Quote:
Originally Posted by RandallNeighbour
Our entire society is moving from ownership to renting personal use items as if they were a temporary service. Software is now sold as subscription based through the cloud. Cell phone "purchases" are now paid by the month so they can be upgraded frequently. We pay for TV reception. Call me an old fart, but all I see is a culture determined to live for today with few avoiding the trap of the ongoing monthly payment for most everything.
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AHNC...(All hat no cattle).
The interesting thing to me about your statement here is that the one thing they ought to be renting...namely their residence, in order to to have an adequate portion of their income left over each month to secure retirement income, is often the only debt they're serving towards eventual ownership 30 years later. The rationale for this is often the belief that its a great investment...but only if you are oblivious to all the other investments that could have been made with the delta between the rent these AHNC's were paying and the full costs of carrying a home for the lender. See the chart below where the bar for house prices fall..to the right...way right.
And since the only investment the average home owner makes is their home, that red bar becomes easy to understand.
Me personally, I'm leaning hard on the bars on the extreme left while avoiding any interest carrying debt...be it credit card, auto or mortgage.