Okay but they'd be paying the higher rate regardless. On the hypothetical "rent the whole time" track they have much less money than the "bought ten years ago"

Okay but they'd be paying the higher rate regardless. On the hypothetical "rent the whole time" track they have much less money than the "bought ten years ago" track they actually took. In both cases housing costs more, but in the latter they have hundreds of thousands of dollars more in easily liquified assets.