• eezeebee@lemmy.caEnglish
      3·
      13 days ago

      I’m not disagreeing with your comment btw. I was speaking to your question about the title.

      In the eyes of a renter, homeowners are rich. It’s (unfortunately) an amazing investment with a very high barrier to entry.

      • CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org
        2·
        12 days ago

        Funny enough, real estate preforms worse than just an index fund, usually. The difference is that a mortgage makes not regularly paying in much more difficult.

        But yeah, the underclass tends to rent.

        • LeFantome@programming.dev
          1·
          6 days ago

          The other differences are leverage, tax sheltering, and the low cost of borrowing. How many people can borrow $1,500,000 at 5% to buy an index fund in a tax shielded account?

          Also, don’t forget that you get to “invest” your rent money when you buy a home.

          Real estate returns are higher.

          • CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org
            1·
            6 days ago

            Yeah, but the return rate for stocks over the last century has been 10% per annum. I’m not making it up, this is what an actual financial advisor will tell you about the relative performance of real estate and investing, and why one or the other might be right for you.

            You shouldn’t really be leveraging yourself to buy into an index fund. If you can buy a house outright that’s also a better deal than a mortgage.