Remember, this is from the CBC’s senior business correspondent for The National and co-host of the Lang & O’Leary Exchange:
I broke the rules to spend beyond my means
…
I was posted to New York at the age of 28 as a business journalist, and intended to live within the somewhat modest means of a newspaper correspondent. And I stuck to my guns, for at least six months. Then I abandoned my guns, hopped over the wall into no man’s land, went AWOL. And in retrospect I’m glad I did, because the investment in my career and the experiences were worth more than the thousands of dollars I figure it cost me…
My new friends liked to dine out (most people I knew in New York used their oven as additional storage space) and pretty soon we were traveling too. Italy, Spain, Italy, the Hamptons, Italy. We travelled together, and an Italian villa back then was a steal — I was practically saving money by going.
Within a few years, I was rich in experience, a billionaire in sights and sounds, a queen of couture. And tens of thousands of dollars in credit card debt. The lowest moment, financially speaking, was when I cashed in my RRSP — paid a huge chunk of tax on it, lost the compounding potential, and used the money to pay off a credit card. Or most of it…
Was it a mistake? On a straight math basis yes. It was foolish. But would I do the same thing over again? In a New York minute…
Entitled to her…
Imagine the lamestream media’s faux outrage if these exact words came from one of the on-air hosts at Sun News Network, or Fox News Channel in the U.S.
[deleted – off topic. Final warning. ED]
And the point of this post is????
“Entitled to her… ”
Well, it was her money, she was young and had fun. And she seems to have paid it back which I’m sure wasn’t easy. Jesus, buddy, unclench your friggin’ keister for a moment.
The people who post on this board are so full of hate and envy that they must lash out in a rage about everything, even a piece about how a young working woman got herself in debt, then paid it off and learned some financial sense.
I understand why the article is so annoying to mark..(she thinks confidently)
The money was spent trying to fit in with the elites and their lifestyle, eating out every meal, cooking how gauche perish the thought, traveling to places she could not afford, to be with people (presumably) that could. A shallow, uncouth groupie degrading their financial future and for what? To fit in with shallow uncouth elitists who (probably) forgot her the moment she couldn’t keep up. Yet that seems to be something to be ding dang dong proud of and one of the highlights of her existence as she would be just as shallow today as she was back in the day she made the original mistake..
And that is the person who advises the little people, at their own expense of stolen tax dollars, about smart business…..right.
Lloyd:
“The people who post on this board are so full of hate and envy that they must lash out in a rage about everything, even a piece about how a young working woman got herself in debt, then paid it off and learned some financial sense.”
You forget to add: And would do it all again.
You haven’t learn financial sense if you tell people it was worth it and you’d do it again.
Don’t see what the problem is here. Lang was young and foolish, and doesn’t regret it in the least.
Good for her. A bit at odds with her current job, but it wouldn’t be the first time that’s happened.
It worked out for her. Sometimes the grasshopper does make it through the winter. I’ve taken a few gambols through the garden–and not regretted it. Had to pay up eventually though.
Amanda Lang could accurately be described as a “Poseur Squared”!
Lang constantly berates O’Leary…
He’s the heartless conservative…
She’s the benevolent socialist…
It’s all so CBCish …No?
Good for her. It’d be nice if everyone could have that kind of experience, but most people don’t have the curiosity or drive for it.
Well her past financial spending sounds alot like CBC’s current financial plan, maybe she can talk to the bosses about living within their “Means”. Oh you leftards FO with your over emotive mewling hate hate hate. Yes I hate you fools so what come and get me.
It was her money, not the CBC’s or am I missing something here?
Plus, she’s a great business correspondent, smart lady, and sounds like she’s be an interesting person to hang out with.
Good for her.
She’s a Daughter of Otto Lang:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Lang
The family is “well connected”. None of those kids ever pumped gas at the local Esso. So, Amanda was well placed at all the right places. She never had to worry about her credit card debts – ever.
You are all racist hating heartless bigots who would be happy to let old people eat dog food,to let the downtrodden fend for themselves,to step over the needy to feed your greed,got that about right Fister?The thing that gets me is this more or less describes our current cabal of leftwing politicos.
I’m no fan of the CBC, manned as they are by 70’s feministas, but Lang is bright and competent – really a breath of fresh air. Whether she can resist the pressure to conform is another matter.
William: “Lang constantly berates O’Leary…” That’s part of the show. Lang and O’Leary “exchange”. She sets him up and he makes these brash, opinionated responses. It’s entertaining. O’Leary holds his own on these exchanges, so I don’t think they are intended to disparage Conservatives. I actually like both of them, and the posted piece is a thought-provoking, candid admission which in my view reinforces the idea that you cannot put a monetary value on everything.
