on me, even though I’ve always exercised prudent fiscal policies. … And I don’t like it.”
Me neither.
It’s time for the banks to give preferred rates NOT to those with more money in their accounts (is it real money?) but to those of us who live within our means and who never default on loan payments—even if, by the end of the month, there’s not many actual dollars left in our accounts.
I once reminded my bank that my husband and I were better customers than the Reichman Brothers, seeing as we honoured every contract we ever had with them. The VP I spoke to responded with a nervous, embarrassed laugh. I guess he took my point.
It’s time for customers to stand up to their banks and insist on preferential treatment for “good behaviour.”
Many mansions are free of food and furniture. Huge manors with mattresses on the floor.
I think the Cap’n has a chip on his shoulder. If I earn 10 million dollars, I have a right to leave it to my children.
The main phenomenon the cap’n is referring to is the one where people from lower status classes tend to spend their money on the showey, while the comfortable and secure have no need for such displays. I once read a book called “Class” and it was interesting in that it pointed out that the “Top out of sight” tend to drive middle of the road American cars. They don’t need or want to show off their wealth. If you are from East St. Louis though, and made it, you have something to prove, hence the big gold chains.
Maybe a lot of the people who get these loans shouldn’t have, but I don’t blame them for living their lifestyle while they could. I blame the govt for lowering credit standards and buying the loans (although jumbo loans never got the same pass, I don’t think) to make it profitable to lend to them and stick the taxpayer with the bill.
Besides, the super rich live on tidal salt water, not Lake Minetonka.
Somewhat related, the name Justin comes to mind. Talented, maybe, but just what exactly?
TIM
I don’t even live near water
guy down the road spent OVER 30 million, biulding his daughter an indoor riding arena
up the road there’s a 20,000 sq/ft house, 2 bed room, go figure
I could go on, but what’s the point???
half the houses around here are occupied 2-3 months of the year, tho the gate house is always occupied
point is, the rich are everywere, for 2-3 months of the year:-))))
Mo Strong, where are you?
Feel the Power. Turn to the left and cough.
a good read & the reason why one should never be judged by the truck they drive or the job they hold.
The sad thing though, the deadbeats will drag everyone down.
Yep, a community of multi-millionaires because they’ve borrowed multi-millions. With no real prospect or intention of paying it back – just living on paying the interest on the principle – and when that’s not enough – borrowing more. Waiting for inheritances, life insurance, whatever – to keep the music going . . . . .
Deplorable
Awesome rant and every word rings true. Integrity and respect are not baubles one can purchase with borrowed character and stolen cash.
And in the end those of character will pay the tab for those without.
Syncro
That was so well written and I enjoyed every word of it. I wonder, living in Ottawa Canada, if there is that high a percentage of posers in our wealthy neighbourhoods.
Captain :
Dollars to donuts most of the 700 billion bail out to ease the pain of these cons mortgages. Money guys like you worked hard for, taken in taxes. Will go to these bums because they have connections or a college degree. Which today means nothing, but becoming a political parrot for Socialists. Even the technical schools have been infiltrated.
Being an economic moron myself, its barely understandable to me the dynamics of the situation, but this is pretty plain.
In my book responsible, conscientious, people like you shouda been running the bank.
another great read! thanks captain.
my gf’s dad lives in minneapolis.. next time i’m down there i think i’ll drive to this place and check it out!
The Hank Reardons of the world like you and I who pay our bills and work hard should just unite and do something about all of this. It’s time to rebuild the world not revert back to some sort of collectivist cult society.
That kind of thing is maddening. But, I still have faith.
Wasn’t it Rush Limbaugh who used to talk about how eighty-something percent of all millionaires are self-made successes?
The point is that inherited wealth is relatively rare. Most wealthy people come from entirely average backgrounds and build up their financial standing by working hard (and failing a couple of times along the way).
Yes, there is then the next generation that you point out here. But, they usually squander the money since they didn’t learn the same lessons as their parents and did not have the discipline to keep it going.
You always appreciate what you earn more than what is given to you.
That’s why names like Trump, Kennedy, and Hilton are famous. They are the exceptions…not the norm when it comes to wealth.
