Bequeath his property before his death
One of the very simple solutions to implement is to immediately transfer to our heirs a part of our heritage accumulated on their backs with the unforeseen appreciation of the real estate values of the last pandemic years. It is therefore necessary to review as soon as possible the old concept of giving away one’s property on one’s deathbed. Sharing before death tastes much better and that’s what I’m doing right now with my two daughters. “Dollars won’t follow the hearse,” a savvy person once told me. I took this statement.
Manon Boyer
Salaries are not up to par
I am worried about young people who have enormous difficulty becoming homeowners. The prices of buildings have become so exorbitant that young people are no longer able to access them quickly enough to really benefit from them. Salaries are not up to the expected increases and this is likely to become a major problem. When it takes 20 or 30 years to accumulate the necessary funds to buy a home, that’s problematic. This is not an easy problem to fix.
Pierre Chatelain
Married to iniquity
I am 38 years old. In 1982, when my parents bought a house, the price of three-bedroom single-family homes in Ahuntsic-Cartierville fluctuated between $52,000 and $85,000. Adjust these amounts for inflation over the past 40 years according to Statistics Canada, and prices today would be between $160,000 and $250,000. The current market value is more likely between $600,000 and over $1 million, depending on location. Even though interest rates will have been, for a very short period, close to 20%, it is incomparable. I don’t think we’re flirting with generational inequity, but rather that we married her, and had four children together.
Julien Belanger, Montreal
Offer preferential rates to young people
Who benefits from the current situation? To the financial institutions which, since the increases in the key rate, have been doing business in gold and allowing the leaders to have majestic bonuses. Didn’t Alphonse Desjardins create the caisses to help the population? The Desjardins caisses should set an example for other financial institutions and offer preferential rates to young people buying a new home. And review rates for young people renewing their first home mortgage.
Marc Brosseau
A familiar tune
Nothing new. There will always be intergenerational inequity, because the generations have very different expectations and visions. Our parents knew how to save, wait, and live within their means. We are in the age of the instantaneous and the flashing. Our parents went through recessions, exorbitant interest rates, unemployment, little government support, but they survived. Where is the intergenerational inequity? Each generation has its challenges.
Helene Lamontagne
Unaffordable
When we acquired our townhouse in 1991, mortgage rates were around 18%. It was quite difficult to combine the repayment of the mortgage, the costs of daycare for two children before the CPE, and the rest. But today, housing is really unaffordable and the grocery basket too expensive. I am worried about the younger generation.
Helene Bergeron, 66 years old
Smaller families
No, I’m not worried. It is often mentioned that the next generation will pay for us. We forget that the next generation will inherit from their parents much more than the baby boomers who had less wealthy parents and who separated the inheritance between 8 to 10 children. Today, the inheritance is separated between 2 or 3 children.
Jacques Filion
An imbalance that will last
You don’t have to be an economist or a soothsayer to see and understand all the challenges faced by 24 to 34 year olds. The ability to pay versus the cost of essential needs and goods is no longer there. An imbalance has set in and will continue. The future will depend in part on the ability of seniors to leave substantial assets in order to at least enable the youngest to become homeowners.
Luc C.Legault
Home ownership is unrealistic
I am 30 years old and have a good job thanks to a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. I make a decent living at $80,000 a year. I am worried that I will never be able to buy anything other than a condo, which will put our household in considerable debt (partner teacher). I don’t spend much compared to the world around me. I have the impression that being a landlord is not realistic, unless you hit the lottery or the stock market, or you are a doctor. Our best chance is to move to the region, but unfortunately, we both come from Montreal where our families and friends live. I am sad not to have the chance to own the place where I grew up.
Guillaume Dignard