and that might be the part of the problem with the world's current political climate / landscape

Mainland Europe is kind of vague don't you think? I travel to Rouen France quite often, you at least close to France?

You're right, for raising a family (if income is not an issue) then Van is the best at least for me. For the guy with even a speck of motivation to make dough, sucks balls. Of course there are exceptions but I'm just saying its much easier elsewhere even without networks, why put yourself in a higher chance of failure?

quit your job and be a real man

City in the park?!? That's new to me... I have been away from BC for 3 years... so I need some education on that. :D

I'm looking at a few newer developments near Edmonds Skytrain. IMO the location is great (easy access to Van, Coquitlam, Surrey, Richmond... etc and no hills) and have enough convenience (Metrotown is 5min drive and has everything I can possibly need to buy on a regular basis) and no need for bridge to get to Van.

And price isn't totally outrageous comparing to Van or Metrotown.

I'm just wondering how's the school around that area? considering my son would eventually return to Canada for school, this would probably be the deciding factor.

You sound like a guy that prefers security and clams than to take risks. I can respect that as there's nothing wrong about it. There are a lot of words that you use such as, "its too risky, unless I can secure, there's no way I would take that chance," etc. There are two types of people in this world, employees and employers. Both have their pros and cons.

You see, there's nothing wrong about you staying in Van and being happy as long as you're happy with your wages. My comments were targeted to people who are risk-takers and would prefer to do business than to work for someone. You seem like you're in the right place for what you enjoy; climate, friends and family. Those are the things that I love the most about Van too.

Sometimes moving out of the Country to work is not about wages at all. At times you'll get lower wages like when I first moved back to HK ($7000hkd=$985/month cad) for the first 2 years. It sucked balls but I was able to learn a lot about trading products from China. That experience has helped me start, build and grow my own business 3 years later. I did have some family in HK (which I don't see often) but after rent, expenses, etc I was dead broke in less than 1.5 years, I thought I failed. Who can really blame me with $7000hkd/mth in wages and $3500hkd/mth in rent and that was pretty cheap for even back then. I drained out all the savings I had when I worked in Van. Lost a lot of money in trading stocks too which is what a lot of HKer's do. Looked at my wife (just gf back then) and said, sorry I had to bring you through this. She wouldn't have moved back if it wasn't for me. She hates HK with a passion. She had a higher paying job at Poly-U doing Bio-chem research. I had to borrow money from her just so we could eat together.

So after about 2 years of employment in HK, I decided to stop and take another risk. At that time I was heavily into golf. Although broke, I still managed to golf in China lol, the cheapest of the cheap course (longgang public) for those of you who know it. I decided to just say fuck it, I'm leaving back to Van (which imo is also the best place to golf) for 3 months and I'm going to train for my CGTF certification. I had no intention to teach golf but it was the best way for me to lower my handicap strategically within a very tight time frame. I wanted to get real good at this game and I did. I left my wife in HK to continue to work and I flew back to van and for 3 months, I stayed at my friend's place and drove his car to practice daily. That friend is my best friend, my best man and the godfather of my son.

During the 3 months of training in Van. I had a clear perspective of what I had to do. I needed to go back to HK/China and give it my all. I can't just give up after 2 years and call it quits. I can do better. There's no possible way that I quit taking risk at the age 25. So I passed my CGTF (first in class) and flew right back to HK. Mind you, money was all I cared about during my mid 20's. I didn't have a clue about family as I've lost mine since I had a memory. I couldn't care less where I lived, what I had to do, or how long it took but my goal was set on 1 thing, make boat loads of money or die trying.

I used my experiences, resources, friends, and family, gathered up a small start-up fund (roughly $100k Cad) and opened a factory in Shenzhen China. The rest is history.

Working in another place is about experiencing another culture and having the chance to compare with your own. If you've never lived/worked in another place, then how can you really say that Van is the best? I've lived/worked in 6 different countries since I was born and for my criteria, nothing even comes close to Van.

