kspaans

16 ms·

121.
by kspaans 10y ago
If you are thinking strictly of investments, using a house as your first may not be the wisest. Portfolio theory suggests that it's not ideal to have lots of your net worth tied up in any single asset or asset class. "Real Estate&
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by kspaans 10y ago
Good point, I was keeping my post short but should have included this! I think I was trying to highlight how expensive the options are, rather than the necessity to exercise them.
123.
by kspaans 10y ago
Knowing the number of options isn't nearly as useful as knowing what percentage of the company you will own. This lets you calculate the various ways the value of your equity will change as the business gets more investment, sells, or
124.
by kspaans 10y ago
Except young Australians, who have to rent and cannot rely on real estate property for their retirement. This is orthogonal to the money laundering, but what's stopping the young people from investing for their retirement
125.
by kspaans 10y ago
From the article: China also has something called “grey” income, which means income earned (or acquired off the books) in China that is not reported on income taxes and that is held by its richest families. If the money can
126.
by kspaans 10y ago
Interesting point on the Vancouver angle: Q: In Canada, where does the money end up and why? A: Vancouver is the preferred destination, by far, because of perceived more relaxed anti-money laundering on-boarding complian
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$2T in Proceeds of Corruption Removed from China and Taken to US, AUS, CAN, NL(antimoneylaunderinglaw.com)
160 points by kspaans 10y ago|164 comments
128.
Greater Fool's Predictions for 2017(greaterfool.ca)
2 points by kspaans 10y ago|0 comments
129.
by kspaans 10y ago
There are two groups of people letting the state government make those promises: citizens, and investors. Citizens and their representatives aren't paying attention, don't care about pension issues, or don't understand them&#
130.
by kspaans 10y ago
Generally speaking, without an IPO, all of the employees that have equity have no way of selling it and cashing out their earnings[0]. And then there is all of the prestige and hype around an IPO (if it goes well). 0 - Sure, sometimes compa
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by kspaans 10y ago
There is! :D http://qz.com/487013/this-game-will-show-you-just-how-foolis... It starts at a random point in the stock market over the last 10 years or so, and you get to sell once and buy once. I tried 3 or 4 times whe
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by kspaans 10y ago
The good ol' market timing strategy. ;)
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by kspaans 10y ago
Public-sector pensions are almost always voted on by elected city council members.
134.
by kspaans 10y ago
Elected City Council members need to be held accountable for what they voted for, that's all. But I agree, "defined benefit" pensions are a thing of the past. There is a good BBC Radio Money Box show about it: http:/&#x
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Down Round for Meal-Kit Company Hello Fresh(bloomberg.com)
3 points by kspaans 10y ago|0 comments
136.
by kspaans 10y ago
Cut down on employment taxes I haven't been able to figure out why employment taxes are paid by the employer and not shown to the employee as yet another deduction on their paycheque. Is it because most employment taxes are c
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by kspaans 10y ago
The main cost is hiring an accountant to do the tax return for you. Or figuring out how to do it yourself using software like TaxTron. Not that I have anything against accountants, but what kind of effort are we talking for filing
138.
by kspaans 10y ago
No, double-tax is when you pay both federal and provincial income tax on the same income. Or when you pay corporate income tax on profits and then pay dividend taxes after that. EDIT: though as a3camero pointed out, you get tax credits fo
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How Immigration Canada and Tax Authorities Have Failed Vancouverites(vancouversun.com)
1 points by kspaans 10y ago|0 comments
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by kspaans 10y ago
You expect to be able to stay in a rental arbitrarily long whenever you sign a rental agreement?
141.
by kspaans 10y ago
Yeah, it's like regulatory capture. The owners in the cities want to keep what they have, and vote for it. I'm sure some of it has to to with propping up house prices, but I don't think all of it does either! It's an int
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by kspaans 10y ago
I'm suspicious of statement [1] given that you know where Golden is and why people would want to live there. ;) I think you're right there is probably isn't a loonie cost to the city that can be recouped with this vacancy tax
143.
by kspaans 10y ago
Maybe it's a larger home (say 5 bedrooms) and it's not near a university or college so students wouldn't want to live there, and the market for huge rentals like that isn't very good. Or maybe the market rent for the typ
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by kspaans 10y ago
Probably VRE. (Disclaimer: I own shares of VRE.)
145.
by kspaans 10y ago
That depends on if you think fairness is the value people get out the services, or the ability of people to pay for those services.
146.
by kspaans 10y ago
Enact a Land Value Tax. In a squeezed market like Vancouver most of the value in houses is the plot of land underneath them, not the "bricks & mortar". By taxing the value of the land rather than the property on top of it you
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by kspaans 10y ago
You pay capital gains tax on all capital assets you sell, with the notable exception of your primary residence. There is no reason to call it a "penalty".
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by kspaans 10y ago
when an earthquake destroys hundreds of billions of property and those mortgages get vaporized. A mortgage is house + land ("real property"), so an earthquake won't necessarily wipe out the value of the underlying a
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by kspaans 10y ago
Cost of living in Toronto is roughly 30% cheaper than SF: https://www.expatistan.com/cost-of-living/comparison/san-fra... ? So a 15-20% salary reduction probably puts you ahead.
150.
by kspaans 10y ago
OMG I sound like a Republican even though I am quite the progressive. No worries, blame Prop 13. ;)

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