You really are a bit of work aren't you Killarney, the only hate I see here on this thread is from you, for everyone who is sick of being bludged on.

While I do agree it is hard for many kids who get it wrong, those with a bit of common sense, who don't waste their money, or forget to take the pill, have no trouble. In a development near me you can buy a house & land package for $259,000. Yes it is only a 2 bed on a small block, but makes my first house really look like the hovel it was. That is less than 3 years income for a couple in pretty ordinary jobs.

You must only know dills, as I know quite a few who funded their own homes in their early 20s. My eldest & her husband funded their first home when she was 21, & their current McMansion at 27.

One of my sons mates is not very bright scholastically. He left school in year 11 as he was going nowhere. No he's not bright, he is a great worker. He got a job laboring with a house plasterer. It didn't pay all that well, but was regular work. He is still with him, but is now a partner.

He married a smart girl who kept him on the straight & narrow. They had their first home at 22, & now own 3. Not a great investment, but appears to work for them.

I'm with Beach, I'd never own a rental it is a dreadful investment, all the incentives are to suck fools into doing it, to save the governments having to. You should feel sorry for them, not hate them.

Well, on the beach, I AM a baby boomer, one of the later ones, so I only have to go as far as the mirror to ask one of them a question.

They DID accept handouts, like free university fees and free medical care (before Medicare got thoroughly white-anted). However, the later ones like myself also had to buy into the first wave of the stratospheric housing boom from c. 1989 on, caused by the combination of Keating's negative gearing legislation and almost a decade of financial deregulation. For much of the following decade, interest rates were in the range of 12-18%.

Also, most mid to late baby boomers have had to undergo an unprecedented average 1-3 retrenchments during their working life, which even with severance pay, can take up to 10 years for a family to recover financially.

I could go on and on. Every generation has its hardships. However, the one thing that the boomers and the 20th century generations before them could rely on was (a) permanent jobs for those who wanted one and (b) a consistent and decent income to allow them to save if they wanted to, and (c) a safety net for when and if they fell on hard times or or became old.

The current generations born after the boomers can no longer rely on any of these.

I believe that people like yourself and Hasbeen and Joe ('end of entitlement') Hockey are still mentally living in a world in which anyone who wanted a permanent job could get one and anyone who wanted to save could earn enough to allow them to do so.

That world no longer exists. Thirty years of globalisation, and its partner in crime neo-liberalism, have blown it to kingdom come. Oh ... but the rich are doing just fine, thank you very much.

Killarney,

You only need to refer to one of the real estate sites to know that very affordable properties are available as they always were. You have the example of young hairdressers and their chippie or sparky partners buying homes. The difference is that they are prepared to make some personal concessions to get into the market, as the young have always done. The large home on 32 perches with several bathrooms and all of the European appliances will have to wait, if they ever want that.

The rest of your stuff is the rut of self-limiting beliefs. Maybe get out a bit to meet people and leave that mirror alone

I HAVE BEEN studying the local nAtional parks/and the fire regeme is killing regrowth and the oldgrowth/so i been thinking/there has to be a better way..anyhow i got a stack of hidden building sites/some into MOUNTAINS/others built in trees..but how to get the idea/going

i thought a tv show/where we pick artists /and artizans/to compete with each other in harvesting value from the forrests/and even try different things/like landsites as like the days of old where if you care for it[or value add it it]..its yours[till others come/with HIGHER CLAIM''

pont being there are rare barks saps great tree-tRUNKS 6 FOOT HIGH
THAT GOING TO BURN AT THE NEXT BURN/..all the trees are scared by huge fire scars/masses of litter 3 feet deep/no fire is going to fix that/plus the fire ensured the gums will be he last gums

point being i could easy build a home in there
but i thought a better idea/is we have a concrete path/RUNNING KILOMETERS/THESE COULD HOUSE MICRO HOUSES/that iclude obligation to become pR

I don't know where you live Killarney, but it must be a bad place.

There are plenty of jobs around here. May be not your desired career path, but plenty of them with reasonable pay.

There are still plenty of jobs out the mines too. A neighbors daughter, no qualifications, 4 years call center experience her only reference, now earning $140,000, 6 weeks on 6 weeks off, as a clerk.

Army, navy & airforce are all advertising positions for trainee tradesmen. Kids start on reasonable money, married adults on full money, & they won't have to go fight.

My lady deals with the long term unemployed for a charitable job placement organisation. All 2 years or more jobless. She can find work for all those she believes are likely to turn up & do the job for more than a few weeks.

She used to be a bleeding heart, & still is to some extent, but has become a lot more realistic about how many of them really want a job, & how many are just bludgers. Hell she can even recognise most of those who will only work cash in hand so as not to loose the dole.

A couple of days with her might open your eyes.