Millionaire To Millennials: Income Inequality Isn't The Problem, Avocados Are

“Freely spending on avocados — the pricey, popular superfruit beloved by young people — may be one of the reasons why some young people can't afford a house, according to Australian millionaire and property mogul Tim Gurner.

"When I was trying to buy my first home, I wasn't buying smashed avocado for $19 and four coffees at $4 each," Gurner told the Australian news show 60 Minutes.

Only 32% of home owners were first-time buyers in 2016, the lowest point since 1987, according to a study by NerdWallet. A recent study by HSBC found that American millennials have a homeownership rate of 35%, and in Australia only about 28% of millennials own their homes. Cost is often a major factor in millennials' decisions to buy — the study found that a lot of young homeowners got a financial boost from their parents when making their purchase.

"We're at a point now where the expectations of younger people are very, very high," Gruner said. "They want to eat out every day, they want to travel to Europe every year. The people that own homes today worked very, very hard for it, saved every dollar, did everything they could to get up the property investment ladder.”

Hosts: Cenk Uygur, Ana Kasparian

Cast: Cenk Uygur, Ana Kasparian

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Young Turk (n), 1. Young progressive or insurgent member of an institution, movement, or political party. 2. A young person who rebels against authority or societal expectations.(American Heritage Dictionary)

[danic]

My monthly budget:
Food: $200
Entertainment: $100
phone and internet: $100
Rent and Utilities: $1200
Avocados: $7200

[urmomslover]

cheaper avocadoes = mansions for everyone
its very simple math, everyone.

[inkadence]

I eat two meals a day and one of them is ramen noodles. Where is my house? I'm saving money right?

[harmbowsalem]

Eat out everyday?! Travel to Europe every year?! What the hell is this guy talking about? I am barely getting by. How much money I set aside for spending on any kind of food items are $200 per month. I skip meals all the time. I buy coffee powder from Smart​ and Final. I can't afford fancy Starbucks coffee. I don't have the luxury of taking time off work let alone to pay for a trip out of the country! Most of the rich are so out of touch with what the situation is for the average Amarica

[aidenjarram]

You didn't mention that he got a $34000 loan from his grandad for the deposit

[zammmerjammer]

Here's a crazy theory -- younger people would rather have fun going out for brunch and travelling a bit than being wage slaves in rags so that they can buy a patch of dirt.
Or they know they'll never ever ever be able to buy that patch of dirt so they've made peace with renting forever (and having roommates forever) and decided to enjoy eating nice things and going on vacation once in a while.
But yeah... avocados.

[GlumoTV]

Work hard and eventually your boss can buy a new holiday home

[Citadel]

I do not pay $4 for coffee.
I do not go to Starbucks.
I go to the grocery store to get avocado on toast, which is healthy and I quite enjoy, and I can NOT afford a home. I am lower middle class and I'm here to announce, THE AMERICAN DREAM IS DEAD.

[roylangston]

Blame the victim. We see it everywhere. Look at who is being blamed for their situation, dig a bit, look beneath the surface, and you ALWAYS find out they are the ones being robbed for the profit of rich, greedy parasites.

[Randomstuffs]

It's true, I stopped eating avocado toast and now I'm a BILLIONAIRE :D

[MissLilithLilium]

If you can't afford to eat avocados, which are a very healthy and filling fruit that you can get for just $1 or $1.50 at most, you couldn't afford a house anyway. What should we be eatting? cheap processed foods that make us fat, sick and starved for nutrients? That just means we pay more in the long term with health care which is now going to be denied to us.

[popinjayackroyd]

Ha! The very people to screwed up the economy criticizing millennials for not being successful is like kicking somebody in the balls and criticizing him for not standing up straight.

[alejbr]

sick of hearing about how easy we have it from a group of people who could get a full time job as a high school drop and be able to have a family and home by 23. while all of us need high school and almost multiple college degrees to get a freaking entry lvl job with the hope of being able to even get a loan for a cheap dump of a home. See people going to work sick, wearing braces while in pain while at work, taking care of older relatives, still going to school. this piece of garbage has to whine because someone wants to eat healthy so they do not have to worry about getting too sick to work and lose their job.

[ElNingyou]

There goes the avocado industry, THANKS MILLENNIALS.

[acrophobe]

This guy is right. He's got the goods, man. The brains. The right stuff. I wanted to own a home, but I just COULD NOT STOP going to Europe. Every time I turn around I'm on a first class flight to Europe AGAIN. I've actually been in addiction counseling for 18 months over this. Just yesterday I flew in from Switzerland after a five-day $28, 000 shopping bender. If only I could stop taking unannounced vacations from the job I don't have to fly to Europe over and over again for my white tie dinners, bespoke tuxedo fittings, champagne and caviar weekends, fine art auctions, sports car expos, trophy wife vaginoplasties, and $58 smashed avocado toast (yeah that's how they roll in Monaco, baby!). Someday it is my goal to have the self-discipline to follow this sage man's advice. Someday I shall own a home. Someday....

[LinkRocks]

Lots of people work their ass off and have nothing to show for it. I'm so tired of that "work hard" narrative. Such bullshit.

[danielguzman]

We could've built houses for everybody instead of invading Iraq. We also need to seize the bank sand give the houses back to all the people who were foreclosed. The banks crashed the economy, took a bail out, and foreclosed the houses of those who were laid off because economy was crashed by the banks. Furthermore, we need to tax the shit out of the top 0.1% and provide services to make sure that everybody is taken care of.

[kendricrautomusprime]

Try getting a job in your career that you got a degree in and never get hired for many years. So you are forced to take any type of job no where near the wage you want to have because it’s not a living wage, it’s a struggle wage. This is the reality of a lot of people out there, working hard for crumbs that they never asked for.

[lordbyrne]

For context, this guy was talking about the Australian Housing Market, where its now cheaper to buy penthouses and small castles in European cities, then even a small apartment in our major cities. Now, given a 20 dollar breakfast a few times a week, it would still take close to 20 years to save enough for a deposit on cheap country housing, and not the million dollar plus housing bubble in cities like Sydney. BTW, our government has told us youngsters to "get a better job" (actual quote from the PM), but to get a better job we need to go to university (the same government has just increased costs), and the best jobs are, get this, in the major cities...

[kristindelissovoy]

As a snowflake liberal, I hate to have to admit this, but he's not wrong. He's exaggerating greatly, but I don't disagree with the point. I have always wondering how 20 year olds can afford coffees, constant Panera bread, tanning packages at $80/month, cell phones, cars, and getting their nails done and hair done. I'm speaking about women only because I'm a woman but I've also seen poor spending habits with young men. I've also seen fantastic spending habits. But he's not wrong. When I was hurting for money, I wasn't doing the stuff. I've never done tanning. It's outrageous. However, Anna is right that it isn't the CAUSE of the current economy and financial state of younger people. We haven't gotten a raise since the 80s. The housing market is absurd. College is outrageously expensive. It is harder to go to college and buy a home than it was 20, 30, 40 years ago.
But you can also stop shelling out hundreds on superficial crap. I suspect every generation may be guilty of that to an extent but mine definitely is.