Another thing,it’s not the CBC’s money,it’s the taxpayers money.
Her hamster is working overtime.
I have no problem with anything she wrote in her story. Maybe Mark’s (the poster’s) motive for putting this up is envy. Anyway, I won’t waste another second bothering over it.
[quote]It was her money, not the CBC’s or am I missing something here? [/quote]
Yes you are missing something…in the real world how you handle your personal finances with be played out in spades with Corporate Money…BER… fake invoices.. etc
If she has CBC signing authority, her personal habits would/should have been investigated…A financial expert that is a fraud…
BTW: she did not say she paid off her debts, only a large portion of Credit Card…
Her message…
Spend all you want, go into debt all you want. Spend, spend, spend. Spending worked out for me and spending will work out for. So go spend you all. Till you have nothing than you’ll be rich like Amanda.
Apropos of nothing in particular, she gives me the creeps.
There’s something about her that I find a tad too… calculating.
She’s also married to Vince Borg, Executive Vice President Corporate Communications, Barrick Gold Corp.
She’s doing fine. Probably “high maintenance”, though.
I could honestly care less what she did with her OWN money. It’s her life – this post is over the top.
This is not about the girl.
First clue.
This is about an attitude taken up by an Elite. That lives in a mode of wishful thinking with your money.
second clue.
Heard the word entitlement?
At one time in a rational Univese spending more than you could afford was a shameful act. Now its considered a norm, if not foxy, even though everyone else pays for this behavior in the end.
JMO
It wasn’t my money or your money. She says very clearly that she was working for a newspaper at the time. It was her money. She got in deep. She didn’t go bankrupt and stiff her creditors. She paid it off. Hard to believe how much bile you people have for anyone who has anything resembling success or an interesting life.
People get themselves into tens of thousands of dollars in debt for useless degrees.
I actually think she was onto something. Not the “villas” and so forth but look:
If you want to get ahead in certain professions, you have to look and act the part. People won’t hire you if they think you’re broke (a.k.a. “a loser”). That’s just a fact.
Successful people want to be around other successful people. If you have to “fake” it for a short time while you’re starting out, so be it.
This is basically 1960s Sex and the Single Girl advice but for getting a career and not a man.
So she cashed out her RSP. She was earning about 6% on it — but paying 19% credit card debt? A no brainer: cash in the RSP and pay off the debt. Always pay off consumer debt first and invest later.
The govt is gonna confiscate our RSPs anyhow some day, so who cares?
I’ve known a couple of people who’ve actually done what she did. It was a disaster for one and a great success for another.
We Don’t Need No Stinking RRSPs!
There’s always the Canadian Pension Fund.
I did the same thing, saw the entire world, Everest, Greece, India, Europe, South East Asia, South America, things I would not do now, even though I can afford it now. The plane trips are too long, etc.
I am glad I got it done and paid off, now I can retire and golf in my back yard.
Slap Shot:
“in the real world how you handle your personal finances with be played out in spades with Corporate Money…BER… fake invoices.. etc”
Give me a break. I’ve known plenty of excellent employees whose personal finances were a shambles.
And the remark about fake invoices is near defamatory.
Do you think she’d be able to acknowledge that much of her good luck resulted from the fact that she’s not that bad to look at and therefore eligible for those higher-paying on-air jobs? There are far smarter people who, if they got into the same situation, would have a very different end result. Aside from bragging that she “broke the rules” and got away with it, I don’t see any evidence of a lesson learned.
I can’t believe what I’m reading in the comments. The woman was young, and she spent her money on travel and living the good life. She got in debt, and she cashed in her RRSP to pay off (most) of a credit card (and I believe she paid off the rest of it eventually).
What is the problem here? Did you expect her to wait until she was 55 before she went traveling? Where’s the fun in that? Sleeping four to a room in a Hampton’s summer share is something you can do in your twenties; it doesn’t work so well once you’re north of 40. She lived her youth, she has great memories, and yes, it cost her financially.
So FREAKIN’ what?! Someone once told me that you never regret the trips you took, but you always regret the trips you DIDN’T take. When she said she’d do it again, only someone who reads everything literally would believe she means “I’d do it again today at age 50”; clearly, what she means if she were in her 20’s again, and had a similar opportunity, she’d repeat the experience.
There’s plenty to rip the CBC about, but people are barking up the wrong forest, let alone tree, here.
