At 20 years old, most of us were just trying to work out which two-minute noodles are cheaper and ensuring we have enough bucks in the bank for our monthly Netflix subscription.
But for Maddi Miller, she is already buying her second home worth almost $504,573, while her savings account is bursting at the seams with more than $100,915 in it.
The young woman, who lives in the remote Western Australia town of Kalgoorlie, is earning a killing with online content creation, raking in around $47,093 a month.
While she acknowledges she has come into more money since starting up her online profile, Maddi told news.com.au that she has always been a great saver and a financially-conscious type of person.
“I’ve been working since I was 14 years old and earning my own money,” she said.
“As a kid, a lot of my friends came from wealthier backgrounds. Every time I would go for a sleepover at someone’s house, I wanted the luxury they had.
“So, I started working my ass off from a really young age. At 16, I was tattooing people, at 17, I started an apprenticeship.
“After that, I was working for a sport leisure centre and started my online presence when I was 18 years old.”
Three months after her 18th birthday, Maddi bought her first home for $161,463.
Now at 20, she has just bought her second for $497,845 and is considering selling her first.
The wealthy young homeowner, who makes money online including adult content creation, already has her sights set on her third property and would like to eventually buy another in Perth.
“I have had thoughts of renting out my house but I have decided to sell and I’m planning to buy a workshop as an investment and rent it to a mining company,” she explained.
“I would like to own two or three houses but I’m also super interested in investing into mining.
“But I’d like to buy at least one more, maybe in a bigger city like Perth next time.”
Maddi says that although she is making an eye-watering amount in her job, she knows exactly what to do with it and is extremely savvy with her money.
Speaking about young people around her age, she feels most are “stupid” with money and do not think about the future.
“I consider myself good with my money,” Maddi said.
“I set aside more than I should for my tax bill, I pay my bills as soon as I’m paid and create savings goals.
“As a young person myself, I think most young people are very stupid with money.
“This is why they’ll never be able to afford a house.
“Especially where I live, everyone is more interested in drinking and drugs than buying a home.
“But to be fair, it is hard to stay motivated as a young person to set yourself up for the future when the government keeps screwing us over.
“My advice would be to keep your priorities straight and don’t let anyone use you for your wealth. No goal is too big.”
Unique challenges
Sydney finance expert Julian Finch from Finch Financial agrees that Gen Z do not seem as savvy with their money as generations before them.
However, he said many are quite creative and intelligent with how they choose to rake in cash and do not feel the need to conform with older populations.
“Gen Z appear to think that money just grows on trees,” he told news.com.au.
“They don’t seem to have much of a savings plan and when it comes to things like applying for finance, given their age, it is usually in the midst of the moment when they are wanting to purchase things like a new car or get a personal loan.
“A lot of the time they have bad credit ratings due to unpaid mobile phone bills or maybe unpaid utility bills.
“It comes down to a lack of understanding, which is where there have been many conversations about financial education and how it could be introduced at a school level.
“Certainly however there is a pretty poor savings record with this generation at present.
“I work with people across many different generations and these insights come from assisting Gen Zs to source loans.”
Despite this, Mr. Finch has noted the uniquely resourceful and creative ways many Gen Z’ers earn money.
“Some are quite resourceful. For example, I know a teenage high school student that was buying up the PRIME energy drinks from his local shop and then selling it to his classmates for a profit,” he recalled.
“A classic supply and demand story. Other ways of course are via TikTok or Instagram, where they are generating content and being paid in either cash or goods to promote different things.
“It is certainly interesting to see the different ways people can generate income in the new world.”
He added that there are some unique challenges Gen Z has to deal with, however says it is not totally impossible for this generation to get ahead.
“Kids now are being bombarded with negativity, from being told the world is going to end due to climate change, that it’s too hard to buy a house, that everyone that came before them seems to have it easy, which is not true,” he said.
“The truth is that every generation has had its hurdles to jump, but if you work hard, take some risks and learn from your mistakes, there is success waiting for you, but nobody else can do it for you.”
