As a young adult, I have noticed that the society that our parents and grandparents grew up in does not reflect anything like that of the one we experience every day. “Australian Bureau of Statistics figures reveal that in August 2002 around 1.7 million Australian worked 50 hours or more per week, twice as many as in 1982. As a proportion of full-time workers, those working 50 hours or more per week increased from 20% to 30%” (Australian Institute, 2015, p. 1). So do we live to work or work to live?
Surely, we are more than just another rat in the race?
According to the Australian Financial Literacy Foundation Advisory Board, “48% say that dealing with money is stressful and overwhelming” (2007, p. viii).
These statistics are concerning, not only for individuals but for general economic outlook. The mid 2000’s Australian resources boom attracted foreign investment (Bishop, Kent, Plumb & Rayner, 2013, p. 39) which strengthened the AUD exchange rate and injected cash into Australian’s household disposable income. This enabled Baby Boomers and Gen X (McCrindle & Wolfinger, 2009, p. 6) with the means to pursue financial investments such as housing to secure their eventual retirement. However, as the global demand for Australian resources declined, Gen Y and Z (McCrindle & Wolfinger, 2009, p. 6) have been hit hard with excessive house pricing and high cost of living. Our governments are failing us as a generation with talks of privatising Australian universities (Parker, 2014, p. 1) and supporting the ever-growing ageing population (Toohey, 2015, p. 1).
However, as Joe Hockey famously once said, “get a good job that pays good money” (ABC News Australia, 2015), but even getting a “good job” is difficult. Australian youth (15yrs-24yrs) unemployment is 12.3%, which is “more than twice as high than the national unemployment rate of 6%” (Australian Department of Industry, 2014, p. 9).
We don’t know:
- Where we will live
- Who we will love
- How many kids we will have
- What career we will have
- How many holidays we will be able to afford
As uncertain as the outlook is, we are the generation that holds the keys to our own futures. We have already been successful in unlocking the advantages of the Internet and mobile technology. Is it time that we applied these exact same attitudes to money management?
With handy advice, this blog will provide you with the knowledge to answer big questions like:
“If someone gave you 10 thousand bucks to spend right now, what would you do with it?”
Would you invest it, get yourself out of debt or buy something you’ve always wanted?
This blog will teach you how to manage the little things like savings, investments, budgeting and money management techniques, so you can enjoy the big things in life like overseas holidays, weddings and homes.
References:
ABC News Australia,. (2015). ‘Get a good job’, Hockey tells first-home buyers. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPTGcnVHvag
Australian Department of Industry,. (2014). Labour force participation. Australian Department of Industry. Retrieved from http://www.industry.gov.au/skills/Publications/Documents/Labour-force-particpation-a-data-profile.pdf
Australian Institute,. (2015). Work, Rest and Play (pp. 1-4). 8hourday. Retrieved from http://www.8hourday.org.au/pdf/888_fact_03_work_rest_play.pdf
Benartzi, S. (2011). https://www.ted.com/talks/shlomo_benartzi_saving_more_tomorrow?language=en. Presentation, TEDSalon NY2011.
Bishop, J., Kent, C., Plumb, M., & Rayner, V. (2013). The Resources Boom and the Australian Economy: A Sectoral Analysis. Reserve Bank of Australia. Retrieved from http://www.rba.gov.au/publications/bulletin/2013/mar/pdf/bu-0313-5.pdf
Financial Literacy Foundation Advisory Board,. (2007). Financial literacy Australians understanding money. Canberra: Australian Government Financial Literacy Foundation. Retrieved from https://www.moneysmart.gov.au/media/209293/australians-understanding-money.pdf
McCrindle, M., & Wolfinger, E. (2009). The ABC of XYZ. Sydney: UNSW Press.
Parker, S. (2014). Australia is sleepwalking towards university privatisation. The Australian, p. 1. Retrieved from http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/australia-sleepwalking-towards-university-privatisation-parker/story-e6frgcjx-1227141265117?sv=523e42582df08a460b80ebe901bd884f
Toohey, B. (2015). http://www.afr.com/opinion/columnists/how-demographics-will-play-havoc-with-the-deficit-20150927-gjvr6y. Australian Financial Review, p. 1. Retrieved from http://www.afr.com/opinion/columnists/how-demographics-will-play-havoc-with-the-deficit-20150927-gjvr6y
