Time for the Baby Boomer to Pay Their Way.....

I think the concern is that after all that, they had to buy in a regional city and commute into Sydney for work.

My parents did well.

Things they were able to do which are not possible now.
- dad got a full time job straight out of school for a government department without a degree
- go back to uni later on for free.
- live a 40min commute from the CBD on 1 income with 2 kids.
- have my mum have 13 years out of the workforce and only return to pay private school fees.
- pay off a 4 bedroom house by their early 40’s.
- do all of this while being in middle management.

On the other hand. By 33 (a few years back for me)
- I had 2 more degrees than my dad.
- has 35 reports in a senior management role.
- had a wife working full time

And i couldn’t purchase the house I grew up in

Not a sop story. I’ve done well with many things.

Just saying it is a different world out there. I worry for my kids.

 

look, I am perfectly aware that there are people earning zillions off instagram, tacky as she is kim Kardashian (amongst her other businesses) makes a mozza off instagram,

it just ruins it for these people when every jane and sally claims to be "influencers" and expects special treatment, when its as simple as posting semi nude photos of themselves

like, you never hear anyone pretending to be a doctor when they're not!

 

Trust me they wouldn’t want to live in Sydney even if it was the same price. He commutes, she doesn’t. His commute is shorter than many who live in Sydney.

And “after all that”... 4 years while they did uni... yeah that’s not too bad in my books. People say it’s unaffordable. No. The standard of living you want is expensive.

 

youve also got to consider its also about expectations and different markets/environments as well,

your dad probably bought an appropriate for his income house with land which ended up being 40 mins from the cbd

fast fwd 30 years, land has become expensive, the CBD is bigger, the city is spread out further, etc. etc.

people on your dads equivalent income for example can now only afford a town house say 50 mins from the CBD.

I know people who grew up on acre blocks, of which now the area, is being subdivided into 200sqm blocks! Imagine they had kept it !

 

yeap. The the cost for shelter has risen dramatically against wages. Many boomers ignore the reality: just work harder/longer etc.

 

3rd generation rule ?
Among wealth advisors, there is a saying: the first generation makes it, the second generation spends it, and the third generation blows it

 

Pity the millenials, the Boomers made it, Gen X spent it, Gen Y blew it and the millenials are out on the street. No wonder they're p!55ed, there's nothin left for them.

 

It sounds like everyone is missing the point and or didn’t read the article as it’s turned into a boomer vs millennial bashing.

The article was actually about the growing ageing population, that is basically increasingly becoming a financial burden and will have to be paid for by next Generations.

Can we discuss this point?

I would also add, younger or older having OS holidays every year SHOULD happen, why not? We have planes FFS, there’s a big world to see and maybe if you got out and seen a little more of it some perspectives would change.

 

I'm curious to know more about this - is it not just the phasing of income generation and an argument for "area under the curve" in regards to wealth generation?

In simple terms your parents started earning higher income earlier and therefore that afforded them an easier ride, whereas due to the lead time on converting higher qualification to income (and subsequent wealth) generation you've had to wait longer but presumably you'll have huge upside in later years?

 

Wrong!!!

What about avocados?

 

It's becoming an issue because retirees have been given obscene tax treatment vs. employed or unemployed individuals. Everyone knows this BUT the only parties that have any hope in changing it, The Liberals and Nationals, won't ...because electoral suicide. Please note that I didn't say Labor, because the LNP would use any attempt to fix their mess to get the grey vote all cranky. Nothing gets a retiree more angry and animated than trying to cut back on their grey welfare.

 

This problem has been heading our way for the last 70 years, since the end of WW2.

It so disappointing that so few people including many Governments have done so little over the last 70 years to avert the problem. Everyone should have realised the longer they delay, the more severe the solution will be.

If the world struggled to avert this relatively simple issue, I don’t hold much hope for climate change .

 

That statement has been around for generations!

 

The elderly of today spent their youths and middle-aged years entrenched in a rapid-growth era. The younger generation now live in the post-GFC era. Young people are looking at an increasingly uncertain future as the labour force has become casualised and contracts based. More education is required for jobs these days and there is a lot more competition. Stable government jobs that were once attained straight out of high school now have hundreds of applicants. If you work hard you will be successful. However, young people feel as though they don't have the same opportunities.

Take a traditional middle class job like accounting as an example. The future demand for accountants is unclear. The accounting sector is experiencing rapid technological change and routine tasks are being automated. Accounting firms are also offshoring basic accounting work which would, in the past, have been undertaken by graduates.

 

Gen Y are Millenials.

 

Must be another tax going through as this is just another diversion tactic

Foresight and planning is shown daily (by members here)
Many other people have had foresight (grey nomads)

Yes the aging population is a challenge
It's not really a crisis, more a shortfall until superanuation kicks in (20 year gap)

The government knew, they introduced the aged pension in 1908, how did they intend to pay for it back then ?
Further, the Commonwealth Superannuation Scheme for govenment employee's was formalized in 1976 (15 years prior to the rest of us)

Modern compulsory superannuation didn't start until 1992
So a person born in 1972 who starts work in 1992 isn't entitled to the pension until 67yo in 2039 (if govco don't increase it to 70 as previously planned)

Sure it isn't perfect
There is still a LOT of "if's" though
Mostly "if" only, I had more money "I" could.......

How many people who claimed their superannuation due to the hardship clause have started to return the claimed amount when times improved ?

 

Not me! I took my paltry $5k and ran, sometime back in my 20's. I still don't have any Super, but I wont be drawing a pension, though.

 

Maybe true in some instances....

But on the other side of the coin...I have heard Baby Boomer who have made poor financial decisions....complain that the current assets test is too low.....

Whilst I agree some the younger crowd have a sense of entitlement...so do a lot of Baby Boomers. Also ...BBers are also getting a lot of the benefits of the flexibility of jobs because Gen-Y and Gen-X insisted on them like working from home.....career breaks...

 

Due to the number of people killed during WW2, Governments around the world encouraged people to have babies and lots of them.

They knew how many babies were born each year and that, in 65 to 70 years time (that is, around now), the world would have a massive ageing population.

Unfortunately, the world did very little to avert the problem.

I personally was well aware of the issue when I started work in 1977 (40+ years ago). I was told back then that it was very unlikely that the Government could afford the pay me the Aged Pension when I reach retirement due to the number of people borne during the post-war baby boom.

I spent a life-time setting my self up to fund my retirement.

It is disappointing (to say the least) that a lot of my brothers and sisters didn’t heed the warning and did something similar to myself. For some of them, it is too late to start now.

 

Never happens to me and all the government sent me was a seniors business card a short time ago and that's worth sfa..Just buy yourself a Ramones t shirt next time while standing in the checkout works for me ..