34-year-old with 108 properties makes wild pension claim

Sam Gordon owns a 108 properties and has issued a scary warning to Aussies who plan to retire on the pension.

Investor and property expert Sam Gordon has issued a grim warning for people who haven’t invested in property and plan to rely on the pension during their retirement.

Mr Gordon, 34, recently went viral after his property investment firm’s Christmas party caught flack online.

The firm Australian Property Scout celebrated the end of the year on Sydney Harbour and filmed a TikTok where everyone shared how many investment properties they owned.

It immediately caused divide.

Some viewers found it aspirational, and others dubbed it tasteless, but Mr Gordon, who owns 108 properties, explained that he saw some of the criticism as offensive.

“I know some people found it in poor taste but I am proud and humbled,” he told news.com.au.

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Mr Gordon said he read one comment that called the clip “crass and selfish”, a criticism he finds unfair.

“It is crass and selfish to rely on the government to pay you a pension when you retire,” he argued.

Mr Gordon explained that his property investment firm aims to help people create passive incomes so they can retire self-funded and not end up on the pension.

“We just want to help as many Australians as possible,” he said.

The whole point of the video was to show that the people giving property advice at his firm have also invested in property and could highlight their success to current and potential clients.

The maximum amount retired people get for the aged pension in Australia is very meagre.

For singles, it is $27,224 per year, and for couples, it is $41,043 per year.

“Imagine retiring on $29,000 a year? That is unliveable,” he said.

Mr Gordon warned that Aussies need to plan for their financial futures. Picture: Instagram/SamGordon

2.8 million people aged 65 and over receive income support payments. Picture: Instagram/SamGordon

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Financial comparison website Finder reported that 27 per cent of Aussies are unsure if they’ll have enough money to survive if they leave the workforce.

Eleven per cent claimed their retirement balance is too low, but they will have enough in other investments to get by once they retire.

Women are worse off, with 27 per cent admitting they won’t have enough in super or other investments, compared to 18 per cent of men.

According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, around 2.8 million people aged 65 and over receive income support payments, equating to 63 per cent of the population. Of these, 92 per cent receive Age Pensions.

Mr Gordon slammed that amount as “unliveable” and compared it to being on “life support” just having enough money to survive but certainly not enough to thrive.

“Our mission is to retire people on what they make now. So people can continue to live the life they want and not have to turn to life support,” he said.

Mr Gordon slammed that amount as ‘unliveable’. Picture: Instagram/SamGordon

He also said that most of his clients are ordinary people. Picture: Instagram/SamGordon

The 34-year-old argued that Australians who figure they can fall back on the pension are dangerously naive.

“I don’t think the pension is going to be there in 20 years,” he said.

Mr Gordon said it is important for young Australians to start thinking about their financial futures now because he is concerned the government won’t be able to afford to keep supporting people in the future.

He also said that most of his clients are ordinary people who earn between $70,000 and $100,000, but they are motivated “to create something better for themselves” and get themselves into a position where they won’t be at the mercy of a government’s whims.

Money expert Angus Kidman told news.com.au that, while the age pension only allows for “basic” living, he doesn’t believe it will disappear.

“It would be a very brave government that would try to eliminate the age pension, and I don’t see that happening in the next 20 years,” he said.

“However, it’s the reality now that the age pension alone only supports a very basic standard of living. In 20 years time, when the proportion of older Australians will be even higher, it’s likely the pension won’t be enough to survive on, even with indexation rises.

“Scarily, many Australians aren’t aware of this or planning for a better retirement, with more than a quarter of us completely unaware of how much we can expect to hold in our superannuation.”