Looks like at least half the commenters don’t think Lang’s youthful indiscretions have anything to do with the Mother Corp.
I give them credit for refusing to rise to such poor bait. Leave knee-jerk reactions to the other guys.
Lang could not manage her own finances yet she was employed as a business reporter. That makes her incompetent.
Lang not only rationalized her profligacy as prudent, but also states her choices were the reason for her career advancement and
unrepentantly states she would act the same way again. That makes her a moron.
She is now a the senior business correspondent for the national taxpayer funded television network.
CBC hires incompetent morons, is, I believe, the point behind this post.
her Dad’s name is Otto
When I met her in New York at that time she was working for that bastion of socialism, The Financial Post.
I think it is just a piece to illustrate that always saving all the time is not necessarily a winning formula. That it might be OK to capitalize on a situation, as long as you eventually smarten up.
This has nothing to do with her employers. Or her father. Where is her twin sister?
But would you let her invest your money?
Lloyd Fister: “Hard to believe how much bile you people have for anyone who has anything resembling success or an interesting life.”
Um, ya. And yet, “the CBC’s senior business correspondent…” AND she’s a major talking head at BNN.
Sing it with me Lloyd:
One of these things
is not like the others,
one of these things
just doesn’t belong…
Getting lucky in a highly competitive career path like TV is not a business plan. It is a fluke. Having the fix put in by Daddy is also not a business plan. It is nepotism. Neither path is something I want to hear the top talking head of my national broadcaster promoting as a life path.
Question Lloyd, how many of that crew she ran with in NYC are presently CRUSHED under unpayable debt and working in crap jobs with no freakin’ hope of ever getting out? My guess, more than half of them.
People -die- from that you know. A person of my acquaintance jumped off a balcony last year. Didn’t want to die old, f-ed up and broke in a disgusting nursing home, so they went over the rail and thundered in.
Talk to me about the bile again, Lloyd. But juxtaposed against that splash on the sidewalk.
The govt is gonna confiscate our RSPs anyhow some day
Can you explain how that might happen?
..or maybe it was just pointless fearmongering for the fun of it?
Mandy always had Daddy’s wide and solid safety net under her. What might seem wild and reckless to the average working bloke, was de rigueur in her elite social crowd.
She’s still hot and can get away with whatever she wants. She doesn’t need the CBC job; not by a long shot.
North_of_60 said: “Can you explain how that might happen?
..or maybe it was just pointless fearmongering for the fun of it?”
Dude. They pass a law and they -take- it. This is Canada. You don’t have property rights, remember?
Hungary and Argentina have done -exactly- this, and Ireland is about to do it. Cornered rats and all that.
In fact, Chretien already did this, to disabled vets and their widows no less. Stole their freakin’ money, some several billions if I recall aright. Look it up, it happened. That was the case where the Supreme Court ruled y’all have no rights to property.
Fun, eh?
They pass a law and they -take- it. This is Canada.
So, you’re suggesting the government will pass a law confiscating private investments? Yeah right. The wealthy people who actually control the country are not likely to let that happen.
Got any FACTUAL evidence to back up your rabid ranting… Dude.
Actually I’m still waiting for a coherent comment from the original poster, not the usual rantings of some forum poser.
You are all racist hating heartless bigots who would be happy to let old people eat dog food,to let the downtrodden fend for themselves
Yeah, so? If your hobby happens to be helping downtrodden homeless drug addicts then go right ahead, on YOUR dime. Invite a bunch of them to live with you. Of course you would never do that, you’d rather have the taxpayers funding your hobbies. BTW I personally contribute some of my hard earned dollars to my local food bank, I don’t expect you to though, that’s your choice.
Oh yeah, I don’t like racist behavior, so I guess that makes me “racist hating”, and I’m proud of it.
Stole their freakin’ money, some several billions if I recall aright. Look it up, it happened.
No Dude, that’s not how it works in the real world. If YOU make over-the-top claims then YOU have to back them up with at least a link to the evidence that supports your claim. Othewise it’s just your silly opinion.
Phantom I agree with you to a point, but I don’t think it is so awful to “die old” or f-ed up, or in some crummy old-folk’s home, broke, a failure, etc.. It pretty much defines myself for crying out loud! Is it any better to die rich and surrounded by your wealth and a bunch of sycophants? When it comes down to it, we all die alone; that’s life, strangely enough.
She’s got distant Lieberal ties, and so we hate her guts.
That’s my excuse anyway….
Grey lady said the key things re: this post, IMO.