Seriously…does anyone know a famous contemporary Onasis? How are John Pierpont Morgan’s descendants doing?
So, Captain, while these examples (people) you speak of are annoying…I think that most of them get theirs in the end.
Ditto Steve…family, roots…down there. Who woulda thunk it in Minnesota.. wow!
This was an another amazing piece and I thank you for giving all of us a confidence and morality check…
but just wondering instead of a martini is a nice cold Canadian Chardonney alright?
“Arthur Andersen, the accounting giant which collapsed following a conviction for obstructing the course of justice in the wake of the Enron collapse, had its conviction overturned yesterday in the US Supreme Court. The presiding judge ruled that the judge in the original trial had given the jury “flawed instructions.”
Andersen’s conviction of “corruptly persuading employees to destroy documents” relating to the audit of the energy company Enron lost the firm its licence to audit. The previously 90,000 strong organisation swiftly collapsed, ushering in a new obsession with corporate governance and compliance, embodied most demandingly in the Sarbanes Oxley Act.”
http://www.accountingweb.co.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=141707
KMPG pays $456 million U.S. in 2005 to settle $2.5 billion U.S. federal probe.
TheStarPhoenix August 29, 2008
Deloitte & Touche L.L.P. pay $26 million for GM misleading financial statements as far back as 2000 and GM agrees to pay $277 million US.
The Bottom Line October 2008
What investor fraud???? Best CA firms ever.
Times change. Overalls to overalls in four generations instead of three?
“Pull up a comfy chair, pour a martini, light up the pipe and enjoy the releasing of the hate.”
Captain, I give you full points for truth in advertising.
I must also add that you do indeed have a talent for writing.
R. Moore 8.07 No I don’t think so. I also live in Ottawa. The city is buttressed by embassies and their staff and high tech millionaires) those whop managed to keep it).
Bu the majoprity of people in Ottawa thrive off teh tax payer – they ARE the government.
Great read. My first thought was Tom Wolfe.
ah yes
they say there are 12, yes 12 of those new super sports cars that audi just released in canada, I’v already seen 3 of them buzzing around my neighbour hood, I’m trying to figure out haw to hook a plow on the back end of one of those very expensive audis
there are many “super rich” neigbourhoods in NA, the rich and the fakes gather in these areas. It’s just that I can get to excited about them, one way or t’other
us “workers” are the ones who actually earned the bells and baubles the “rich” play with, and often die with, but that’s life:-))))
Ummmm….for some reason can’t get to your site Cap.Something about server error
My Mom is a loans officer at a bank. She’s told me lots of stories of wealthy overextended families. One guy was CFO at a financial institution. He made $450,000 a year. The wife was asking my mom for a $30,000 loan to buy a car and they didn’t qualify! They had a lower net worth than I did and I was only making $50,000 a year!
Another couple were a teacher and a principal making $140,000 between the two of them. They had no kids. Again, the wife was in my mom’s office crying begging for a loan because they couldn’t pay their monthly loan payments and they didn’t qualify!
Too many people live way beyond their means and “look” like they’re incredibly well off but don’t have any assets or a penny to their name!
Living in a pretty affluent Vancouver suburb, owning a house worth close to seven figures, having recently paid off my mortgage. Whew…. Took me several years of pain, paying four times the required monthly amounts, and man, did that restrict my discretionary spending capabilities.
So now I own my house…have a 1991 van (needed for my beloved golden retriever) and a 1995 sedan…and we love both vehicles, each with low mileages, and we have no plans to replace either vehicle.
But lately I have noticed a disturbing trend in the neighbourhood. The influx of younger couples, purchasing houses clearly beyond their means, and additionally having super-sized plasma tvs, outrageously expensive vehicles, and apparently engaging in many other poorly thought out excesses.
My take on it. There is a crunch coming. And because of these folks who are making poor financial decisions, it is going to have an impact on me, even though I’ve always exercised prudent fiscal policies.
And I don’t like it…
“Great read. My first thought was Tom Wolfe.”
Has anyone seen Sherman McCoy around here?
Maria
The Masters are a little preoccupied right now.
