This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
Young Australians are losing hope in home ownership and a comfortable retirement, as the cost of living crisis drains their savings and prospects.
According to consumer fintech company Douugh Ltd, while buying a house is still the biggest financial goal for one in three Australians aged 18 to 31, more than a quarter aren’t confident they’ll ever achieve it.
On top of this, at 54% more than half of young Australians are worried they won’t be able to retire comfortably.
The cost of living crisis is the number one challenge facing young Australian’s long-term financial goals and stability, at 67%.
This is followed by a lack of savings, unexpected expenses and living paycheck to paycheck, which each pulled in at 37%.
“The ‘Australian dream’ of home ownership is almost at the point it feels unachievable for a lot of Aussies,” said Andy Taylor, founder and CEO at Douugh.
Taylor noted young Australians are currently dealing with both short-term cost of living challenges and their long-time financial future.
While 86% of young Australians agree that building long-term wealth is important, 91% are currently worried about their financial situation.
While 82% are utilising savings as a wealth-building strategy, 75% have never sought professional help or financial advice, with 61% rating their knowledge of share investing as limited or very limited.
This lack of knowledge is acting as a barrier to investing, with 62% citing not knowing enough about investing, 45% not knowing where to start and 43% working about losing money.
This comes as consumer confidence was this month reported to be at its lowest rate since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the “current financial conditions” category in the ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence Rating falling to its lowest level on record since 2001.
While in the midst of the cost of living crisis Australians renting their homes are feeling the most pressure, with with rental conditions now the “tightest on record”.
