Have your say: Does New Zealand have a problem with intergenerational wealth transfer?

By Bernard Hickey

I've written regularly about the issue of intergenerational wealth transfer from the young to the old as the population ages in the wake of the property boom.

My view is that the property boom created a situation where those older people owning property before 2004 received the equity gains from the boom while those younger home buyers entering at the bottom took on massive debts to get home ownership. Those who didn't get in by 2007 are essentially locked out in the big cities, without big gifts or help from their parents.

That transfer of wealth from the young to the old looks set to be worsened by the coming surge of public health and pension spending on baby boomers as they retire. That spending too will be financed from the taxes of the young as they go through their working lives, assuming of course they stay in New Zealand.

This intergenerational transfer of wealth is being locked in by decisions taken by today's politicians, most of whom are in the generation set to benefit from this shift of wealth.

I wrote in My Top 10 on June 10 about this issue when referred to work done by David Willets in the UK and Anatole Kaletsky in The Times..

Also here in my Top 10 on June 28 when referring to a piece by Michael Blastland on BBC Radio 4.

There was also a similar debate stream in this Top 10 on July 29.

Are you interested in this topic? Do you have some views you'd like to share. I welcome your thoughts below.

Also, freelance journalist Denis Welch is writing a magazine feature about intergenerational issues. He would like to get in touch with you about a possible interview. He has already interviewed me for the article.

Please email him at denis.welch@clear.net.nz if you're in those Generation X or Y age groups and you have a point of view you want to get across.