Many people go through life envious of the success of others. But what they fail to realise is that successful people, and especially those who reach the upper echelons, spend their lives working hard to achieve their dreams. While there’s no proven formula, there’s no denying that many of the people we admire share common qualities that helped them get to the top – and stay there! Hear what they are from Michael Yardney.

Paul Nugent explains why buying an investment property and buying your own home are two very different things. He talks to us in response to an email question from Bryce who is struggling with his wife as they have differing views on what to buy.

Owning your own four bedroom house on a decent block of land with a big backyard and outdoor swimming pool used to be the quintessential 'Great Australian Dream'. But with rising property prices and increased living costs, that dream is being redefined. Social researcher Mark McCrindle expands on this topic.

Our feature guest this week is John Fitzgerald. John is the founder and CEO of Custodian Wealth Builders and helped thousands of Australians begin wealth building and achieve financial freedom. John's main qualification for teaching people how to build wealth is having built wealth himself. Hear his story.

Those looking to get a piece of the Australian dream of buying a home are still falling victim to a shadowy scam commonly called rent-to-buy deals. So why – if the prices are over inflated and there is no legal security over the property – are these people shelling out thousands upon thousands of dollars and more importantly is nothing being done?  Great questions that we try to get answered today by Associate Professor of Law at Curtin University Eileen Webb.

 
Transcripts:
The great Aussie dream is being redefined - Mark McCrindle
Kevin:  It looks like the great Australian dream of owning your own home, on a big block of land, having a nice backyard, the outdoor swimming pool, whatever it is you wanted may just be starting to fade. Rising property prices and increased living costs, that dream needs to be redefined. To help us understand the profile of the typical Australian property owner or property buyer now, Mark McCrindle joins me. Mark, of course, is a social researcher, commentator, and principal of McCrindle.

Mark, thanks for your time.

Mark:  Thanks, Kevin. Great to be with you.

Kevin:  How are we defining Australians now, or young Australian, I guess, Mark?

Mark:  Well, there are a fair few challenges facing that next generation personally. And it’s a great thing. They’re more educated. They’re staying at university longer. They completing more education. The only downside of that is that it does mean they’re not starting their financial life until later than their parents did, and they’re starting their financial life with a study debt to pay off, which their parents didn’t have.

Kevin:  Yes, that’s true.

Mark:  So in a sense, they’re further behind the economic eight-ball, if you like, than their parents were at the same age.

Then, of course, it comes to buying the home, and we all know the property prices and the challenge there. People say property prices are up but wages are up, too, and that’s true, but not at the same rate. If you look at average wages compared to house prices, that ratio continues to rise.

Now, nationally the average house price is ten times average full-time annual earnings, whereas four decades ago, it was about five times average earnings. So that’s the challenge facing young people today.

Kevin:  What is the average earning in Australia?

Mark:  If you look at what they call the average, it’s $78,000 per annum. That’s the average adult full-time earnings. The only problem with that is it’s a bit overstated, because that’s average. They take everyone’s earnings, divide it up by all workers. The midpoint is quite a bit below that,