Your average Australian millennial is concerned about the prospect of facing a lifetime of mortgage debt and study debt while worrying about having enough money to cover the costs of bringing up children retiring comfortably.
But who exactly is your average Australian millennial? Well, according to the Future Leaders Index study of the financial situation of those aged 18-29, there is no ‘average’. In fact, the divide between capital cities and regional areas, men and women, and the city and the country when it comes to disposable wealth, is rather distinct.
The study, put together by accountancy firm BDO and The Co-op, calculated the disposable wealth of this generation of Australians by calculating current savings minus debts, without including higher education loans, mortgage debt or assets.
While Melbournites have a disposable wealth of $7700, regional Victorians are $1066 in debt.
Millenials from regional areas in NSW have a disposable wealth of $136, just 2 percent of the disposable wealth of their neighbours in Sydney, who are playing with $7258.
The study found that education levels directly correspond with income levels, with young people with degrees boasting a disposable wealth of just under $9900.
Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that young Australian women are better educated than men, with 42 percent of women between 25 and 29 years of age holding a bachelor degree of higher, and only 31 percent of men.
However, this does not correspond with the glaring gender gap.
Perhaps the most interesting find from the Future Leaders Index study is that approximately 70 percent of young Australians have an investment property or bought their first home or property with help from their parents.
Added to this, over 40 percent of Aussies between the ages of 18 to 29 live with their parents.
The study found this to be a strategic approach as opposed to a lazy one, concluding that Generation Y save on rent, stay in instead of socialising and cut down on health activities as a means of keeping costs down.
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