Two Thousand and Twenty: New Rules for the New Age

Monika Rohlmann is an environmental consultant in Victoria, B.C.

A journalist by trade, Garth Turner is a popular public speaker and
writer on a number of investment topics.

The story line is clear: Archie, Turner’s father, was part of the
last generation to reap the benefits of employee loyalty, home
ownership, and regular savings accounts. Most of us continue to live by
those ideals, but in fact they no longer apply. Employee loyalty is
redundant in a global economy where corporate consolidation and the
bottom line leave no room to reward faithful plebes. Instead, Turner
recommends, we should become “intra-preneurs”—opportunity
inventors within the confines of current jobs.

According to Turner, Canada’s aging population and declining
birthrate means the family homes of suburbia will be abandoned for
easier living in condos and bungalows close to city conveniences. The
traditional savings account is going the way of the record player; there
are new ways to make music and piggy banks are being replaced by stocks,
strips, and bonds. If Canadians fail to grasp the new rules of the 21st
century, Turner warns, there will be a big crash in the stock market and
another nasty depression.

Lucidly written, well-argued, and full of practical advice, Turner’s
book is a welcome sequel to that popular 1990s work, David Chilton’s
The Wealthy Barber. Recommended for amateur and expert investors alike.