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Name, age: Charlize, 46
Annual income: $66,372
Debt: $12,100 in student debt, $11,433 credit card debt
Savings: $0
What she does: Ontario public servant
Where she lives: A city in the Niagara Region
Top financial concern: “My credit card bills. I’d need a considerable jump in the salary ladder to eat into that. I’ll be 60 and still paying it.”
Charlize went to high school and university in the Niagara Region, but hopped on a plane to Asia on the day she graduated.
She had no trouble finding work as a teacher and photographer during her 12 years there, so it was a shock when she moved back to Ontario in 2018 and struggled to get a job.
“It was really humbling and took a toll on me psychologically and emotionally,” said Charlize, who was unemployed for all of 2019. “It definitely took away some of the mojo I thought I had.”
Before the year of unemployment, she briefly worked in education, but that ended suddenly when she was wrongfully dismissed, a case in which she later received a settlement.
She believes it was because she is transgender. She said the combination of being trans and not having Canadian work experience made her job search difficult.
“I didn’t just need to meet the minimum qualifications, I had to exceed them,” she said.
She’s now working in a permanent government job and feels more secure than she has in years. Charlize likes the work environment, but feels “grossly overqualified” and as a result, underpaid.
According to Canada’s Labour Market Information Council, transgender workers face heightened levels of workplace harassment and discrimination, substantially lower average earnings and elevated rates of poverty and unemployment.
“When everyone else is walking, trans and queer people need to run,” Charlize said.
Her next big challenge is getting a handle on her credit card debt, which she’s been slowly repaying. The struggles she faced getting a credit card and a line of credit after living outside of Canada have left her unwilling to consider bankruptcy.
She’s also afraid that a bankruptcy would make it tough for her to secure a new home if she were evicted from her current place – a one-bedroom in a low-rise apartment building with affordable rent.
Her plan for the coming decades is to work for the government until she is eligible for a full pension, which will be sometime in her sixties. She may get a second job until she pays off her credit card debt.
After that, she plans to retire in a city she’s always loved on the island of Borneo in Malaysia, where living costs are low and her pension income will stretch much further.
“I have travelled all over Asia and it is by far the best place on the planet,” she said. “I won’t have to struggle like I have seen my grandmother struggle. With my [Canada Pension Plan] and [Ontario Public Service] pension, I will be living like a queen.”
Her typical monthly expenses:
Investment and savings: $0
Servicing debt: $700
$300 to student debt
$400 to credit card debt. “Plus any extra money left over that month.”
Household and transportation: $2,207
$1,392 to rent.
$47 on renters’ insurance
$96 on utilities. “Water heater and electricity. I do not have to pay for water.”
$165 on parking spaces. “$115 for work, $50 for at home.”
$100 for gasoline
$0 for car payment. “I paid for my car with my savings.”
$166 for car repairs. “It is my biggest liability. A lot of repairs keep coming up.”
$165 on cellphone
$76 on internet
Food and drink: $370
$350 on groceries. “I splurge a little more on food than other things.”
$20 at coffee shops
Miscellaneous: $964
$754 to income tax
$74 to union dues
$25 on cannabis
$20 on Netflix
$12 on Apple TV+. “I used to have Audible too but I can’t afford that right now.”
$4 on haircuts. “I spent $50 yearly.”
$17 on cosmetics
$50 on glasses
$8 on over-the-counter medication
Some details may be changed to protect the privacy of the person profiled. We want to thank them for sharing their story. Are you a millennial who would like to participate in a paycheque profile? Send us an e-mail.
