4 ms·

I'm not sure why anyone thinks they'd be able to 'retire' in a world where most people will never afford a house and will thus need to pay a landlord forever if

by nailer 3y ago

I'm not sure why anyone thinks they'd be able to 'retire' in a world where most people will never afford a house and will thus need to pay a landlord forever if they want to live somewhere near a major city. We have four options: - get rich - stay working forever - kill ourselves - move to the woods

swader999 3y ago
Working on my urban foraging skills. It's hard and not fun.
- MaKey 3y ago
  I imagine the competition to be fierce.
  - swader999 3y ago
    Dogs and cats are ruthless.
barelyauser 3y ago
My plan is pretty straightforward: - keep healthy - increase ownership of capital - achieve age escape velocity
wonderwonder 3y ago
Cant even retire if you own your home outright. Still got to pay property tax
- pc86 3y ago
  Assuming social security exists 30/40/50 years from now, unless you live in one of a half dozen most expensive areas in the country, SS is several times more than your property tax liability.
  - wonderwonder 3y ago
    sure, but SS also has to cover food, power, gas, and everything else.
    - pc86 3y ago
      Only if you plan on living off of SS exclusively which is a fool's errand for anyone that isn't already retired (and many who are).
      - wonderwonder 3y ago
        sure, but thats a large portion of the population.
bluGill 3y ago
More young people are buying houses than 50 years ago. Getting rich is more about living below your means than anything else - of course those with more income have more means in the first place, but there are plenty of people making $500k/year living paycheck to paycheck, while others making barely more than poverty wages manage to become millionaires (generally around 60 - compound interest takes a while to work for you)
enoch_r 3y ago
This is absurd. If you're willing to live somewhere moderately unfashionable, the vast majority of people on HN could easily afford to buy a house. For example, this 4 bed, 2 bath, 1800sf house just sold in Cleveland for $272k: https://www.redfin.com/OH/Cleveland/2548-Cheshire-Rd-44120/home/66245056 https://www.redfin.com/OH/Cleveland/2548-Cheshire-Rd-44120/h... That's a much nicer, larger house than almost all of our grandparents grew up in (plus has some great bonuses such as running water). Definitely larger than you need when you're retired, but maybe you want plenty of room for grandkids to visit.
- ghaff 3y ago
  An absurd number of people seem to think that the only housing options are a renovated Victorian in San Francisco or a log cabin in a forest in Idaho.
  - pc86 3y ago
    Depending on what part of Idaho the cabin might cost more, too.
- nailer 3y ago
  Most people on HN have a couple of failed startups - maybe an investor pulls out suddenly when you're expecting a cheque - mean you'll have likely missed a bill or two, and your credit is ruined, and you'll never get a loan. You now need $272k cash. Not undoable but as previously mentioned: - get rich
  - sgjohnson 3y ago
    > never bankruptcy stays on your credit file for just 7 years. And nobody is going to care about a missed bill or two in 2-3 years. As long as you don't take any payday loans, that is.
  - dragonwriter 3y ago
    > Most people on HN have a couple of failed startups I doubt it. There may have been a time when most people on HN were startup founders, but it doesn't seem to be the case today. > mean you'll have likely missed a bill or two, and your credit is ruined, and you'll never get a loan. I don't have any failed startups, but I have missed plenty of bills, including going more than a year without paying a mortgage before short selling the house. Credit isn't perfect now, but was able to swing a home loan on reasonable terms only a couple years after; missing a few bills isn’t a “you can never get a loan for life” situation.
gruez 3y ago
>- move to the woods Does that count as retiring? Presumably you'd still need money for stuff like electricity and manufactured goods that you can't make/forge yourself. Not to mention all the forging/hunting/crafting you'd have to do to sustain yourself.
shawnz 3y ago
Buying a house isn't necessary to have a sustainable life. The costs associated with homeownership can be comparable to renting, and you can do just as well by investing in the stock market as you would investing in owning property (you can even invest in real estate on the stock market).

by nailer 3y ago

swader999 3y ago

Working on my urban foraging skills. It's hard and not fun.

MaKey 3y ago
I imagine the competition to be fierce.
- swader999 3y ago
  Dogs and cats are ruthless.

barelyauser 3y ago

My plan is pretty straightforward: - keep healthy - increase ownership of capital - achieve age escape velocity

wonderwonder 3y ago

Cant even retire if you own your home outright. Still got to pay property tax

pc86 3y ago
Assuming social security exists 30/40/50 years from now, unless you live in one of a half dozen most expensive areas in the country, SS is several times more than your property tax liability.
- wonderwonder 3y ago
  sure, but SS also has to cover food, power, gas, and everything else.
  - pc86 3y ago
    Only if you plan on living off of SS exclusively which is a fool's errand for anyone that isn't already retired (and many who are).
    - wonderwonder 3y ago
      sure, but thats a large portion of the population.

bluGill 3y ago

More young people are buying houses than 50 years ago. Getting rich is more about living below your means than anything else - of course those with more income have more means in the first place, but there are plenty of people making $500k/year living paycheck to paycheck, while others making barely more than poverty wages manage to become millionaires (generally around 60 - compound interest takes a while to work for you)

enoch_r 3y ago

This is absurd. If you're willing to live somewhere moderately unfashionable, the vast majority of people on HN could easily afford to buy a house. For example, this 4 bed, 2 bath, 1800sf house just sold in Cleveland for $272k: https://www.redfin.com/OH/Cleveland/2548-Cheshire-Rd-44120/home/66245056 https://www.redfin.com/OH/Cleveland/2548-Cheshire-Rd-44120/h... That's a much nicer, larger house than almost all of our grandparents grew up in (plus has some great bonuses such as running water). Definitely larger than you need when you're retired, but maybe you want plenty of room for grandkids to visit.

ghaff 3y ago
An absurd number of people seem to think that the only housing options are a renovated Victorian in San Francisco or a log cabin in a forest in Idaho.
- pc86 3y ago
  Depending on what part of Idaho the cabin might cost more, too.
nailer 3y ago
Most people on HN have a couple of failed startups - maybe an investor pulls out suddenly when you're expecting a cheque - mean you'll have likely missed a bill or two, and your credit is ruined, and you'll never get a loan. You now need $272k cash. Not undoable but as previously mentioned: - get rich
- sgjohnson 3y ago
  > never bankruptcy stays on your credit file for just 7 years. And nobody is going to care about a missed bill or two in 2-3 years. As long as you don't take any payday loans, that is.
- dragonwriter 3y ago
  > Most people on HN have a couple of failed startups I doubt it. There may have been a time when most people on HN were startup founders, but it doesn't seem to be the case today. > mean you'll have likely missed a bill or two, and your credit is ruined, and you'll never get a loan. I don't have any failed startups, but I have missed plenty of bills, including going more than a year without paying a mortgage before short selling the house. Credit isn't perfect now, but was able to swing a home loan on reasonable terms only a couple years after; missing a few bills isn’t a “you can never get a loan for life” situation.

gruez 3y ago

>- move to the woods Does that count as retiring? Presumably you'd still need money for stuff like electricity and manufactured goods that you can't make/forge yourself. Not to mention all the forging/hunting/crafting you'd have to do to sustain yourself.

shawnz 3y ago

Buying a house isn't necessary to have a sustainable life. The costs associated with homeownership can be comparable to renting, and you can do just as well by investing in the stock market as you would investing in owning property (you can even invest in real estate on the stock market).