New report shows financial woes among younger prospective buyers
Younger Gen Zs and Millennials lack confidence in their financial knowledge and are largely relying on family for advice and financial help.
The latest No Place Like Home report from the Great Southern Bank (GSB) has shown that Australian attitudes towards finance and financial knowledge greatly differ depending on the generation they are part of.
To continue reading the rest of this article, please log in.
Create free account to get unlimited news articles and more!
GSB asked respondents to rate their perceived financial knowledge on a scale of one to 10, with one being the lowest, and 10 being the highest knowledge.
Results were found to be highest among Baby Boomers who rated their knowledge at seven. In contrast, Millennials collectively recorded 6.5 and Generation Z registered 6.1.
Megan Keleher, chief customer officer at Great Southern Bank, stated that these results demonstrate “there is work to do to increase financial knowledge and confidence, particularly among younger Australians”.
Deconstructing these results, GSB flagged that Millennials and Generation Z are relying on familial aid and input much more than previous generations.
It was backed up by the data; GSB found that Millennials and Generation Z opt to get financial advice from family, with 43 per cent and 38 per cent of respondents respectively stating this was their main source of financial guidance.
Compounding this, fewer than one in five Millennial and Generation Z respondents reported they had consulted qualified financial professionals for advice and less than one-quarter reported having a current financial plan prepared by a qualified expert.
The trend of family assistance continues through to home buying. Among all generational respondents, Millennials were the generation most likely to report needing financial help from their parents to buy their first home.
One in three Millennials said they relied on family for financial support for home ownership, while just 11 per cent of Baby Boomers said the same.
GSB also found that the ramifications of financial decisions weigh heavily on younger Australians. A whopping 96 per cent of Millennials reported feeling they could have done things differently when it came to their finances, while four in 10 (41 per cent) said they wished they had obtained independent financial advice before making a major decision.
Six in 10 (or 59 per cent) said they wished they had done more research before purchasing an investment property.
These results are significantly more grim when factoring in GSB’s finding that Millennials are also significantly more prone to falling prey to the “fear of missing out”, with 30 per cent of the cohort stating they had bought a property predominantly due to anxiety that increasing house prices and interest rates would render it harder and harder to buy a property.
Keleher said the results showcased that younger generations would be wise to take advantage of the resources at their disposal from their bank or any other financial expert.
“Turning to family and friends may be a great place to start in increasing your financial knowledge and it doesn’t need to end there.”
“The more advice you seek out, the more equipped you’ll feel to make the big financial decisions in life – whether it is starting your savings journey, taking out a car loan or buying a home,” she concluded.
