Owning a home is no longer a dominant Australian dream, according to a survey by the Financial Planning Association (FPA).
The FPA’s survey found that owning a home now took fourth place in the dream stakes, as most of the measures attributed to “living the dream” in 2017 were linked to personal finance.
“While 57 per cent believe living the dream means having the lifestyle of their choice, a similar proportion (54 per cent) believe it means having financial freedom and independence,” the survey said.
The survey also found that most working-age Australians (80 per cent) were stressed about money and finances, with one-in-four indicating acute stress levels.
Gen X and Y were found to be the most stressed about money and finance, and were most likely to struggle with planning their lives.
Over half of Gen Y (53 per cent) felt planning their life very/somewhat hard, followed by 44 per cent of Gen X, and only 25 per cent of Baby Boomers felt the same.
However, 23 per cent of those surveyed believed they were “definitely” or “mostly” living the dream, and were three times (24 per cent) more likely to seek the advice of a financial planner than those who descried themselves as not living the dream yet (nine per cent).
