Just 11% of Gen Z/Millennials used a broker in the last year

The ‘No Place Like Home’ report, prepared by mutual lender Great Southern Bank, found that less than a quarter of Australians have a current financial plan prepared by a qualified expert.

This was particularly true of Gen Z and Millennials (those born between 1995 and 2009 and 1980 and 1994, respectively), who overwhelmingly relied on family (43 per cent and 38 per cent, respectively) and friends (31 per cent and 29 per cent, respectively) for financial advice during the past year.

Just 11 per cent said they had engaged a mortgage broker in the past year, with the same proportion having used a financial adviser in the last 12 months.

Around one in five used an accountant in the past year (19 per cent), with just 16 per cent having spoken to their current bank.

Among Millennials, less than one in three (31 per cent) were seeking out professional financial advice.

These generations also acknowledged they had more to learn about managing money, rating their financial knowledge an average of 6.1 and 6.5, respectively (out of 10), on the Happily Clever After sentiment tracker.

Comparatively, the most financially knowledgeable age group, Baby Boomers, rated themselves an average of 7.0.

30% buy a home due to FOMO

In light of soaring house prices and escalating interest rates, the report also found that more Australians were feeling pressured to enter the housing market sooner rather than later.

Great Southern Bank found that 30 per cent of Millennials confessed to purchasing a property out of a sense of “FOMO” (fear of missing out).

This segment was also most likely to say they were dependent on financial support from parents to buy their first home, at 36 per cent, more than Gen Z (32 per cent) and Gen X (20 per cent).

Millennials are three times more likely than Baby Boomers to seek financial support from their parents.

Nearly all Millennials also said that they feel they could have done things differently when it comes to their finance.

For example, 59 per cent said they wished they had researched more before purchasing an investment property, while 41 per cent said they rued the fact they had not obtained independent financial advice before making a major financial decision.

Others had wished they had made more regular savings (72 per cent), 69 per cent lamented the fact they didn’t set up savings habits when they were still at school, and two-thirds said they wished they hadn’t splashed as much cash on entertainment.

The latest No Place Like Home report also revealed that women were more concerned about the cost of living, compared to men (80 per cent versus 68 per cent).

They were also found to be more concerned about housing affordability and interest rates, driving them to make more cutbacks on everyday purchases than men.

Speaking of the findings, Megan Keleher, chief customer officer at Great Southern Bank, said: “The second phase of our No Place Like Home report shows that Australians are seeking out ways to be clever with their money in this challenging economic environment.

“Turning to family and friends may be a great place to start in increasing your financial knowledge and it doesn’t need to end there. Jumping on a bank’s website and using a budget planning calculator or a savings tool could be an easy next step to becoming more financially savvy, before potentially talking to your bank, a mortgage broker or another qualified expert.

“The more advice you seek out, the more equipped you’ll feel to make the big financial decisions in life – whether it is starting your savings journey, taking out a car loan or buying a home.”

[Related: Why are more borrowers using mortgage brokers?]