5 ms·

What about all the common folks that do the same? You don't have to be a millionnaire to benefit from this "trick". It's merely proper planning.

by deburo 5y ago

pessimizer 5y ago
I assume you mean "common" as "not royal," not "common" as "not wealthy enough to live off their investments."
dgan 5y ago
Is this even serious? "what-about" them? It seems pretty obvious that they don't have as much wealth, so the issue is less relevant. Again, that's the point of the article.. Common folks didn't see their wealth skyrocketing
- mardifoufs 5y ago
  It depends on what your definition of common folks is. Even here in Montreal, where housing prices have been historically depressed VS the US and the rest of Canada, I know plenty of families with very modest salaries who bought 200-300k $ homes 10-20 years ago that are now worth well north of 1.5m+. Obviously a lot of people didn't get richer, but a huge proportion of the population did (at least on paper). By any definition being worth more than 1m$ is a lot of money, especially here. But it seems like the goalposts keep getting moved to the point where saying "what about the millionaires" is seen as an attack on the working class because billionaires exist. I've seen people argue that Bernie wasn't rich because he is just worth less than 2m$(!!). Sure, billionaires have a lot more wealth than your average millionaire but I'd bet even taxing them at 100% would bring so much less revenue than raising the tax rates on the "lower millionaire bourgeoisie" by a few percentage points. Yes we can do both, but it's not going to happen considering the complete focus on the mega wealthy sometimes coming from other rich people in denial.
  - tootie 5y ago
    You can get similar returns buying index funds and you don't need a down payment or good credit. The sunk cost or rent is usually higher than the sunk cost of mortgage interest and home maintenance, but gives the added benefit of increased liquidity and ability to diversify. And personal mobility.

What about all the common folks that do the same? You don't have to be a millionnaire to benefit from this "trick". It's merely proper planning.

by deburo 5y ago

What about all the common folks that do the same? You don't have to be a millionnaire to benefit from this "trick". It's merely proper planning.

pessimizer 5y ago

I assume you mean "common" as "not royal," not "common" as "not wealthy enough to live off their investments."

dgan 5y ago

Is this even serious? "what-about" them? It seems pretty obvious that they don't have as much wealth, so the issue is less relevant. Again, that's the point of the article.. Common folks didn't see their wealth skyrocketing

mardifoufs 5y ago
It depends on what your definition of common folks is. Even here in Montreal, where housing prices have been historically depressed VS the US and the rest of Canada, I know plenty of families with very modest salaries who bought 200-300k $ homes 10-20 years ago that are now worth well north of 1.5m+. Obviously a lot of people didn't get richer, but a huge proportion of the population did (at least on paper). By any definition being worth more than 1m$ is a lot of money, especially here. But it seems like the goalposts keep getting moved to the point where saying "what about the millionaires" is seen as an attack on the working class because billionaires exist. I've seen people argue that Bernie wasn't rich because he is just worth less than 2m$(!!). Sure, billionaires have a lot more wealth than your average millionaire but I'd bet even taxing them at 100% would bring so much less revenue than raising the tax rates on the "lower millionaire bourgeoisie" by a few percentage points. Yes we can do both, but it's not going to happen considering the complete focus on the mega wealthy sometimes coming from other rich people in denial.
- tootie 5y ago
  You can get similar returns buying index funds and you don't need a down payment or good credit. The sunk cost or rent is usually higher than the sunk cost of mortgage interest and home maintenance, but gives the added benefit of increased liquidity and ability to diversify. And personal mobility.