Do you have any sympathy for older people still renting?

I wonder if it gets harder to find a place to rent when people get older ?
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Of course I have sympathy. Not everyone in this world has had a perfect run at life, whether it be circumstances of upbringing, health, divorce, disabilty etc. For many, renting for life is the only option and to look down on people who dont own is ludicrous

 

No. Oldies are great tenants.

 

HECS and PELS. It is ridiculous that anyone now would pay up front for uni.

 

Sympathy is not the right word.
People do what they do, everyone's got a different situation.

 

We have some close friends, a couple, who have made a clear decision to rent until they die. They made a conscious decision to spend their income on a high standard of living, he drives a Porsche, they enjoy luxury holidays. They have no debt, and no savings, spending everything they earn. They have loooong careers as public servants and will have healthy super to retire on. Although this is not my strategy, who am I to judge another? They are happy, and it's their life, not mine.

Although I'd prefer to own my own home outright and control a healthy portfolio of IPs to support a great lifestyle, renting isn't evil nor something to feel sympathy for. When it comes down to it, with few tragic exceptions, it is generally a personal choice.

 

We're going to face the same situation soon, when the farm settles in 10 months ... do we rent and invest the $$ - or do we buy.

I personally think we'll buy with no mortgage - after paying out the mortgages on the IPs - as we've always found we make more money by buying, tarting the place up and selling than any other investment form ...

... I also like the idea of a secure base to end up when we get old and decrepit, without having to worry about landlords and rent (even if it's rented out in the meantime)

 

Of course I have sympathy. Everyone makes mistakes. There are some that couldn't look beyond the next week but I'm sure there are many where life just didn't go as planned.

 

Depends 100% on the scenario.
People who lived to their income their entire lives? Not really.
People who are renting due to events beyond their control (illness, death, etc), sure.

Personally I currently rent & own elsewhere and I would happily keep up this arrangement forever but I suspect my partner will eventually want us to own something.

 

I think yes and no.

I think that there are sometimes circumstances that prevent people from ever purchasing their home or making 'good' financial decisions in life and this is complex and can't be solved with a simple yes or no. There can be extenuating circumstances and for those people I absolutely do feel sorry and my heart goes out to them.

Other people make conscious decisions to prioritize other needs/wants - such as everyday luxuries, overseas travel etc. If that is what they prioritize for 30years then when it comes to retirement and they are still renting I don't feel sorry for them because they made choices and decisions based on what was important for them.

 

Agree with you Jkat.
Older people are so varied. Some are grey nomads enjoying their lives. Older people sail Yachts. Others live in bungalows with mental illness or some bad life experience that killed them financially. It's strange to suggest renting is somehow living life as a second hand citizen. Buying property is not always what people want.

 

I've noticed a very definite trend of people in retirement between those who retire comfortably and those who struggle.

Almost all those who do well own their own home by retirement. Those who are always short on money and have a restricted lifestyle almost universally rent.

There are exceptions of course. Plenty of people own their own home but still lead very restricted lifestyles, in fact this is the common scenario. They do still tend to be in a better position than those who are renting. Very few renters have the lifestyle they want but the few who do made their decisions and executed an alternate plan.

 

life often goes the way that we did not plan, some ppl are fortunate to get to where they planned to, some aren't.

so many things can put ppl out of their plan. maybe many of these older ppl who are still renting are members of PC previously, they might have ambitious plans like many PCers have now.

would like to see these ppl having decent lives regardless what they have done in their younger years. Don't want to see a polarised society, it may not be good for any of us.

 

Many of those that rent and are over 40 are the result of divorce or separation , for many on lower incomes there is not enough left after the divorce to buy another place and their single incomes dont allow them to get another loan, especially if they are paying maintenance or raising kids with little support.

 

Depends if theyre happy with it or not!

and if theyre not, then are they renting because they lived for the moment, and are still alive when they thought theyd die young while living life like its your last day

Some people have a lot of bad luck or series of events that have made them financially unstable, which I give full sympathy for

 

I have more sympathy for people who can't look outside the sphere of their own experiences to see that not only is home ownership not for everyone, but simply isn't within reach of everyone. There are people who will never have enough financial resources to own. Why judge them?

Anyway, it's St. Paddy's day people. Go have a beer.

 

Without knowing their circumstances for how they arrived at retirement and having to rent - could not make a judgement. Many people simply have bad luck and can lose everything at any time.
Having said that; if I knew they arrived there through poor money management and poor lifestyle choices, and they were then complaining about their "lot" - then not much sympathy.

 

I do judge those who i see over 50yo going on 10 holidays a year etc AND then complain about how expensive house prices are and how we should be sympathetic to them because they are renting !

I never tell those at work i fully own City apartments now because it comes back on you !

 

For the most part, people in Australia are the result of the decisions they make. A series of good decisions can put most people into a great position and if you make several bad decisions you'll probably end up in a bad place.

I've known people who worked hard all their lives, bought a house, paid it off but then lost it in a divorce and never recovered financially. You could argue they did everything right, but married the wrong person, or didn't put the right effort into maintaining their marriage. Their decision decades before lead to an unhappy ending.

There was one couple who was doing fine, about to own their own home outright. Their close friends died and they raised the surviving children which cost them dearly at a time in life they thought the were pretty much where they needed to be. You could argue that this was outside of their control and they were doing the honourable thing for their deceased friends. Somehow though, I'm willing to bet that they still made a few bad decisions which led to them to loosing their house, I don't know the whole story.

I've met the (single) woman with 7 kids to 4 fathers, trying to buy a house on child allowances and the good will of two of the fathers. She was a good mum and working hard for her kids, they were all very nice. She could have also made a decision that she can't financially support 7 kids and stopping at 2 would have put her in a better financial position.

None of these examples were taking holidays or living extravagantly, they were mostly struggling from one day to the next.

Good people make lousy decisions all the time and it affects the rest of their lives. The sad thing is that many of these decisions are fairly easy to spot, even in the moment. People just tend not to think about consequences too much.

 

Luck plays it’s part, from there it’s dependant on lots of small decisions over a life time leading to unintended consequences.

We haven’t had a recession since 1990-91.

Most young people born in Australia today have won the lottery when you consider 9 million children worldwide die each year before the age of 5.