Financial Independence (Home Ownership, Super, Long Retirement) not possible for wage earners: What do we need and how do we get it?

[qldfrog]

There in lies the solution
More people to spread the costs
Many cultures have done it for years
Asian, Indian , Greek and many more

Investment groups .
Just as business has partners so to can the business of home ownership have partnerships.

Husband and Wife are one of the best and most common!!

And i believe a related point should be added in you list:
We westerner ask for bank loan, buy individual houses etc.
Individuals against the world, the state
But a Chinese for example will often open a business with a family loan, win win with no tax involved, better understanding if any required freeze of reimbursement and lower risks for lender.
Not to mention networking from suppliers, workforce, etc
Community whatever it is can be critical

 

[Value Hunter]

Wages have never been so high

Absolutely false when you are talking about wages in real terms. Ever since President Nikson in the U.S. closed the gold window in 1971 real wages for the bottom 80% have fallen when measured properly for example compared to ounces of gold or house prices etc.

Fiat currency and central banking are the diseases crippling us all. Standards of living won't recover until we return to a sound money system (e.g. gold standards, bitcoin standard, etc).

 

[Value Collector]

Absolutely false when you are talking about wages in real terms. Ever since President Nikson in the U.S. closed the gold window in 1971 real wages for the bottom 80% have fallen when measured properly for example compared to ounces of gold or house prices etc.

Fiat currency and central banking are the diseases crippling us all. Standards of living won't recover until we return to a sound money system (e.g. gold standards, bitcoin standard, etc).

It’s kinda cherry picking to only compare it gold or houses prices, though.

If you look at what you could buy when Nikson was president vs now I think you would be surprised. Sure some things are more expensive, but in a lot of cases things are so much cheaper, or didn’t even exist, or are heaps better and more complex now.

For example, how much would you have had to spend to have a mobile phone with unlimited talk time in the 1970’s, now we all have that for like $30 a month. Houses have all sort of new features as standard, cars are not really comparable.

 

[Value Hunter]

It’s kinda cherry picking to only compare it gold or houses prices, though.

If you look at what you could buy when Nikson was president vs now I think you would be surprised. Sure some things are more expensive, but in a lot of cases things are so much cheaper, or didn’t even exist, or are heaps better and more complex now.

For example, how much would you have had to spend to have a mobile phone with unlimited talk time in the 1970’s, now we all have that for like $30 a month. Houses have all sort of new features as standard, cars are not really comparable.

Who cares if its cheaper to buy useless crap you don't need.

The fact is in the 1960s a man working in the factory or construction could afford to support a family of 4 or 5 (including buying a house and taking annual vacations) on a single income and pay off their mortgage in 15 - 20 years and have a comfortable retirement. That is basically gone now.

The bottom 80% of people in countries like Australia, USA, etc are struggling these days.

Even if you could make the argument that new housing (the building only) when adjusted for the modern amenities has not gone up in real terms it does not matter anyway because the price of land has gone through the roof due to monetary debasement. And the costs of essentials like electricity, meat, vegetables, etc has gone through the roof.

Again gold and Bitcoin are real money. Fiat is monopoly money, eventually it will be worthless. If you look at how many ounces of gold a workers annual wages could purchase in 1971 compared to today the decline is shocking. If they were paid in gold coins instead (or at the very least a full gold backed currency redeemable in physical gold) then there wages would not have lost purchasing power.

In 1971 before the August announcement of the closing of the gold window an ounce of gold was $35 USD per troy ounce. Today it sits at $2651 USD per troy ounce. In 1971 the AUD was around $0.88 USD meaning at $35 per ounce USD the gold price in AUD was $39.77 lets just call it $40. Today it sits just shy of $4400 AUD per ounce. Average wage in Australia was around $4400 AUD per annum in 1971 (based on average weekly earnings). So in 1971 in Australia 1 years wages was equivalent to 110 troy ounces of gold. Today an average wage (again based on average weekly earnings) sits at around $104,000 AUD which at the current gold price equates to around 23.65 ounces of gold. Lets round that to 24 ounces. So your wages in Australia went from 110 ounces of gold per annum in 1971 to 24 ounces of gold currently and you are trying to make the argument people's purchasing power has risen?

Its not cherry picking. Gold is real money and therefore the appropriate measuring stick to compare all other things to. Fiat is monopoly money.