this post was submitted on 26 Apr 2026
27 points (84.6% liked)

Australia

4994 readers
148 users here now

A place to discuss Australia and important Australian issues.

Before you post:

If you're posting anything related to:

If you're posting Australian News (not opinion or discussion pieces) post it to Australian News

Rules

This community is run under the rules of aussie.zone. In addition to those rules:

Banner Photo

Congratulations to @Tau@aussie.zone who had the most upvoted submission to our banner photo competition

Recommended and Related Communities

Be sure to check out and subscribe to our related communities on aussie.zone:

Plus other communities for sport and major cities.

https://aussie.zone/communities

Moderation

Since Kbin doesn't show Lemmy Moderators, I'll list them here. Also note that Kbin does not distinguish moderator comments.

Additionally, we have our instance admins: @lodion@aussie.zone and @Nath@aussie.zone

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] CTDummy@aussie.zone 14 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

Retired schoolteacher Sandra Barker has been single and a renter all her adult life.

The 70-year-old lives by herself in a two-bedroom unit in Sydney's south-west.

She says she'd like to rent in a "better" suburb but doesn't believe she'd be able to afford it

"I think it's a bit misleading, actually, to think that every baby boomer is cashed up for retirement; I'm certainly not," Sandra told Insight.

Boomer who not only refuses to downsize despite being retired and on a pension, is actively looking to increase her current expenses, while occupying a two bedroom by herself, in what has to be one of the most expensive cities to rent in, insists “not all boomers”. I’m actively employed and would have a hard time justifying (and in Sydney affording) living in a two bedroom by myself.

What’s her angle here? “Sure I’m part of the generation that got cheap as chips houses, free tertiary education, reasonable employment prospects and hoarded a good chunk of the real estate, but I feel I personally missed out, likely due to my financial decisions. So it’s a bit misleading, actually”. This entire article is mind boggling bordering on infuriating to read.

[–] hanrahan@slrpnk.net -3 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

but I feel I personally missed out, likely due to my financial decisions.

yeah this.. I am Gen X, 1966 but a cross over with younger boomers I guess, so many whiney entitled cunts it's becoming intolerable .

I was literally able to retire at age 40 just by lazily taking the few opportunities that came my way.

I lived in Cambodia for a time 15 years ago and niw slow travel SE Asia for 8-9 months each year before boomeranging back to Aus for the Tassie summer, zero debt and a modest home in a rural area (m and f couple) The whiney entitled Aussie immigrants in other countries my age and older on YT are legion

[–] HubertManne@piefed.social 9 points 1 week ago

im gen X but in the middle of the pack and I won't see anything like a stable retirement. I don't think im lazy. I got a dual majored stem with my bachelors and picked up a masters and tech certs. Now I did mary and my wife has medical issues and im in the us. So yeah if I was not supporting someone I would likely be fine. But is it a bad decision to love someone? Or to support them when life is not kind? Your experience sounds more like a charmed life than anyone born your year could do the same.

[–] justincider@aussie.zone 8 points 1 week ago

Good for you. Sounds like a nice lifestyle.

Likewise, not everyone got those lucky opportunities. Not everyone has managed to find a partner. Some people have been working towards a lifestyle similar to yours and had it all blow up in their face due to their health or job losses or relationship breakdowns etc.

It’s fine to say ‘life is great’ when you’ve had good rolls of the dice every time you’ve taken a risk, and your setbacks haven’t been so catastrophic that you couldn’t financially recover.