For Canadians to have fared better than Americans is a bit unusual after a decade in which the U.S. economy and Americans' incomes have outstripped ours by a wide margin. Let's take a look at the kind of assets we hold. Next in the family nest egg is the money saved through personal life insurance and pension plans. At 23 per cent of total assets, this kind of saving is about twice as important to Canadians as it was in 1975 when it accounted for 12 per cent of assets. That reflects the proliferation of employer pension plans during that period.
Stocks rank only third in importance.
From the seventies through to 1992, stocks represented only about 11 per cent of household assets. By last year, they were up to almost 16 per cent. Next on the list are deposits, boring old cash sitting mainly in banks. Deposits account for about 15 per cent of household assets, down a bit from peaks of around 18 per cent during periods when interest rates were high. At the bottom of the heap are bonds and treasury bills, which accounted for about 10 per cent of personal assets in 1961, but only 2 per cent today.