key2thecup Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 For the First Time, Canadians Now Richer Than Americans The average Canadian household is worth about $40,000 more than their American counterparts The net worth of the average Canadian household in 2011 was $363,202. While Americans might enjoy throwing politically-charged barbs at their neighbors to the north, Canadians now have at least one reason to be smug. For the first time in recent history, the average Canadian is richer than the average American, according to a report cited inToronto's Globe and Mail. And not just by a little. Currently, the average Canadian household is more than $40,000 richer than the average American household. The net worth of the average Canadian household in 2011 was $363,202, compared to around $320,000 for Americans. If you're thinking the Canadian advantage must be due to exchange rates, think again. The Canadian dollar has actually caught up to the U.S. dollar in recent years. "These are not 60-cent dollars, but Canadian dollars more or less at par with the U.S. greenback," Globe and Mail's Michael Adams writes. To add insult to injury, not only are Canadians comparatively better-off than Americans, they're also more likely to be employed. The unemployment rate is 7.2 percent—and dropping—in Canada, while the U.S. is stuck with a stubbornly high rate of 8.2 percent. Besides a strengthening currency and a better labor market, experts credit the particularly savage fallout from the financial crisis on the U.S. economy and housing market, which torpedoed home values and gutted household wealth. According to the report, real estate held by Canadians is worth more than $140,000 more on average and they have almost four times as much equity in their real estate investments. In a column for Bloomberg View, Stephen Marche traces the increasing wealth spread between the two countries to America's "struggles to find its way out of an intractable economic crisis and a political sine curve of hope and despair." "The Canadian System is working," Marche writes, crediting Canada's cautious, fiscally conservative society. "[T]he American system is not." But there is one caveat that could give the U.S. an ego boost: the average American holds more liquid assets—cash in hand—than the average Canadian. http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2012/07/18/for-the-first-time-canadians-now-richer-than-americans Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magikal Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 Good for them I guess. I'm still broke as hell..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobble Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avelanch Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 i wonder how much of tha has to do with the housing prices, where the americans houses crashed in price, the canadian market was relatively unaffected, and actually increased. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carpe Diem Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jai604 Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 i wonder how much of tha has to do with the housing prices, where the americans houses crashed in price, the canadian market was relatively unaffected, and actually increased. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arsenalian Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 i wonder how much of tha has to do with the housing prices, where the americans houses crashed in price, the canadian market was relatively unaffected, and actually increased. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLumme Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 What Avalanche and Jai said. It's all housing in Vancouver and Toronto. May not be for long though. http://www.businessinsider.com/david-rosenberg-canadian-housing-bubble-2012-7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dittohead Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 But there is one caveat that could give the U.S. an ego boost: the average American holds more liquid assets—cash in hand—than the average Canadian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drybone Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 i wonder how much of tha has to do with the housing prices, where the americans houses crashed in price, the canadian market was relatively unaffected, and actually increased. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drybone Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avelanch Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 Did you even read the article? That's cited as the main reason right in there?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heretic Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 "The Canadian System is working," Marche writes, crediting Canada's cautious, fiscally conservative society. I guess that means it's great this country hasn't been run by the Liberals nor the NDP? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLumme Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 "The Canadian System is working," Marche writes, crediting Canada's cautious, fiscally conservative society. I guess that means it's great this country hasn't been run by the Liberals nor the NDP? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heretic Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 I guess you don't know the difference between 'Conservative' and 'conservative'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustJokinen! Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 "The Canadian System is working," Marche writes, crediting Canada's cautious, fiscally conservative society. I guess that means it's great this country hasn't been run by the Liberals nor the NDP? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armada Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 This is also why its nice to have the best banking system in the world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WHL rocks Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 There is about to be a correction in the real estate market in Canada. So these numbers will change real soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLumme Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 Really? Wow - okay, if you're going to make an accusation like that - explain it then? Tell me, where would we be if say the NDP had the power the last 10 years? Liberals? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hockeyfan87 Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 It gives me hope that so many people here see this for what it is. The facts are Canadians have never had as much personal debt on average as they do now. Also, like others have said, most of the wealth derives from equity in houses - a strong majority with are held with mortgages. We don't deserve a pat on the back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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