STOP BEING POOR? Ex-NAB Chief Economist Slammed for Tone-Deaf Wealth Advice

‘Just Buy Property’: Ex-NAB Chief Economist Criticized Over Wealth Advice

Alan Oster, the former long-serving Chief Economist at NAB, is under fire after making comments about wealth-building that critics say are out of touch with today’s housing and economic realities.

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In a recent interview with The Australian Financial Review, Oster advised Australians to “buy a good property and hold it,” adding that he and his family typically don’t sell for “normally about 15 to 20 years.” He cited his own experience with holding property in the coastal town of Portsea.

While the sentiment reflects traditional investment wisdom, Oster’s remarks were swiftly criticized as detached from the economic pressures facing younger Australians and first-home buyers.

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Journalist Mark Di Stefano summed up the backlash in a viral post on X (formerly Twitter), comparing Oster’s comments to the infamous (and doctored) Paris Hilton meme that reads: “Stop being poor.”

“This is funny because Oster [thinks] this is helpful… advice,” Di Stefano wrote, “but it’s effectively a Paris Hilton singlet saying ‘don’t be poor’.”

A Different Economic Reality

Oster’s comments came just months after he reportedly sold his five-bedroom home in Brighton, one of Melbourne’s most expensive suburbs. The sale price was said to be around $5.5 million — roughly double what it was purchased for in 2012. Oster has disputed the reported figure but did not disclose an alternative.

The current median house price in Brighton, according to realestate.com.au, is just over $3 million — far out of reach for many aspiring homeowners.

Alex Joiner, Chief Economist at IFM Investors, called Oster’s statement a “misstep,” arguing that it ignores the structural changes in Australia’s housing market.

“People struggling to buy a home won’t like to be told by a Brighton resident how to get a home,” Joiner said. He noted that Oster benefited from “structurally lower interest rates, financial deregulation, multiple enormous property booms, and discounted rates and fees from his employer” — conditions no longer accessible to the average buyer.