‘Do away with’: 83-year-old millionaire’s saving advice falls flat with young people
An 83-year-old man has revealed the staggering amount of assets he has, but his advice to young people has caused outrage online.
A rich 83-year-old man has sparked outrage from young struggling Australians after sharing his “out of touch” money advice.
Coposit St, an app that helps Aussies save for house deposits, has a popular TikTok series where they stop people on the street and ask how much they have in savings.
A man in Sydney’s CBD revealed he had around $40 million in assets and claimed he obtained his fortune by simply “working hard”.
The 83-year-old, who is from the silent generation, aka a pre-Boomer, explained he was a “lawyer in his younger days” and then pivoted to owning properties and being an hotelier and was now a multi-millionaire.
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The man said that “fortunately,” the cost-of-living crisis doesn’t “worry” him particularly, but he knew a lot of people were worried at the moment and struggling to make ends meet.
The man advised young people to “do away with their cups of coffee” and things that aren’t necessary to have a better chance of saving.
“Just watch how you spend your pennies,” he advised.
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The clip has amassed over 100,000 views within 24 hours, and young people have found the man’s advice out of touch.
“The moment he mentioned takeaway coffee, he lost credibility. Not buying coffee is not going to secure you a home,” one argued.
“These Boomers had it easy,” another claimed.
“Boomers always say ‘Work hard’ as if that’s what accumulates that much wealth,” someone else pointed out.
“Oh yeah, a couple of coffees a day less, and I’ll have $40 mill. Yeah, cool, man,” one joked.
“Work hard and don’t buy coffee. Got it,” another unimpressed young person wrote.
“So out of touch. Yep, not having a coffee every day will save you $40 million,” one complained.
Graham Cooke, head of consumer research at Finder, said that Aussies would have to give up way more than caffeine to buy a home.
“People often say if they simply avoid buying coffee, kids nowadays could easily afford a home,” he told news.com.au.
“To save the $280,000 deposit currently required for the average Sydney home, you would need to avoid buying 57,970 coffees.”
Mr Cooke advised young people to “enjoy your coffee” because “if a couple avoided buying four coffees each and every week, it would take them 7,246 weeks or 139 years to save a deposit.”
Similar controversy arose in January when an 84-year-old man revealed his staggering $2.3 million in savings.
The man didn’t describe in detail how he amassed his wealth or managed his cash but shared that he had $2.3 million in savings “at the moment.”
The retiree didn’t mention whether he owns multiple properties or his own home, so his net worth could be even more impressive — but people online were blown away by his savings alone.
“This is crazy! Who has the means to save?” one asked.
“Must be nice,” someone mused.
“That is a real hustler!” One complimented.
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