Oddball fagonomics outlier: Zeke, rich widowed homosexualist.
When his spouse [defined as what, exactly?], Gary, died last year, Zeke was left with two mortgaged houses and some big decisions.
He is living in his weekend home on B.C.’s Sunshine Coast but would like to move back to Vancouver. His city home is pulling in high rent, so Zeke wonders whether he can really afford to live there on his modest publishing-industry salary.
Should he sell the coast home, or can he keep both properties, Zeke wonders? He is uncomfortable with his $535,000 debt load and is striving to pay it off as soon as possible, making extra payments to his mortgages.
Monthly net income (including rent): $7,770.
Assets:
Bank account $75,000
GICs $39,000
RRSP $101,000
Sunshine Coast home [sic] $300,000
Vancouver house [sic] $750,000
Total: $1,265,000.
Monthly disbursements:
Mortgages $3,570
Condo fees, including water, sewer $665
Property tax $475
Home insurance $75
Heat, hydro $150
Maintenance $165
Auto insurance, fuel, maintenance $390
Groceries $640
Clothing, dry cleaning $135
Gifts $20
Charity $20
Vacations and travel $210
Personal $90
Dining out $70
Pet expenses $145 [that’s one expensive pet]
Entertainment, subscriptions $45
Sports, hobbies $85
Dentists, drugstore, vitamins, health, life insurance $105
Telecom, cable, Internet $310
RRSP $100
Other savings $250
Total: $7,715.
Usually it is positively insufferable rich hetero retirees who are featured in this column in the Globe. Their faces are always obscured, and just seeing the photo alongside every installment – without exaggeration – almost makes me ill. I loathe it that much.
Zeke, incidentally, spends like a drunken, widowed, homosexualist sailor.