Syncro
There is a great book called “The Millionaire Next Door”. It shows what happens when the millionaires that actually earned the money attempt to set up their kids with the easy life. More often than not the children squander the wealth because they don’t know where it came from. In these times tough economic times, they are revealed because they don’t have the skills to earn wealth.
There is a great book called “The Millionaire Next Door”. It shows what happens when the millionaires that actually earned the money attempt to set up their kids with the easy life. More often than not the children squander the wealth because they don’t know where it came from. In these times tough economic times, they are revealed because they don’t have the skills to earn wealth.
Cough cough – Sgt Lejune it’s shirt sleaves to shirt sleaves, and it still only takes 3 generations – max!
And bryceman; The Hilton name may well be famous, but the progeny sure cause a lot of grief! Had the Paris bitch in here only the other day looking for a job, (and it wasn’t to play piano if you know what I mean)?
Awesome rant and every word rings true.
Well, *every* word rings true ain’t exactly right.
Although I agree with much of the article, and certainly its overall point of view, I’ll quibble about this package deal:
One group doesn’t belong there and that’s the folks who inherit their fortune.
The inheritors may or may not deserve it but that’s not the important point; the important point is that the person who *did* earn it has every right to dispose of what they earned and built as they see fit, and the folks who inherit that money have it by right based on that.
There is no shame earned simply by being advantaged by an inheritance. Wasting it might be another story but, in any case, inherited stuff is not “ill-gotten gains”.
I said it’s a quibble, but: confusion on this point is why lefties think inheritance taxes are perfectly OK.
Otherwise, though, carry on…
Hmm well the nice thing about the current losses on the stock market are that everyone gets to claim capital gains taxes on their tax return 😀 In a failing econonmy, Obamas Capital Gains tax increase would actually be a boon for most until the economy turns around hahaha.
Great article Captain!
This is not a new phenomenon. There are always people who want to be rich but can’t do it, so they settle for the appearance of being rich. Go read Theodore Dreiser’s An American Tragedy.
Bruce 10.18
Yeah – I agree with your concern – your hard work to pay off the mortgage is commended, but as you speculate – the real estate exuberance in YVR pushed up prices perhaps irrationally – they may fall – perhaps the Olympics will keep things humming – I’m in YVR right now – there is a lot of building going on – as there is in Calgary – who is going to buy all these downtown condos?????
I grew up living alongside some of these people.
I have to say that many of those that remained in the place, have stayed much the same – overly concerned about upward mobility, outward appearances, and now at our age, plastic surgery, fitness, not for fitness sake, but for the sake of maintaining a youthful (marketable) appearance, nice, new fast cars (and boats) and big, big, massive houses (and fancy cottages, on only the best lakes), kids who attend (as opposed to learn at) the ‘best’ universities and the ‘right’ coterie of friends and business associates.
I recently met an old schoolmate working in a newly established high-end furniture store as a designer. I couldn’t afford a thing in the place but was there out of curiosity. I didn’t recognize her but she recognized me and immediately asked where I was living. I told her – not an upscale neighbourhood by any means, and yet she was somehow driven to tell me about her ‘old’ home, in the old upscale neighbourhood, before telling me where she now resided. It was apparent that in her mind, at least, the new digs were of a far less consequential address, so she hastened to add that they had recently downscaled because the children had left. I’m not sure what was more embarrassing – her discomfort with her current address or my discomfort at wondering why in the hell she cared about what I thought about where she lived.
I veered way off the path when I moved away, for adventure, so I no longer ‘fit’ with my old crowd which in some ways makes me sad as it has meant that I’ve had to let go of a lot of old friends but in many respects it is a blessing as I do not have the worries that come with trying to maintain that place in, what I now view as very stunted society. “I is what I is”, middle-class warts and all but not only do I enjoy my own company, I tend enjoy the company of whomever comes my way, and they me.
It wasn’t always like that, as I too was once driven by coin and appearances. I well remember looking down my nose at farmers, blue-collar workers and clerks. Truthfully, living in Alberta and Saskatchewan cured me of that disease. That, and marrying a farmer from family of ten who eked out, at least part of a living, during the dirty thirties on a quarter section of land in two sod houses, a boy’s house and a girl’s house, in Northern Alberta.