I think arguing about political issue is lame. People find ways around it. Or better yet, take your money/presence elsewhere.

I don't like Canada's protectionism on their industries one bit. So I don't invest in Canada at all. I invest elsewhere and give back to Canada in form of taxes and my expenses that stimulate Canadian economy, because I love living in Canada. The day that Canada pisses me off with their laws, I'd just move to a country where I find their law and environment suitable.

IMHO, the problem is not about the 1%... the problem is that the remaining 99% want the life of 1% but not willing to sacrifice as much. If one can't determine to do what it takes to become the 1%, then don't complain how 1% and their heirs are taking more and more from them.

My parents are in the 1%... but they didn't simply give me their shit so I can become one... they only taught me how I can become an 1% one day and I am working my ass off to do it. They did help with their knowledge so I didn't have to repeat some of their mistakes... but there is no easy way to reach it unless you win the lottery. Heck, even for that you'd need to buy the fucking ticket in the first place.

I grew up in Van for roughly 13 years and I've also been fortunate enough to live/work around the world. (San Fran, Ojai, Chicago, Van, HK, Shenzhen, Shanghai, France, Reunion Island, and Mauritius). These do not include the places I've traveled to.

Personally, I do not find SoCal way more beautiful and a way better place to live. I've lived in (Ojai Valley) and near So Cal (San Francisco) for 3 years before I went to Van. I do agree they have a way better economy as any other place compared to Van, roughly the same climate, but not a great social scene.

I keep telling myself that Van is the best place on earth because my goal in life is to be able to retire at the age of 35 in Vancouver and raise my family. If that's insecurity to you then we'll agree to disagree.

I think your hold back on Van is because you're not Asian, just an assumption 4444, please don't take offence. As white washed as I am, I'm still very traditionally Chinese. I like my chinese tea, my yum cha, the food, the supermarkets, and sometimes even the Chinese people. For me Van has the best of both worlds. Its gives me the variety of great food (pho, jap, kor, chinese, etc), great cultures mixed together, and best of all, excellent summers for golf and winters for snowboarding, all within an hour drive. Friends I grew up with are still here and are not as complicated as the ones I keep in HK. Simpler place, simpler friends. My family loves it here, my wife's family is here, and basically anywhere else is a better place to live than HK (even if you have money).

you don't have the charming seeds

My sloppy research shows that the 1% starts at roughly $200k annual income pre tax in Canada. If people want to become and live like the 1%, what are you doing now to achieve that goal? Are you making $50k, $100k, $150k? What are your plans to make that other step to put you in a whole new income bracket? And even at $200k, we're just talking about the starting wage, that's like those car commercials that says this new BMW is starting at $29,998. The average 1%er is at roughly $380k. That's the goal to reach if you want to be a 1%er. We haven't even touched the importance of net worth yet. Its pointless if you earn $380k and spend all of it within that year. Sound impossible? Look at all those lottery winners or athletes that go bankrupt.

People just want to get rich but never plan to get rich. They plan about what they'll buy when they do get rich but don't plan the path of how to get rich. Like what Hehe said, you gotta at least buy a lottery ticket in order to have a chance to win. Sadly not a lot of people buy but a lot of people dream about winning.

My separated parents use to be in the top 1% but near went bankrupt after my high school years. Had the opportunity to grow up both rich and poor and has helped motivate my aggressive goals in life. If you've never truly been hungry all your life, would you go and hunt for food?

Making $ is like farming.

you start/own a business plant your seed to the right people grow your reputation whatever business you're in come back and pick the best crops and watch your $$$$$ harvest

Must have sucked to go from rich to poor but it gave you more motivation as you learned about money a lot faster as a young adult. I went from poor up to around gr.10 to reasonably rich growing up. My parents worked 14hour days 7 days a week for 14 years and we didnt have much as they put every spare dollar paying down the business loan. Although I was sad that I never got a PS2 it sure taught me that money isnt easy to get, especially for new immigrants.

