A useful way of looking at this, orthogonal to the issue of forced savings, is that you need a roof over your head, so you are born short housing. Buying a mode

A useful way of looking at this, orthogonal to the issue of forced savings, is that you need a roof over your head, so you are born short housing. Buying a modest home covers this short and so is typically a risk mitigating thing to do. Owning more house than you really need puts you long housing. Remaining short housing and investing in the stock market may have a positive expected return, but puts you at risk of being priced out of your local housing market if that happens to outperform stocks for a while.