Do you make more than $89,000?

[kenny]

If you're a Canadian making more than $89,000 per year before taxes you are amongst the Top 5% highest earners in Canada.

To be in the top 1% you need to be making $181,000.

That was surprising to me... I thought you'd have to make much more than that.

http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=df41780c-ba1d-4c15-9af6-a5ade03f39a5&k=59298

[Supa Dexta]

See I made a thread on this a couple months back... surprising where I sit really...

[max_boost]

Originally posted by kenny
If you're a Canadian making more than $89,000 per year before taxes you are amongst the Top 5% highest earners in Canada.

To be in the top 1% you need to be making $181,000.

That was surprising to me... I thought you'd have to make much more than that.

http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=df41780c-ba1d-4c15-9af6-a5ade03f39a5&k=59298

:werd:
I thought it would be a lot higher than that too.

[black_2.5RS]

The article came out today - but the data is based on 2004 data. That $89,000 then is not the same today.

[D. Dub]

Which is why the vast majority of high end cars and high end homes are financed up the ying yang. ;)

[rage2]

Sweet, I'm almost at the top 1% haha. Too bad I still feel poor.... Calgary's expensive.

[max_boost]

Originally posted by rage2
Sweet, I'm almost at the top 1% haha. Too bad I still feel poor.... Calgary's expensive. You spend too much! haha

[Crymson]

Alot of the high end purchases, at least in calgary, is not wage based. You have alot of guys who've been making 50-90k a year for the last 10 years, but with all of the larger canadian oil and gas producers, they've seen 100's of thousands of dollars in stock option growth. I'm sure there are probably 5,000 new millionaires in calgary since 2002 for that reason alone.

[urban.one]

I found this part of the article to be somewhat telling (but not surprising) about the wealth building machine that the US is.


Differences between Canada and the U.S. are most striking at the upper end of the income scale, StatsCan found. In Canada, the top five per cent of earners made at least $89,000 in 2004, while the cut-off for that group in the U.S. was $165,000. The threshold for the top 0.01 pr cent in Canada was $2.8 million, but an American would need to make $9.4 million to belong to that same club.

I think a reason why some posters here are surprised by the $89,000 number is because you tend to associate with colleagues, friends, family, etc who are at similar income levels.

If I look at my family, most of my family is university educated and work at some sort of professional job. My wife is at a similar type career as myself and her family is mostly professionals as well. A lot of our friends we met thru university and they are working in similar careers. So if I look at most of my friends, family, and colleaugues, it would seem that everyone is earning a salary around the 6 figure range.

But even in an economy like Calgary there are people who make twenty or thirty thousand dollars and who will likely never increase their wage more than the rate of inflation. Theres people who even make less and rely on government assistance or help from other social agencies to pay the rent and then get food at food banks.

[googe]

according to what people say on beyond, some quick math would mean that by some fluke almost all of that 5% are posting here!

[bksze]

Keep in mind the figures were based out of 2004. That was a time when gas was at 60 cents and homes were 40% less than what they are now.


For you to be in the upper 5% now, I would guess you'd have to be making $125k now.


I bet Calgary alone has pumped out enough millionaires in the last 2 years to skew the statistic by a good $10k

[Aleks]

Originally posted by googe
according to what people say on beyond, some quick math would mean that by some fluke almost all of that 5% are posting here!


:rofl:

[Canmorite]

Originally posted by D. Dub
Which is why the vast majority of high end cars and high end homes are financed up the ying yang. ;)

For a car, would you put 200K+ into a depreciating asset? Or put 25K down, finance the rest and invest the remaining 175k? ;)

[D. Dub]

The point I'm making is that the majority of people can't afford the asset comfortably.

[benyl]

Comfort is subjective. You might have a problem with spending half your income on a car. Some others don't.

[liquid1010]

Originally posted by benyl
Comfort is subjective. You might have a problem with spending half your income on a car. Some others don't.

I don't think that's what he meant. What he means is that too many people right now are leveraged well beyond where they should be. Some people owe money on their house, car, TV, furniture, etc.....

My buddy used to work in Silicon Valley, and told me about the lifestyle people live there. If they can squeeze into the monthly payments, they buy it..... therefore: credit crunch.

BTW... that's a hot car you have for sale :thumbsup:

[SilverRex]

if those number still stand, I guess I was in the top 5% for about 4 months, haha thats when I was holding two jobs :D , it was phun while it lasted.. seeing how rapidly I get to pay off my debts and all of a sudden im in the green.

[Super_Geo]

$89k to be in the top 5%?

I'd like to see what that number is for Alberta. Probably upwards of $120-130... not all provinces can have people who failed out of high school easily pulling in >$100k/year.


Originally posted by SilverRex
seeing how rapidly I get to pay off my debts and all of a sudden im in the green.

In the black, not green ;)

[broken_legs]

:werd:

i think that 89,000 only seems like so little because we are in alberta

Imagine what it is in vancouver or Toronto

[Tik-Tok]

Alberta is probably pushing that number as high as it is, you gotta remember how many places (ie the Atlantic provinces) that $15/hour is a good wage.

[tom_seng]

gah...$15/hr here is min. wage...

chicken on the way is hiring $15/hr....i guess i should moonlight as a "chicken connaisseur"

[sullygully]

$15/hr is considered a good wage in Banff, and the cost of living is higher then Calgary. Firgure that one out

[3SeriesMayo]

I read a stat a little while back...I believe it was in Mcleans, but yes, in Alberta we make way more than this.

I can't remember the exact numbers, but I can give a pretty close estimate.

Anyways it said that the top two cities in Canada for money earners was 1. Ft. Mcmurray ($140,000) and 2. Calgary ($129,000).

So yea, to put it into perspective, 89k is peanuts in Alberta

[blownz]

^ where do you get those numbers??

I just quickly checked Stats Canada and for 04 (I know a few years old, although the same year as the article above) it showed: Fort McMurray $120,100 Calgary $77,800 and Edmonton $75,600

And that is average household income. So often 2 people, not just one person. And Calgary is deifnitely not number 2 in Canada for all cities. There are several other northern ones like Yellowknife that have really high incomes like Fort McMurray.


I just think a lot of people here are delusional if they think 89k is peanuts in Alberta. That is definitely above average for someone to make and I best most people (even on this seemingly rich site) would be happy to make that much.

[SinisterProbeGt]

There are over 200 people in calgary that make over 1 million annually!!
89K is great but over a 125K is better!!
They say an average single family home must make over 100K a year just to stay above the Poverty line!!

[el-nino]

If stats canada is using peoples NOAs to do this stat then this is inacuurate. Most of my friends make over 89k a year but most of them are business owners. To save on tax they pay themselves under 30 grand a year. Making 30 grand a year wont put them in that category, but their accountant would probobly vouch that they do.
I wonder how they got this number? Does anyone know how they came up with that?

[3SeriesMayo]

Originally posted by blownz
^ where do you get those numbers??

I just quickly checked Stats Canada and for 04 (I know a few years old, although the same year as the article above) it showed: Fort McMurray $120,100 Calgary $77,800 and Edmonton $75,600

And that is average household income. So often 2 people, not just one person. And Calgary is deifnitely not number 2 in Canada for all cities. There are several other northern ones like Yellowknife that have really high incomes like Fort McMurray.


I just think a lot of people here are delusional if they think 89k is peanuts in Alberta. That is definitely above average for someone to make and I best most people (even on this seemingly rich site) would be happy to make that much.

Maclean's magazine. Numbers aren't exact but I know Ft. Mcmurray was first and I know Calgary was over 100k. But come to think of it yea I dont think Calgary was second. But in the top 5 list nonetheless. Above any other major city by far

[Xtrema]

Originally posted by SinisterProbeGt
They say an average single family home must make over 100K a year just to stay above the Poverty line!!