I honestly feel sorry for many of my old friends as while they may be widely traveled, nicely tanned, well fed, countrified, house-kept and nannified, they are minimally life-experienced and so ill-suited for hard times. I suspect that the people Captain describes are similarly handicapped. It really is a curse. A good life demands so much more than that.
well said captain
well said captain
I enjoyed the captain’s article. I’ve worked in banking, primarily commercial lending, for the last 11 years myself. I have met many of the posers the Capt. describes.
“I is what I is”, middle-class warts and all but not only do I enjoy my own company, I tend enjoy the company of whomever comes my way, and they me.
Nicely said, anonymous.
The likely source of the current financial situation is the notion of “everyone else is doing it, and if there are enough of us in the same boat, ‘the system’ can’t afford to take us ALL down, so why not?”
Which sounds suspiciously like a Ponzi Scheme to me, unwittingly (or not) acted-out by a few dozen million peer approval-seeking/shallow oneupmanship baby boomers.
Perhaps they felt an inner need to out-do the “greatest generation” but went about it in entirely the wrong way.
Somebody ought to write a book.
Nice anonymous 11.52
I will freely admit I’m part of the first useless generation – I can’t do my own electrical work, carpentry, vehicle repairs, plumbing, etc etc
If we have to go back to looking after these things ourselves rather than “outsourcing them”, we (or maybe just I) am hooped
Hey, *I’ve* got a book contract, but it’s nothing people here will ever read. The deadline is looming but not enough is done because I spend too much time at SDA.
Yeah, that’s the ticket, blame someone else…
wow! nice blog n’reads!! Right up my alley.. though, I may not be “up yours.” please peruse my myspace-am a self-professing, non-working, political pawn. Oh yeah, I am disabled by “permanently unemployable” rank. My article: Social Genocide of Disabled in Canada, When Journalism Fails Public Society, When Weakest Links Measure Society..in that order please; I would be thrilled with some commentary; as it has caught the attention of an MP!! and, well, being a non-journalistic clutz.. some critque is called for here, and you may just be surprised.. at my level of accuracy of the scandalous political-issue of Canadian History!! at hand. http://www.myspace.com/northdesigns
wow! nice blog n’reads!! Right up my alley.. though, I may not be “up yours.” please peruse my myspace-am a self-professing, non-working, political pawn. Oh yeah, I am disabled by “permanently unemployable” rank. My article: Social Genocide of Disabled in Canada, When Journalism Fails Public Society, When Weakest Links Measure Society..in that order please; I would be thrilled with some commentary; as it has caught the attention of an MP!! and, well, being a non-journalistic clutz.. some critque is called for here, and you may just be surprised.. at my level of accuracy of the scandalous political-issue of Canadian History!! at hand. http://www.myspace.com/northdesigns
As a good chunk of our family wealth is tied up in real estate(rental properties that yield high returns, that we will NEVER sell)we have had a vested interest in this whole “bubble” thing affecting the housing market. A few observations:
1. This overdue correction will hopefully bring housing prices in line with local rental rates, thus making entry level housing affordable for young families.
2. The price of building materials should decline to the point where the selling price of a house is directly proportional to the cost of building it.(yes, I know the old maxim)
3. It is going to be nice to see the majority of real estate flippers and speculators getting forced out of the real estate market.
4. Market conditions will present some real solid long term buying opportunities.
With the Toronto real estate market on the verge of collapse, is it any wonder that chimpy mcliar is looking nervous these days????
All I can say is that the boomers are going to reap the results of their ego-driven, status seeking duplicitous ways.
LMFAO all the way to the foreclosure auctions, you volvo driving wannabe jerk offs!
keeping up appearances; keeping up with joneses, (a little known fact: the joneses live paycheque to paycheque, making up deficits via credit card limit increases)
I did some studying at university when I was working, so it was an evening course. I’ll never forget the gregarious woman with the big chest and big mouth who talked about life on the escarpment.
there’s a row of houses in the south end above st catharines that is on the edge of the city limits.
she used to scavenge drinking cups for reuse at her pool parties. blech. pool, fancy automobile, very expensive neighborhood (consisting of one side of st davids road) . . . and she *reuses* foam cups. go figure.
