[Jan Fisher]

Well this is frankly awful. Research from comparison service Finder shows almost half of Australians have less than a grand in savings. That’s shocking to me. In fact on average they have $210 each. Not even a week’s worth of groceries in our house.
And 4.2 million said they had no savings at all.

Finder head of consumer research Graham Cooke told NineNews Aussie households were facing tough times.

“Cost of living pressure in Australia is at a record high, which is why so many Aussies having no savings buffer is a huge concern,” he said.

“Even something as trivial as a flat tyre would be too much for many households right now.

“Millions are living pay to pay, with many running out of money long before they run out of month.”

You can go on about irresponsible millennials all you like, but the hard facts are it’s becoming increasingly hard for young people to buy a house and start a family.
The average price of a house in Melbourne is $1 million. Add that to HECS fees, the cost of a wedding, the cost of a raising a family including childcare and it’s no wonder young people have given up on ever having a normal life.

What we paid for our house 20 years ago wouldn’t buy you a humble shack in the outer, outer suburbs these days.

Something must change, but what?

[Sue Bailey]

I’ve had to rely on a Pension (SPP. DSP, now Age) since 1994. It’s extremely hard to ‘save’ anything from the Pension, as sometimes it only just covers your living expenses, sometimes not.
It’s even harder if you can’t work, and have no super to fall back on.

‘Something MUST change, and it’s the percentages of the Male Total Average Weekly Earnings benchmark percentage. Currently the couple rate is benchmarked at 41.7% and the single 66.33% of the couple. This has been the rate since 1992! It ‘should be’ updated to reflect the current inadequacy of the Age Pension. This benchmark %age ‘should be increased to 50% for couples, and the current rate of 66.33% for singles. This still means that the couple rate per FORTNIGHT will be 25% of the above fortnightly rate!

Then, and only then, can we who rely solely on the Age Pension be able to save anything, especially for a ‘rainy day’, eg breakdown of whitegoods, major repairs to our ever-aging motor vehicles, etc.

Don’t even get started on saving for a holiday – what holidays can we take if we’re already on ‘the bread line’? It’s near impossible!

[Cosmo]

  This country is run by industry lobbies; the government is not there for the people, it is there to ensure the increased profits of big business and cash payments to political parties for service rendered. Just a few examples of many make the average Aussie thousands of dollars a year worse off than they need to be so half the population have virtually no savings and live close to the poverty line. Why are Australians the world’s biggest gamblers? It costs on average over $1,000 a year per person, not in waging but actual loses and that’s the average, so many lose far more. Average electricity bills are 38% higher than they need to be purely because State governments won’t ban dark roofs which heat houses unbearably in summer because developers have lobbied governments not to do so. The energy companies lobbied government to increase electricity and gas prices far beyond any justification. The gas and coal belong to the Australian people, not the foreign miners. Developers build multi-story homes which are too dangerous to live in but who do governments hold responsible for paying the massive rectification bills? Not the developers but the poor mortgage holders. We pay more for petrol and diesel because the automotive importers lobby government to ensure that inefficient gas guzzlers could still be imported when they are banned in many advanced markets in the world. Oh, I forgot this is not an advanced market, it’s a lobby paradise because our political parties of both sides have their hands out for cash and if that means millions are close to destitution or can’t afford a house or even rent, that’s just too bad, it’s the cash cow lobbies which get looked after, not the voters.

 We have few value adding manufacturing industries left to provide living wage jobs, numerous industries were allowed to move to China. Talk about building nuclear power stations and submarines, we can’t even make a tin can of beetroot!

Then we add the helicopter parents which have brought up a generation of kids who have no life or employable skills, are so incapable that they either live on Uber eats or have little career ability to do anything beyond riding a scooter, delivering cooked food to their peers. So we bring in overseas trained and skilled young people to fill the high value jobs our youth are incapable of doing.

[Cosmo]

Three further lobbying cases just today. Vehicle emission standards reduced yet further due to lobbying. Corrupt Crown in Melbourne keeps its licence, who would have known it, the lobbyists. A shonky multi-story builder in Wollongong which has produced an unlivable tower yet again passes problems onto buyers yet again.
Airline lobbying, just look at Qantas stuffed with tax payers money.

[Barry Clarke]

Well said cosmo. It is a shock to read how many Australians do not have any savings to fall back on, we find we are biting into our meagre savings just to keep up with the cost of living. One of the biggest factors that has help destroy this country is just greed.we are the highest charging country for many items in the world. And the horrendous rents people pay (including 2 of my kids) is in a lot of cases just greed.I was born in 1944 & I am just so disappointed seeing what this great country has become.
Bazza

[Author]

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