It's a trick question because the only way you can accurately answer the question for any particular rent/buy question is a long way in the future. Most people

It's a trick question because the only way you can accurately answer the question for any particular rent/buy question is a long way in the future. Most people just look at the expense side of things at the present time. But you can only get a true picture of costs and benefits in retrospect. You can only hope that your cost-benefit analysis will be in the black, rather than in the red. Whichever one you pick 'Just Right Now' is a gamble. And then again, the government can upend your plans completely by changing the rules on a mere whim.