Crypto Might Be A Ponzi Scheme, But It’s Our Ponzi Scheme

Naval Ravikant said something on the Tim Ferriss Show that’s stuck with me over the past few months.

“Crypto might be a Ponzi scheme, but it’s the Ponzi scheme of this generation”

He then discussed some of the seemingly Ponzi schemes that transferred wealth between generations, such as the stock market and real estate.

Real estate stuck with me. I’m 31 years old, and my parents were born right at the end of the baby boomers generation.

This generation is coming into retirement, and for many of them, that means downsizing from the family home to something smaller.

The extent of the property boom in Australia over the past 30 years is truly on display when seeing the results that family and friends are getting when selling their long-term homes.

10x returns are almost standard for someone who’s had their place for 15+ years, but I’ve also seen 15x returns over longer timeframes.

These returns are not inflation-adjusted, but perhaps the best comparison is the income to loan ratio.

Many of these people bought in the late ’90s, with the total home value being 3–4x a single income.