What Is An Australian?
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The traditional viewpoint of what exactly is an Australian seems to have shifted significantly in recent decades. A look at the 2011 census data for Australia shows many interesting statistics.
High Interest Rates a Potential Positive for Australia?
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It’s been almost five years since the Lehman Brothers collapse kicked off the GFC and sent the world’s financial markets into chaos. To date there has been over $12 trillion worth of stimulus and 515 rate cuts by the world’s central banks in response to increased unemployment and negative growth. However, things seem to be taking a turn for the better: American real estate is recording positive growth; Germany is having a change of heart towards austerity; and the structural demographic shifts around the rise in the Asian middle class means consumption and demand is driving economic growth.
Family Ties
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Looking at the 2011 census from a property perspective provides a fascinating insight into how we’re living. As of the 2011 census there were 21,507,717 Australians, with 5,684,062 families and an average of 1.9 children per family. Looking at this in more detail, the census has information on the relationships we share with those we live with. The most popular relationship is that of husband and wife (with 7.6 million Australians). Next was ‘child under the age of 15’ i.e. dependents (3.6 million), then lone persons (1.9 million – almost one in ten), followed by de facto relationships (1.4 million) then non-dependent children (1.1 million).
Cheer up, Australia
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According to an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) survey Australia is the world’s happiest nation, beating all of the 36 countries that partake in the index. The OECD measures the happiness of countries by collecting data over 11 categories for its Better Life Index.
Single Dads – The New Family Dynamic
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The changing dynamic of Australia’s demographics is perhaps the biggest driver of long term investment decisions in property. New demographics will almost certainly have different demands to current ones, in the same way that your parents may not have wanted to live close to the beach in case the salty air rusted their car.
Australians – The World’s Richest People?
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Many of you might be thinking that the heading is a typo. We all know that Australia is the lucky country, but surely we’re not the richest? What about those inherently prosperous nations, like the Swiss, the Norwegians or the Germans? We can’t be wealthier than them: one invented their own bank account!
How do the rich keep getting richer…
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Yesterday some of you might have read the article by Peter Martin on the SMH website stating that to be considered uber-rich you need to earn in excess of $688,700 in Australia. Earning this much places you in the top 0.1% of the population, while earning over $1,000,000 placed you in the top 0.05%. The article also found that since the 1980s in about almost every English-speaking country the inequality between the rich widened each and every year. The recent GFC wiped out the wealth of many people and even bankrupted many rich people in the upper income brackets. Under normal circumstances income inequality should shrink, not expand. How are the rich getting richer?
The Gender/Job Divide
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Everyone is familiar with the ‘glass ceiling’, and the disparity between the number of men and women in the top income bracket. This situation is said to exist in some countries to a far greater extent than others. So what is the scenario in Australia?
Safe As A Bank
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Well,it’s been an interesting week on the world frontier: the tiny island of Cyprus nearly challenged the religious trust that your money is safe in the bank. Freezing assets in the bank one day and then returning them missing 10% could have caused a catastrophe across Europe. The PIIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain) will all require further bailouts in the future, and if the residents of those nations believe the next bailout will mean a tax on their savings then a bank run could ensue across Europe. However, the Cypriot parliament voted no to the tax and have put forward an alternative to guarantee deposits under $100,000 and amalgamate Laiki Bank with the Bank of Cyprus. The details still need to be confirmed, but it looks like for now Cyprus won’t default and will receive the much needed $17 billion bailout.
The SMSF Powerhouse
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We’ve called Australia’s shift to SMSFs a revolution – and for good reason. It is currently the defining topic of the financial industry and hundreds of Australians a day are taking control of their future by setting up an SMSF.
