With three generations in a two -story duplex in Calgary, Alberta, the kitchen is often chaotic and overcrowded.
NGA Nguyen, the family's matriarch, is the first to wake up. She begins to prepare a traditional Vietnamese breakfast from fried rice and pho around 7 a.m., and soon her granddaughter Morgan Nguyen Bathe Bathe Bathe. When the food is ready, Ms. Nguyen's son Dai Nguyen and his partner Herlina Siagan help to feed Morgan.
On the upper floor, Ms. Nguyen's daughter, Thao Nguyen Bethen, and Josh Betle, son -in -law, are ready for work and school day. In the meantime, Nghia Nguyen, Ms. Nguyen's husband, begins his morning more relaxed and bridges coffee before leaving to play tennis. The two tiny dogs of the family, Tyson and Lucky take part in the breakfast celebrations by expecting pets and table errors.
The Nguyens have been living together since 2019, and Ms. Siangan (31) will compete in February. Your life agreement offers space, homemade meals and a steady electricity of camaraderie for all seven aged 6 to 65 years.
Ms. Nguyen Betettle, 33, was the first of her family to Canada in 2011. Without bundling common assets and a cheaper housing market, buying for $ 440,000 in 2019 would have been more difficult, she said. And they still did it by successfully shaping financial responsibility.
“Of course it is that we stay together, right? Because we support each other,” said Ms. Nguyen Bethenle. “And definitely the other side is the financial advantage,” she added.
Generations living living agreements and co-home owners are rapidly growing residential trends in Canada. According to a new government report in which census data analyzed in 2021, there are 7.1 million Canadians, almost 20 percent of the population living in households between the generations. According to a report over 2022, the number of households between the generations in Canada rose by 45 percent over 20 years. The government encourages such agreements and offers a tax credit of up to $ 50,000 Canadian dollars (approx. 35,800 US dollars) for renovation work on multi -fermentation houses that accommodate the residents aged 65 and over.
It is a practical and creative alternative to an always unaffordable housing market in Canada. According to Canadian Real Estate Association, the average home price in August was 664,078 Canadian dollars (616,686 Canadian dollars in Calgary).
“When my children told me they wanted to buy a larger house, I immediately supported them,” said Ms. Nguyen in an e -mail. “Happy because I saw how my children thought about such great things, but worried about whether they could afford it.”
Andy Yan, the director of the City program at Simon Fraser University near Vancouver, said that the living documents between the generations for East Asian, South Asian and indigenous households in Canada were historically popular.
“From this perspective of the core family and the household with several knowledge, some can be seen as a failure to start, but in other cultures it is a basis for being successful,” he said.
In order to maintain their life agreement, the Nguyens provide every adult family member to one or more of the monthly issues – including the mortgage, the family plan for telephone bill and food. It is a financial formula that has been recorded in a pandemic in a pandemic, the loss of Ms. Nguyen (she is currently enrolled at the legal faculty of the University of Calgary) and unexpected expenses such as Lucky's $ 10,000 Canada emergency procedures.
Life between the generations made it possible to save 50 percent of its 90,000 Canadian dollar. Mr. Betle save 1,000 Canadian dollars a month and pays off student loans; And Ms. Nguyen Bethen to make the 18,000 tuition fees for Canadian dollars comfortably (with the support of student loans).
Nghia admitted that he had never imagined living with his two adult children during his retirement years, but said in an e -mail that he currently “lives very happy”.
Share of expenses and 3-D printer
The parents of the siblings take two of the five bedrooms in the house. Nghia occupies a room on the upper floor and Ms. Nguyen sleeps separately in the basement in a room that the former owners had used as a hairdressing salon. None of the grandparents pays rent, said Ms. Nguyen Bethenle, because they may have imposed us for 30 years. “
Ms. Nguyen's financial contribution to the household buys the food from which she buys the majority on the nearby food market in Hong Kong, where she works as a cashier. “I'm a mother,” wrote Ms. Nguyen. “This year I am 56 years old, still healthy and still work on earning money for my life and my family.”
The mortgage with $ 2,100 canadically per month (approx. $ 1,500) is usually almost evenly divided between Mr. Betle, Ms. Nguyen Bethen and DAI, although Dai covers the section of his sister to the graduates of the law study.
Mr. Betle, 37, a representative of the wholesale account, takes care of the vehicle insurance and the gas for the two vehicles. Ms. Nguyen Betettle, who, together with her husband, deserves rental income from a town house in Calgary you own, pays property taxes for both houses. The couple shares the service programs and the Netflix account. DAI, a software engineer at the same company as Mr. Betle, is responsible for house insurance, the Internet and the family telephone plan.
Despite the differences in the contributions to household costs, the family shares everything: the food that van bought Ms. Siagan, and especially the 3-D printer in the basement, with which they create Dollhouse furniture for Morgan and parts to repair items around the house. Regardless of whether you are in a restaurant or in a supermarket, paying is a privilege.
“Sometimes it is a competition,” said Mr. Betle. “I will release my credit card to pay, but whoever is closest to the cashier will beat me.”
If there is an argument, financial or daily nuisance, it will sit down and address it immediately. What the situation works financially is the same aspect that could make it fragile. The family has neither a legally binding contract for their agreement, nor is there an official agreement if there was death, divorce, discharge or failure.
“If we have things in writing like a contract, we do not have it because I think we only have our trust,” said Dai, 30. “The moment when she breaks and you need a contract, I don't think it will work.”
Not every family works under the same cohesion as the Nguyen household and Betle, said Lisa Laredo, lawyer in Toronto. Ms. Laredo recommends an honest and realistic conversation before concluding a real estate contract with family members.
“You have to think about all the eventualities of this situation,” she said. “Well, you know, 'I'm getting sick, my grandparents get sick, my parents get sick. Can we and how long we can make sure that we can maintain this house?' How does that look? “
If a household between the generations concludes in a legal agreement, Ms. Laredo advises to design a contract that resembles a contractor's contract and checked this by a reputable lawyer and accountant. From the department of the title to the official procedure, if a tenant has to leave the agreement – the capital profits or considerations of the lawyers could include. The contract also offers protection and consequences.
“I also think that you have to remember that you can't just turn around as soon as you all live together because you are angry,” said Ms. Laredo. “It doesn't work that way, you're established now.”
A time to separate
Nghia did not slow down life in retirement. If at all, it increased the quality of life.
After the daily morning tennis in the summer months, he spent the afternoons in the nearby public pool – a hobby that he picked up three years ago. At home, Nghia, who worked as a telecommunications technician at an electrical company in Vietnam, plays with Morgan and works on improving his English in 2017.
Although he is satisfied with this current setup, he feels that it has an expiry date.
“I think our family can't live together forever,” wrote Nghia. “There will be a time when we have to separate and live independently if the number of people in the family increases to a certain level.”
Morgan started the first class this year and one day she was able to become a big sister. There is no office in the current house and the need for more square meters becomes a higher priority when Ms. Nguyen Bethenle begins to practice lawyer. A new residence can also be useful for DAI, especially if he and Ms. Siangan want to expand their family one day.
There is also father. While Ms. Nguyen is a relatively young grandmother and Nghia is currently in a good physical relationship, people and a large house with stairs who one day have to give way to a facility for supported lifespan.
The next step has not yet been discussed in the household of Nguyen and Betle. But when Dai imagines the future, there is only one certainty: his parents will either live with him or his sister. The rest?
“We will see a future in which we have just divided into two different families,” said Dai. “It's pretty easy if you think about it, we only get a new house and we just visit each other.”
Until then, there is much more morning with lively cuisine and a Vietnamese breakfast.