Editor’s letter

OUR ASK PAUL segment this month, a couple who are 26 and 27 years of age bemoan the fact they can’t afford a property in a metropolitan area.

This wouldn’t have been surprising if, like most individuals their age, they had few savings or had mounting debt.

But they were quite good with their money, with $110,000 in joint savings, $20,000 in shares and zero debt.

If they think they’ve been priced out of the market, what hope is there for many other would-be homeowners?

Such is the paradox of living in Australia today. Despite the pandemic, our economy has so far held up, the jobless rate is lower than was grimly predicted a year ago and, with the federal government’s prudent management of the health crisis, our employment and investing prospects set a gold standard for the rest of the world.

And yet we still face similar financial challenges but for a whole different set of reasons, including a housing bubble, the possibility of a sharemarket crash and, as we comprehensively explore in this issue, multi-generational planning (page 32). More specifically, what to do with the complex matter confronting “the sandwich generation”: looking after the financial needs of children (both young and grown-up) and ageing parents on top of their own.

As a society, I don’t think we talk about this as much as we should and we hope that our cover story is the conversation starter you need to discuss this with your loved ones.

We hope you enjoy reading this issue and let us know about any pressing financial matters you think we should look at in coming months.