We are becoming a renters nation - Since 2006, in 22 of the largest U.S. cities renters became majority (fund, poor)
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Our government puts out data on this and it shows as of December 2017 that 31.4% of homes are renter occupied with 12.2% of homes vacant and 56.4% are homeowner occupied. That is FAR from becoming a nation of renter's.
But we are undeniably becoming a nation forgetful of how to use apos'trophe's.
Your only complaint is that Google's auto fill is garbage? If auto fill putting in an apostrophe on renter's bugs you (because I mostly use it for renter's insurance and Google doesn't exactly understand context) then you should get off the internet.
the problem is the world is filled with what sounds to be great mantras but in practice mean little .
buy low sell high is one of those silly mantras , where is low ? we all thought low was when we fell 2000 points in 2008 . who knew we had 4000 more to go which either hit stop losses or send investors trying to time things bailing out at losses . buy high and sell higher has made more money for investors than any other mantra . the trend is your friend .
the most spewed is live below your means .
but what does live below your means actually tell you ? not to much . what is means today can flip on a dime with divorce-illness -job loss .
living within your means has a whole lot more to do with the ratio of discretionary to non discretionary spending than just the amount you live on . when you have a budget that is certainly within your means but everything is a need and not a want , there is no where to cut back . it has to do with preparing for the big 3 that eventually hits us all that i listed above . how do you prepare and protect ? that is all part of living within ones means .
so there needs to be a whole lot more that needs to be learned than the sayings you see typically spewed on forums .
I just think that without investing your money in something smart, it's really hard to be able to save enough to feel financially comfortable.
One guy told me he has enough money saved, so that if something happens with his job, he can comfortably live with his family for 1 year without work. I thought that's an amazing plan, but it's not that easy to get there...
Nah, just a bunch of meaningless assumptions. Homeownership rates (owner occupied/all occupied) have held fairly steady over the last two decades, with the expected peak at the peak of the housing boom and it dropped back down to a normal healthy level after the bust, drops around recessions are normal. The rate has been rising steadily and you can expect it to rise for the foreseeable future until the next bubble pops. The previous linked data shows 4th qtr 2017 at 64.2% (and trending up) vs 4th qtr 1996 at 65.4%.
When homeownership rates drop below 55% then maybe there would be something to talk about.
I think it's a good idea to keep an eye on trends rather than wait until the crash actually happens; there might be some good opportunities there. It's like with hair loss, it's better to notice that your hair is falling and take some action, rather than waiting to get bold to do something about it
The only "crisis" is that a large percentage of people in the U.S. lack financial discipline.
I have no great love for my fellow citizens -- but your statement is not true. Wages have been stagnant for the past 40-50 years. While I think high school kids should have a semester course, every year for four years, and while I do tend to agree that we could all use more financial discipline, fair is fair, and your statement is not factual.
Both statements are true. Wages have been stagnating AND people lack financial discipline. So many people where I work who pull in $25/hour blow it at the sports bar to the tune of $150+ per week, or they buy new, decked out $50K pickup trucks, or they have a red bull habit and spend $4-6 per day on those when a cup of coffee is 25 cents.
I got lucky with my home... estate auction paid $120K which is 2X my annual income not counting the stock market or crypto currencies. Bought it Oct 2016, Put around $10K into it, and could sell it for $180K today.
One guy told me he has enough money saved, so that if something happens with his job,
(his fault or not) he can comfortably live with his family for 1 year without work.
I thought that's an amazing plan, but it's not that easy to get there...
Easy or not it's a plain vanilla tactic called "The Emergency Fund" (or FU money).
They're available for all manner of unplanned expenses aside from unemployment.
EVERYONE should have these accounts and however 'not easy' it might be to achieve it.
The amount to hold beyond six months of expenses should reflect how long it generally takes
for people in their field and at their level to get another similar job and how much OTHER cash
they have available within their overall portfolio of assets & investments. A year can make good sense.
---
As to the rise in renters... job insecurity plays a larger role now than in the past.
If you can't be certain you'll be in the same city for X years (let alone the same job/company)
it becomes really hard to justify committing to an expensive mortgage even if you can afford it.
Last edited by MrRational; 02-25-2018 at 06:07 AM..
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