this was mid 80s. a lot can happen in 20 years.
google maps pinpoints a spot on the east side of something called wayzata bay.
it has to be the area since there is a Minnetonka Blvd, Minnetonka, Tonka Bay and Minnetonka Beach in the vicinity according to the google map.
zooming in stops 1 1/2 notches from the maximum.
one of those ‘exclusive properties privacy’ things no doubt.
try it. open the google browser and click on ‘maps’ and go from there. I suspect its the whole patch of smaller bodies of water and the very irregular shoreline that is the minnetonka lake, but without the google label.
individuals, families, neighborhoods, communities, cities, states and provinces, nations and the whole world financially overextended. there is a law of gravity with finance. why do you think its called a ‘golden parachute’?
up down up down up down goes wall street, bay street, nikkei, fleet street, beijing exchange. as well as the housing market, slower because its wealth is tangible if not constant.
I guess we’re going to see ’29 happen again. ya. 2009 with the two zeroes taken out to represent the zero assets of those hit hardest.
The story brought to mind one of Danny Finkleman’s proposals: that licence plates be issued in three colours – one for those cars that were fully owned, a second for those on which there was less than 50% owing, and a third (red, perhaps) on which more than 50% had yet to be paid.
I foresee many high end cars will soon be available on ebay. Cheap. Lots of levered-up yuppies bailing out of their loans.
That’s kewl, I could use the engine out of one of those fancy Audi supercars in my sand rail. Bitchin’!
I’m with the Captain. I have NEVER been able to understand how all these guys in Toronto afford the car and the house in Rosedale. I mean, how many guys really have a million+ a year income? Because that’s what it takes to -afford- what they sleep in and drive around, plus the private school for the 2.5 kids, the cottage, the boat, the ski vacations, the ex-wife payments, and etc. Just paying the minimum on the credit card every month, I guess.
Oh well, going to be a cold winter. Good thing my truck is paid for, I’ll be able to go get fire wood.
GR-8 piece, Captain.
the bear: “The sad thing though, the deadbeats will drag everyone down.”
syncro: “And in the end those of character will pay the tab for those without.”
Bruce: “My take on it. There is a crunch coming. And because of these folks who are making poor financial decisions, it is going to have an impact on me, even though I’ve always exercised prudent fiscal policies. … And I don’t like it.”
Me neither.
It’s time for the banks to give preferred rates NOT to those with more money in their accounts (is it real money?) but to those of us who live within our means and who never default on loan payments—even if, by the end of the month, there’s not many actual dollars left in our accounts.
I once reminded my bank that my husband and I were better customers than the Reichman Brothers, seeing as we honoured every contract we ever had with them. The VP I spoke to responded with a nervous, embarrassed laugh. I guess he took my point.
It’s time for customers to stand up to their banks and insist on preferential treatment for “good behaviour.”
Many mansions are free of food and furniture. Huge manors with mattresses on the floor.
I think the Cap’n has a chip on his shoulder. If I earn 10 million dollars, I have a right to leave it to my children.
The main phenomenon the cap’n is referring to is the one where people from lower status classes tend to spend their money on the showey, while the comfortable and secure have no need for such displays. I once read a book called “Class” and it was interesting in that it pointed out that the “Top out of sight” tend to drive middle of the road American cars. They don’t need or want to show off their wealth. If you are from East St. Louis though, and made it, you have something to prove, hence the big gold chains.
Maybe a lot of the people who get these loans shouldn’t have, but I don’t blame them for living their lifestyle while they could. I blame the govt for lowering credit standards and buying the loans (although jumbo loans never got the same pass, I don’t think) to make it profitable to lend to them and stick the taxpayer with the bill.
Besides, the super rich live on tidal salt water, not Lake Minetonka.
Somewhat related, the name Justin comes to mind. Talented, maybe, but just what exactly?
TIM
I don’t even live near water
guy down the road spent OVER 30 million, biulding his daughter an indoor riding arena
up the road there’s a 20,000 sq/ft house, 2 bed room, go figure
I could go on, but what’s the point???
half the houses around here are occupied 2-3 months of the year, tho the gate house is always occupied
point is, the rich are everywere, for 2-3 months of the year:-))))