AFFORDABILITY has been the word of the week. It’s a timely election “hot word”. One mention of
affordability and everyone puts up their hand because no matter what our earning capacity, we all hold debt and
crave the unaffordable.
The one difference between our lives now compared to 30 years ago is our attitude towards money. It was
highlighted in the bestselling book Rich Dad Poor Dad. Delve back into the history of finance and you’ll see at the
turn of the 20th century it was all but impossible for the average person to get a loan – the surge in lending that
we’ve witnessed since the 1980s is the result of a gradual transformation in the socialisation of credit and our
inclination towards living on debt.