BCBusiness

34 BCBUSINESS JUNE 2017 SOURCE: ENVIRONICS ANALYTICS, WEALTHSCAPES 2016 higher than Toronto's and considerably lower than Calgary's ($427,000), in spite of the likeli- hood that there are some real estate pro•ts tucked into those investments. A closer look at the dierent kinds of wealth in B.C.'s major urban centres shows the same pattern. There are unexpected patches of pros- perity tucked among the Lower Mainland sub- urbs and Island or Interior cities. The residents of certain Metro Vancouver cities, along with a few posh suburbs around Victoria, appear to be the wealthiest: West Vancouver, North Vancouver and Oak Bay lead, with Vancouver and Richmond not too far behind. West and North Vancouver— the region's executive suburbs—maintain their ranking, no matter how the lists are sorted. But households in Delta, Port Moody, White Rock and Langley have as much or more in assets as those in Vancouver and Richmond. When it comes to areas with the largest val- ues in employer-supported pensions, the ranking changes again. On top: Central Saanich, a small but well-to-do community near Victoria where provincial civil servants like to retire; Comox, in mid–Vancouver Island; and Colwood, another Victoria suburb. It adds up to a funhouse picture of house- hold wealth in B.C., where income, real estate equity, pension security and total assets are sometimes wildly out of alignment. People may have high incomes and high savings, but nothing in real estate or pensions. Or they have modest incomes, but healthy pensions and reasonable slush piles of investment money. The result is groups of people who feel poor but aren't really or feel rich who aren't really, or those who feel both rich and not rich at the same time. It's a phenomenon that produces psychologi- cal stresses for the rich-but-seem-poor crowd and dangerous invitations to overspend for the modest-but-suddenly-rich cohort. The group that feels shut out of the real estate market will feel resentful and cheated for a long time, says David Hardisty, an assistant professor at UBC's Sauder School of Business. "A lot depends on what you grew up with and what you expect. If you grew up where everyone bought a single- family house, that's your reference point," explains Hardisty, who studies consumer behav- iour (especially the way we fool ourselves about how we spend money). "In Vancouver, you're below your reference point, and so you'll feel you're not very well o." That's hard on the human psyche. "We hate being in the negative; we hate being behind," Hardisty says. That doesn't go away, he adds. Although people adapt quickly to improved •nances, soon forgetting where they were before, those who feel like they've lost out don't adjust. The sense of being impoverished, even if your household is pulling in $150,000 a year, also acts as a brake on other spending. "If you feel like you're below your reference point, you will be more careful in saving up," Hardisty notes. That's certainly true for Nels and Tila Anderson as they navigate carefully among all their household expenses. "I can't remember the last time we went on vacation," says Nels, who does some of the childcare for their two- year-old as they try to keep those potentially sky- high costs to a minimum. Their furnishings are $1,200,000 – $900,000 – $600,000 – $300,000 – -$300,000 – $0 – Vancouverites can thank property values for putting them first in 2015 for household net worth–and debt Toronto Montreal Vancouver Ottawa Calgary Edmonton Quebec City Winnipeg Saskatoon Liquid assets Real estate Employer pension plans Debt "A lot depends on what you grew up with and what you expect. If you grew up where everyone bought a single-family house, that's your reference point. In Vancouver, you're below your reference point, and so you'll feel you're not very well off" ++ DAV I D H A R D I S T Y, SAU D E R S C H O O L O F BUS I N E S S, U B C

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