No, that's no way the poverty line. I just checked, it's $29K after tax for a family of 4 in 2002. So it may be in the $40K range now but can no where close to $100K.

For $100K, you can support a family of 4, ok. But don't expect to live in luxury.

[BlackArcher101]

Last month the poverty line was at $38K in Calgary. I'll try to find the source again.

[ekguy]

Originally posted by BlackArcher101
Last month the poverty line was at $38K in Calgary. I'll try to find the source again.

thats rediculous. would that be before tax income or take home pay???

[max_boost]

^^

Is that too low or too high?

To feed a family of four with rent + bills, it would be pretty tight.

For a single guy, it would be just fine.

[max_boost]

Originally posted by SinisterProbeGt
There are over 200 people in calgary that make over 1 million annually!!


Around 30 of them are from the Calgary Flames haha

:goflames: :goflames: :goflames:


Originally posted by SinisterProbeGt
They say an average single family home must make over 100K a year just to stay above the Poverty line!!

Just think about that for a moment. Yeah, it's WRONG.

[gpomp]

Source for $38k poverty line for a 4 person family in 2005: cbc (http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/economy/poverty-line.html)


As for the comment about being under the poverty line with $100k...

1,985,270 out of 7,486,160 dual income families made over $100k in 2005. Using your logic and simple math, 73.5% of the people in Alberta are under the poverty line. Do you even read what you post before you click the button? lol

statcan (http://www40.statcan.ca/l01/cst01/famil106a.htm)

[Super_Geo]

Originally posted by gpomp
Source for $38k poverty line for a 4 person family in 2005: cbc (http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/economy/poverty-line.html)

1,985,270 out of 7,486,160 dual income families made over $100k in 2005. Using your logic and simple math, 73.5% of the people in Alberta are under the poverty line. Do you even read what you post before you click the button? lol

statcan (http://www40.statcan.ca/l01/cst01/famil106a.htm)

Using YOUR logic, every dual income family in Canada lives in Alberta... ;)

[BigMass]

Originally posted by SinisterProbeGt
There are over 200 people in calgary that make over 1 million annually!!


rofl that's it? There must be a lot of "creative accounting" going on in this city lol.

[SinisterProbeGt]

Alright I totally was wrong about the Poverty line thing mabye they were saying to Afford a single family home.

[Scope951]

Originally posted by gpomp
Source for $38k poverty line for a 4 person family in 2005: cbc (http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/economy/poverty-line.html)


As for the comment about being under the poverty line with $100k...

1,985,270 out of 7,486,160 dual income families made over $100k in 2005. Using your logic and simple math, 73.5% of the people in Alberta are under the poverty line. Do you even read what you post before you click the button? lol

statcan (http://www40.statcan.ca/l01/cst01/famil106a.htm)

Gpomp you dont have to earn more then poverty... we can work together and earn enough to me happy. I hope I can statisfy you more then any amount of money. Give me a chance!

[broken_legs]

Originally posted by Scope951


... we can work together and earn enough to me happy. I hope I can statisfy you more then any amount of money. Give me a chance!


:rofl:

[Xtrema]

Originally posted by Scope951


Gpomp you dont have to earn more then poverty... we can work together and earn enough to me happy. I hope I can statisfy you more then any amount of money. Give me a chance!

Random owning FTW

[ilinfiniti]

Originally posted by Scope951


Gpomp you dont have to earn more then poverty... we can work together and earn enough to me happy. I hope I can statisfy you more then any amount of money. Give me a chance!


OWNEDDDDDDDDD

[max_boost]

Originally posted by Scope951


Gpomp you dont have to earn more then poverty... we can work together and earn enough to me happy. I hope I can statisfy you more then any amount of money. Give me a chance! hahahaha WTF that came out of nowhere LOL :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: