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Financial Planning; BEING A MILLIONAIRE THESE DAYS ISN'T ALL IT'S CRACKED UP TO BE, SAYS CHRIS BENSON
IT CAN BE HARD MAKING ENDS MEET being a millionaire today - and believe me, I am being serious. A millionaire today is a far cry from the perception of what a millionaire was only 10 or 20 years ago. A millionaire is certainly not a person of great wealth anymore. The old adage of asset rich, cash poor still applies - but the assets today for many people in middle Australia are worth over $1 million,
The term 'millionaire' should be reserved for people earning $1 million per year - not merely having $1 million in assets - and I think they are probably correct.
The principal reason for this rapid escalation in wealth has been the rampant house price inflation of recent years. Fuelled by low interest rates, lack of attractive investment alternatives and massive speculation, the prices of Australian homes have skyrocketed and with it the 'notional' wealth of Australians. I say notional because these gains are illusory. The only people who make the gains are those who sell and lock their money into nonproperty alternatives. Selling one home and then buying another does not lock in the gains - it merely changes the seat at the roulette table.
Let's take what many financial advisers would identify as a familiar...