Never Retire: Why Owning a Home in the U.S. Makes Less Sense Than Ever
Homeownership is no longer the pillar it once was—it might be your biggest liability.
It’s the double whammy of traditional retirement. The dream that doesn’t deliver.
As discussed in Friday’s Never Retire newsletter story, the first leg of the retirement lie is the persistent and futile focus on hitting an unrealistic number to secure traditional retirement:
Retirement calculators are bullshit. They’re emblematic of all the pieces of machinery working together to prop up the long dead runaway American dream.
Positioned as a helpful tool, they do little more than present what is for many an unattainable moving target that keeps them spinning away on the personal financial hamster wheel amid a relatively low quality of life—ripe for burnout and a less than vibrant second half of life.
The second leg is housing. Once a cornerstone of the runaway American dream. Now a literal impossibility for most people who haven’t already established themselves in the housing market, don’t have tons of money to their name, and prefer not to live in a relatively low cost part of the United States.
Even though housing prices in Spain have increased considerably since we started planning our move three years ago, the plan remains to buy a small apartment in Valencia. Even with the increased cost, owning a place can be within our reach in Spain.
As noted in recent Never Retire installments, the best type of structure to live under is one that flexes flexes. When thrown a curveball, it includes space to adjust to shifting circumstances. However, no amount of flexibility would have ever allowed us to touch home ownership in the US, especially in Los Angeles.
And we’re not talking home ownership for the sake of home ownership. That’s really what it became. Another box to check riding the personal financial hamster wheel in hot pursuit of the runaway American dream. Increasingly high cost, low quality of life, and no safety net.
None of this means home ownership can’t make sense. Clearly, it can. But only if it helps you establish a relatively low cost of living—maybe now—and definitely when you’re older.
Not as an investment. Not as an achievement. Not as something you put yourself in a tough work or financial situation to manage.
As I also mentioned last week, none of this talk is new. It’s not some epiphany I had when I experienced day-to-day life on the greener grass of Spain.
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