September 2017 – Month 52 in Alberta
Outsmarting the banks hell-bent on stopping risk takers such as investors, volatile high-income employees, and entrepreneurs. Shielding the fruits of my labour from the government that gives it to people empty of ambition, who do not work much. Tasting my blood, sweat, and tears for up to 16 hours a day in the 3x celsius heat. Going to the gym every other day to perform entire body strength training to freshen and strengthen the mind and muscles, for life’s battles. Not forgetting about the battle against the Old Money and Wealthy Immigrant and Foreign Money offspring competition back home. These are the battles I currently face during these last days of summer, and a considerable amount of energy is spent in my spare time attempting to plan new strategies to win them.
While I’ve given up on any realistic prospect to hit $110,000 income by year end- the on-paper amount required to close on my new property upon completion so I can continue to grow my real estate portfolio, now my attention has turned into finding (legal) strategies to get around the financial system that has put up such a stiff barrier into furthering my financial goals.
The economic slowdown in road construction and oilfield industry has introduced an abundance of cheap labour willing to work more for less, decreasing the current labour’s earning power, and profitability for our companies.
The Bank of Canada, quoting “strong employment statistics” (though non-reflective of true employment market conditions), has hiked interest rates twice this year – directly dampening the ability to acquire more real estate, and economic growth – the latter which is the prime objective of such a move, in fear of the economy overheating. Economic growth is usually measured by unemployment rate and GDP. Unemployment rates are misleading, as many disgruntled employees leave their field(s) of practice, or drop out of the workforce altogether. Given a consistent numerator, a lower denominator produces an overall lower percentage.
Employers are taking advantage of the abundance of cheap labour – those just grateful to have a job- who are more than willing to work more for less – and shun the others that seek their worth and aiming to further self-development. For a given employment budget, they now hire more workers and pay each less, and give less work to each – as long as the workers are securing enough quantities of work to fit full-time employee definitions. This move also nets a tax break from the government to employ more people, as the government likes to bloat their employment statistics and make it look like everyone is doing better on paper.
Credential inflation and the masses who will take anything just to work their comfortable office job in only their field of interest – many who are seeking a white-collar career and university degree only to satisfy their families makeshift religion of white-collar, university-educated people being a superior race – have also dampened employment opportunities in some fields, and worsened their economic conditions.
The government, financial system, and the general public shuns risk takers and others looking to better themselves, and idealizes a long-term indebted, working-for-someone-else philosophy of life. The credit system is designed to favour the salaried employee and punish the risk taker in the form of the investor, business owner, or high but volatile income employment. Though the latter receives more favourable tax treatment as an incentive to take risk and nets more cash in their pockets at day’s end, the banks punish them by using any tax write-off against them – while employees also incur some expenses, but none are worked against them. In the credit-obtaining process for them, Line 150 – Net Income – is used from the last two Tax Return Notice of Assessments, and then averaged. Any business or investment expense is deducted from this number – not to mentioned earnings today, take two years to take full effect, due to the 2-year averaging process. Lenders frequently will also deduct numerous aspects of one’s income and thus reducing Line 150 for their purposes, depending on what they deem earned income. Conversely, a salaried employee only requires a Letter of Employment and non-probation status (usually >=3 months with the current employer), and the whole of their employment income is useable. Increased interest rates also make it harder for them to acquire more credit, due to increased debt cost. The banks also love to pass them onto the borrower – sometimes with an additional premium.
The average employee also climbs the income ladder very slowly and likely does not make much money, so he/she is an ideal candidate for long-term debt enslavement – makes enough consistently to service debts, but not enough to escape. This employee also molds perfectly in the typical social fabric to make others happy. The average person seeks social acceptance, and will behave financially in a manner that obtains it. Thus, the masses will spend and gladly allow the financial institutions and employers to chain them by the necks to keep each other happy. Higher interest rates just makes it even harder for the indebted public to escape the debt cycle, and hinders economic opportunities as businesses’ borrowing costs to grow are increased, and such characteristics are passed down to the employee.
Not only with strict political and financial rationale the government and financial institutions desire an employee and indebted public that makes little money, but they also have a psychological rationale – the hate for risk takers and other people who make money- especially the ones who make money fast. The average employee in the government and financial institutions is someone who once got a university degree bought by Mom and Dad, then got an office job, and took many years to reach an acceptable salary and asset portfolio. Because they took so long to get what they want, they believe everyone else should as well. They also think because they went to school, they know more than you, and that they are always right. Because they were lazy and lacked ambition to seek harder what they wanted and take the risks to get ahead, they wanted to punish the others who were more efficient with their resources – namely money and time, which are coincidently positive correlated.
The Alberta experience to me has not only been valuable in the form of job experience from the oilfield and road construction industries, but also the experience I’ve gained during my battles against the financial system and bitching to jealous bankers who think they know more than you. I have learned a lot beyond anything that’d be seen on a resume.
Over the years I’ve realized that the government, financial system, and competitors with access to the bank of Mom and Dad – especially those coming from Old Money or Wealthy Immigrant and Foreign Money, are to be my greatest enemies, and even more so as I climb the social ladder. The mountain gets steeper as I scale up, and if a rock is hurled at me and knocks me down, the harder I fall. At first in Alberta securing high-paying employment has been the first struggle, then standing my ground against the jealous and competing employees willing to work more for less in a recessionary environment the second, and acquiring the first home and rigorously defending my funds to acquire it, the third. As time has passed, the government punishes my incentive with increasing marginal taxation, and the financial institutions works even harder to dampen my rapid gains. Now my current greatest struggle in the intermediate term will be to defeat the financial system by finding holes I can exploit – working against time to lessen the opportunity cost of lost income and before even more regulations and interest rate hikes are put in place to stop me dead in my tracks. Like a martial arts match, the opponent will eventually leave gaps in the defence.
I’m also fighting against time – as my main advantage over the competition is my youth and physical and mental strength to endure hardships they cannot. This is of uttermost importance against the white-collar, Old Money and Wealthy Immigrant and Foreign Money offspring back home and other similar competition – as though they started the career ladder a lot more behind while I rapidly increased my earning power and experience, they are gradually climbing, and my time advantage is gradually diminishing with less to learn and the hitting my income ceiling.
