About 3.4 million Australians have less than a paltry $1000 in savings to draw on if they are hit by illness or unemployment, new research has revealed.
Doggedly high inflation and punishing interest rates are leaving their personal finances in a precarious state, according to the InfoChoice State of Aussies’ Savings survey.
It found about 16 per cent of people have less than $1000 in savings, and 49 per cent, or 1.6 million people, have spent much of that emergency fund over the past month as the price of necessities, such as food, energy and housing, soars.
The idea that boomers are driving Australia’s inflation crisis, however, has some merit with the survey also showing one in three of them – or 29.2 per cent – had more than $100,000 in savings to live it up with restaurant meals, new cars and cruises.
InfoChoice money analyst Harrison Astbury said boomers were surprisingly less conservative with money, with many also the victims of failing to plan financially.
‘The youngest generation can be quite conservative in their approach to saving and wealth building,’ he said.
‘In contrast are the baby boomers – almost a third of them have savings exceeding $100,000, however a significant portion – more than the average – do not budget at all.’
By comparison, just 16.8 per cent of millennials had more than $100,000 saved up.
Just 6.9 per cent of Generation Z were in this fortunate situation compared with 19.3 per cent for Generation X.
Sources – 9NEWS
