Thanks to high house prices and compulsory superannuation the average Australian household is much wealthier than the average American household.
We are below average with a net worth of about $A510k vs. $A720k for the average household. The average house was worth $A541k for those who owned their home outright and $A521k for those with mortgages. The average superannuation (retirement) balance was $A154k. Here we are above average at $A261k. That includes a couple of US retirement accounts though.
Our income (not discussed in this article) puts us in the top 10% or so probably of households and in the long-run I expect we will end up wealthwise in the top 20% of households who average $A2.2 million.
3 comments:
Wow what a great investment and post
Joel
http://koneklife.blogspot.com
Is it a good or bad?
If your home is main investment, you will be paying higher taxes on it. The cost of living will raise.
While you still need a place to live in.
That is one of the reason I do not take property into account towards NetWorth. Mortgage - yes, but not the home..
The high house prices may be exaggerate Australians' net worth. Property taxes for owner occupiers are not high in Australia. I think you should include a home in your net worth. As you say, you do have to live somewhere and if you own a house you need less income because you don't need to pay the rent. And, therefore, you need less other capital when retired. And you can sell a house and downsize to a smaller one and free up capital.
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