Whilst the FIRE movement [Financially Independent Retire Early] characterised by frugal living and saving hard may have taken off in the United States, I am not seeing this in Perth in the young set.

So, you may ask, what would you know, how many young people do you actually know? My job was a college lecturer, I was mixing with young people every day so I spend a fair amount of time talking to students out of class and discussing personal issues. I also have an 18 year old nephew so I am exposed to his group of friends, I see these young adults burn through money at an alarming rate. This isn’t unusual for middle-class kids these days, this is normal in Perth.

They haven’t really struggled for money and prefer the convenience of purchasing off the shelf instead of making or building themselves. When I see his mates go out and purchase $700 shoes, I ask myself what are the priorities here? My nephew is undoubtedly influenced by his friends, they are living beyond their means supported by their parents. My sister, on the other had is a widow, her husband died and now she struggles with money – as would be expected.

She can’t afford to support his young lifestyle although the family has vowed to make sure his teenage years were not defined financially by the loss of his father. At some point he needs to step up, he is working as a labourer hoping for an offer of an apprenticeship. He is young and is enjoying life with his mates and his social group, ok, no problems here. However, at some some stage, he needs to get serious about work and securing an apprenticeship and that takes lots of applications, 80 – 100 would be my guess before he gets lucky.

Now, when I say lucky, I mean making your own luck and that takes persistence and being in the right spot at the right time. I have been through all this previously, I am aware of the vagaries of the job market and how soul destroying it can be. It is not his fault he cannot secure an apprenticeship, this is the character building phase of his life. He needs to stay off the booze, keep away from parties and start taking short courses to get tickets to become employable.