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Who is Ms. Average Aussie?
Due to more females in our population than males, the average Australian is probably a female! ABS data shows Ms. Average Aussie is about 37, born in Australia, a Catholic, is married with two children that still live at home, drives her own car, lives in a capital city and lives in a three-bedroom, two-bathroom home. Of course, this is a patchwork of every Australian living here. No one person fit the “average” description perfectly!
How much does Ms. Average Aussie earn?
The most common job in Australia is sales assistant, and the Average Australian earns about $1,124.50 a week. The full-time wage increases somewhat to within a dollar of $1,500.
The ABS data tells us that Ms. Average Aussie has a net worth of $250,000 and lives in a house valued just shy of $460,000. The Average Australian is sitting on a mortgage of $341,000 and a credit card debt of $3,085.
This all means increased mortgage stress. Repayments on that amount over 30 years would leave Ms. Average Aussie only 41% of their pay left over for bills, essentials and leisure activities. Since Ms. Average is married to Mr. Average, they’d still contribute 30% of their wage toward paying off that mortgage. That’s not including the $150 a month they’d come up with each to pay off their individual credit card debt in two years (if they didn’t buy anything else, of course.)
How much does Ms. Average Aussie have in retirement?
Ms. Average Aussie likely has a balanced superannuation fund, which diversifies funds across a number of sectors such as property and shares. The bad news is that share prices have dipped 6.4% according to a report from SuperRatings.
Ms. Average Aussie will get a payout of $73,000 with Mr. Average expecting $155,000. An average person retires at age 63.4 years. They’ll need about $363 per week to live modestly and $702 per week to live comfortably. That may be difficult, as Ms. Average Aussie will live to 84.7 years with Mr. Average Aussie 80.1 years. That’s if Ms. Average doesn’t have a health issue – which isn’t too likely since 63% of Australians are overweight or obese.
So do you fit the average? Where do you stand?
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