The 30-year-fixed mortgage combined with the many federal backstops on house prices is the real American social security program. This is also accentuated by th

The 30-year-fixed mortgage combined with the many federal backstops on house prices is the real American social security program. This is also accentuated by the lavish pro-borrower policies at the state and federal level that make foreclosure very difficult. And the asset is protected in bankruptcy. If you do not buy in to the housing market, you are on the wrong end of every fiscal and monetary policy operating in the US. One way to reduce the pressure on the housing market to act as a secret pension is to reform social security. It's ridiculous that such a heavy tax on workers pays out such a pathetic amount at the end. The way that it works, the payroll tax money just gets embezzled by Congress, and then a tiny amount is squirted back into the accounts of the taxpayers once they are done embezzling it. Housing is important for reasons beyond just providing a pension-equivalent combined with shelter. However, there is little pressure to fix these things because the hidden housing benefit is so extravagant and so broadly held by so many voters. It really flips the switch on life to make it EZMode at the cost of mobility. There are still ways to screw up your life, of course, but you kind of have to go out of your way to do it.