Boomers Bite Back: “No Whining Millennial is Going to Drive Me From My Castle”
One suggestion last week certainly put the cat amongst the pigeons. It was that Baby Boomers are 'selfishly' hanging onto their spacious well-located homes and not retiring to the coast anymore.
Your comments didn't hold back about the sacrifices you'd made to get there, and no amount of 'guilt-tripping' would get you out.
But with the buzzwords of 'intergenerational wealth transfer' unlikely to go away, stay tuned for more fireworks.
Last week's story, see here, raised the issues of an undersupply of family homes in better suburbs caused by the usually older occupants staying put.
It comes as another report highlights, read here, the widening gap between the older and younger generations not just in housing but by a range of other measures such as health, education, and the environment.
The Australian Actuaries Intergenerational Equity Index (AAIEI) says while the so-called 'equity gap' between our generations might have closed slightly after COVID, any gains for young people would only be temporary.
The actuaries, the well-paid maths whizzes who rate risk for insurance companies, track how wealth and wellbeing for different generations change over time and usually highlight the difference between older and younger Australians is getting larger.
Like it or not, it's an issue that isn't going to go away, and I'd suggest if we FiftyUps don't make some moves to help address this, other people (i.e. politicians) may do it for us.
It brings us back to just one of these areas: your comments on housing and what it took for different generations to get a property toe-hold.
Someone from QLD commented:
Absolutely not! They have worked hard for everything they have and did it hard early in life. As a family of 6, we lived in a 3 bedroom home with one bathroom, not unusual for our generation. That would be a very unusual situation for young families today.
Paula from NSW commented:
My husband took on 3 extra jobs in order for us to save a deposit for a block of land that we paid off. We didn't eat out or buy anything we didn't need. I darned his socks and when his collars frayed I took them off and turned them around, in other words we went without. We have worked hard for our home and we enjoy it so no whining millennial is going to drive me from my castle. I'll move when I'm good and ready.
Robyne from NSW commented:
Why do people think that I should do something I do not want to do. I will stay in my house 🏡 until I die. Get a few jobs & buy a house for yourself you are not getting mine. Don't ask a stranger to do something you would not do!!! Get a life
Marilyn from SA commented:
Ha I love the society of today everyone blames someone else for their problems. We oldies did not get great wages and women were worse off we couldn't even get a loan because we were female and would be having babies. I have no intention leaving my home for anybody. So I suggest they all start to put in the hard yards and stop pointing fingers at those who have already done so.
Andrew from SA commented:
Always fascinates me the youth of today point the finger at those of us owning our own homes as the cause of their troubles in buying a home. They were not around in the days when we were suffering mortgage interest rates between 17 and 20% in the late 80's and early 90's. The struggle through those times was significant and we have earnt the right to live as we wish.
John from NSW commented:
What an irritating article! No I'm not selfish - it’s my house and I will do what I want with it. In any case, I'll be dead in less than 30 years, so there's a house for you mewling moaners out there.
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