If one is gung ho for a salary job with benefits blah blah then they must also face the reality that have to be content with what they have. Salary jobs will never give you the pay growth you need to buy that Ferrari unless you make senior management with stock options, which of course Vancouver lacks.

I travelled a lot (especially the united states) and I too can conclude that Vancouver is the best place for me. I hate the east coast (shit weather, more poverty, toll roads, too far from asia, etc)

Apparently the elementary schools in the area is decent but the high school blows so my relatives plan on sending their child to either moscrop secondary school or private.

Edmonds is a good neighbourhood IMO, away from kingsway street, downtown is 30min via skytrain. Have you looked into brentwood? IMO that has a bit more potential.

its not how much you make its what you keep:bigthumb:

after 2 years, you're still at $0?:rofl:

Wot?

I think we have a new troll in town.

I don't have a job, I have a career - big difference. Notice the word profession, not industry.

don't be a bitch and work for others

be a man and start your own business

I think it's all about personal preference, but know San Fran is not that much like so. Cal.

So. Cal and no. Cal are very different. I wouldn't want to live in no. Cal particularity.

U see, exactly what u have said and what u have done defines Vancouver as not the best place in the world, u want to retire in van, I get that entirely, great place to retire, great place to bring up kids. But could u have retired in van at 35 had u stayed in van for ur career? This is the big difference between having the beauty, cleanliness, safety, and being the best place on earth.

And ur right, I'm not Asian, but I've lived around the world, my partner is Asian (first gen Asian), I have no problem with a multi cultural society, I embrace it. I love the food, I enjoy the culture. I don't enjoy being feeling unwelcome in a country which I have assimilated in (I.e. Richmond), but that's the government's fault, u can't blame the immigrants for taking the path of least resistance (maintaining their Chinese ways in the Chinese dominated parts of the city, that now make up more and more of the city).

Again, for me, it's about being able to have a great profession, a career that I enjoy, daily challenges that make my brain work hard. I didn't have that in Vancouver, I have that now.

And, yes, when I retire at 50 (I'll be financially independent at 41, per my calcs, but figure I will continue working for longer for my own reasons), I'll have a spot in Vancouver, one in so cal, one in Europe, and one in Asia

I've never said Vancouver is bad, it's not. It's just not the whole package, few places are, but also, few places constantly bang on about it with license plates, vancity buzz articles, government ads on the tele, and the zombiesque attitude of its residents.

I'm not even going to bother with u.

Even though u appear to be a troll, this is an amazing piece of advice to ppl. One that needs to be heeded to.

Everyone has the capability to retain 10-50% if their take home. Do that from an early age, retire wealthy, younger, and with greater security (it also eliminates the need to ever own real estate, and is easier when u don't as ur net funds, post rent, will be greater - I could prove this with calcs, but I don't want to, I've already done it for myself, so do it for urselves)

I know how $ works

I know how you're gonna get banned soon.

who cares 99% of the people here are poor and work a job/career

where is the 1%?:heckno:

I have no idea why I will entertain your posts but you sir are an idiot. The 99% are the people I see everyday. I call these people my family and best friends and I care dearly about them. I couldn't seriously care less about entertaining the 1%. If some of my advice/ideas can help motivate even a stranger to see different perspectives, I'm happy, just like how 4444 has helped me find a solution to my current problem thru his constant reminders/facts that renting is better than buying right now in Van. Why does he do it? Because he wants to educate and have some sort of constructive arguments so you can try to prove him wrong. We're all stubborn in a way but its advantageous to see from different angles no matter how smart or dumb you are.

You seem to claim that you're financially successful and sit nicely on the 1% club, does mommy and daddy know you're still on the internet at this time of the night?

Sorry for feeding the troll guys.

4444 isn't even rich why listen to him, he sucks his boss's dick at work to feed his family

He's a 1%'er. This is probably his bulter that is posting on his behalf.

1%'ers dont have time to browse local car forums :lawl: