Hello Real Estate Investors in Hamilton Ontario!!
As back to school is upon us, I [Erwin] dream about the days our kids go to University, Cherry and I take off for our own vacation, and I’m satisfied in knowing we’ve done everything we could to help them get there. I’ve personally decided that my daughter (aka daddy’s little girl and 20 months old) will live at home and commute to McMaster University to pursue a combined Engineering and MBA degrees.
In my discussion over brunch with my cousin, Cynthia, she said kids can pay their own way through University, like she did. That’s amazing that Cynthia was able to do so but let’s dig into the details.  Her mom worked at McMaster, so Cynthia’s tuition was half price, Cynthia lived at home with her parents, her co-op paid her a very good rate of $18/hour, tuition was $5,000 per year 16 years ago, and the starting salary for a new grad was $35-40k
Fast forward to the present. Â The same program is $12,000 per year, co-op programs pay a pro-rated $40,000 annually which is roughly $20/hour, new graduates still only make $35-40k if they can get a job in their field of study (young peoples’ unemployment is around 25%).
Would it be safe to say university tuition will double again in 18 years? Â While incomes remain the same? Â FYI – student debt in the USA is the number two reason for bankruptcy. So what do we sophisticated parents and investors do about it? Borrow like crazy and then default like some countries do? Lobby the government for more spending on education? 18 years is about the appropriate lead time for the government to do anything. 😉 OR you can do what we’re doing which is taking responsibility for our own futures and buying an investment property for my two month old son. Â Crazy part is we’re not coming out of pocket for the downpayment, but instead we’re refinancing another investment property in our portfolio. I couldn’t recommend enough the same for all of you and we’re here to help when you’re ready!
Thanksgiving Basket Brigade!!!!!
With all the terrible things going on in the world in Syria, Iraq, Turkey, etc… what’s a good Canadian to do? Other than donate (which I did to Red Cross specific to Syria), is to spread the love. Let strangers know that people care and feel great about yourself in doing so. Â I [Erwin] know I feel a great sense of gratitude for all that I have each time we do this type of charity work and seeing the look on people’s faces when the receive food when they would have been without.
Last Christmas, we purchased and sorted groceries for Christmas dinner and delivered them to 34 families, this past Easter we did the same for 75 families.  For this coming Thanksgiving we will double our efforts again to provide for 150 families.
Want to take action and make a difference in peoples’ lives? We want to recruit you because we know, once you’ve participated, you will be hooked on this great feeling you get when making a difference. Â You will make these events: Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Basket Brigades a ritual and invite your friends and family because its FUN and your kids will learn about charity and gratitude.
Save the date Saturday morning of October 10th!! Â Spreading the love and making a difference. For details on how you can contribute please email Maria (at) mrhamilton.ca.
Watch this for Tony Robbin’s story on why he started the basket brigade. Â Spoiler alert: when Tony was a boy, he was the recipient of a Thanksgiving basket turning his worst day into the greatest day of his life.
Happy Real Estate Hamilton Ontario Investing Everyone and we hope to see you Oct 10th!
The Organizing Committee Thanking the Volunteers and Donors
Erwin |Â MrHamilton.ca
