“Opportunities to find deeper powers within ourselves come when life seems most challenging.”

                       – Joseph Campbell

A lot of people in my social networks have expressed concern over the fact that by the time they are of retirement age they might not have a pension to depend on. I see the governments moves yesterday more as a 25 to 35 year heads up to be prepared for significant changes in the future and to encourage us as a younger demographic to make our decisions and investments accordingly.

The government ride is over

I think its a shame when I hear some of my peers talk about getting a full-time federal government job and they get excited because they think they are “guaranteed” a pension, full-benefits and 6 weeks vacation instead of being excited about the actual work they will be doing. A lot of mid 80’s babies have shielded themselves from the workforce by going into professional fields of focus with a graduate degree. This has been a great strategy for most and has given a lot of people advance opportunities for success.  However in the end experience is the best measure of accomplishment and a lot of young professionals entering into the “real world” will soon see the value in gaining experience over money when it comes to getting hired. Our parents created a system that allowed us to grow up in the most prosperous free and amazing country in the world. The attitude and culture of entitlement we have become accustomed to is not healthy nor deserved.

Thoughts on starting point solutions to overcoming the “shift” challenges

• Create jobs and develop skills not just “wealth” orientated business. According to the globe and mail and statistics Canada. Personal income taxes accounted for $124.5 billion in revenue vs. the 32.4 billion in revenue generated by corporate income taxes. This is a lot of weight on the shoulders of everyday Canadians and because we can not compete on price with global markets we have to capitalize on the value of our expertise, technology and skills. I wish that the recent budget would have gone further in these key investments but for now it is a good start.

• Create better accessibility and subsidies for advance technology across the board. The internet is not cheap, and phone data plans are not cheap. While high gas prices is the main concern of many Canadians most working class/ low income families are just trying to keep up with basic online content to stay informed. I think that basic PHP, HTML computer programing and programs should be rolled out at the elementary school level. If a huge chunk of the economy is moving towards online content then we had better prepare our youth for success and equip them with the skills to excel at a high level at an early age. Just like basic reading, writing and math skills are fundamental I think an understanding of computer language and basic code is something that should not be ignored.