The Advantages of Real Estate over Stocks

I’n the past, I’ve defended real estate ownership as a way to create long-term wealth, versus renting, which gradually destroys your wealth (but more specifically, prevents you from ever creating wealth, because you’re constantly bleeding cash every month). James Altucher staunchly opposes home ownership, in which I disagree. Another critic of home ownership is Robert… Continue reading The Advantages of Real Estate over Stocks

Economics Misconceptions, Part 2

From James Altucher: FINANCIAL FRIDAYS: WHY TODAY IS THE DAY YOU HAVE TO REINVENT YOURSELF It’s going to be a shitstorm and I hope I have my umbrella. For the financial elite, it’s the best of times. For everyone else, maybe not so much, but by many metrics, living standards have improved. Never before has… Continue reading Economics Misconceptions, Part 2

Robert Shiller…Wrong About Real Estate

Whether it’s Joseph Stiglitz, Paul Krugman, Daniel Kahneman, or Obama (the Nobel committee took a huge dent in credibility after that), even Nobel laureates are not beyond reproach. Now it’s Robert Shiller, another liberal Noble Prize recipient who has been wrong about wealth inequality and other matters, writing in the New York Times: Why Land… Continue reading Robert Shiller…Wrong About Real Estate

Bay Area Rent Is Surging

Despite tame CPI-based inflation, rent, particularly in the Bay Area, has really exploded since 2011: The Bay Area real estate market is white hot, defying all predictions of its collapse. According to Zillow, San Jose, San Francisco, Palo Alto, and Berkeley rent has gained 40-70% since 2011, vs. only modest national gain in wages and… Continue reading Bay Area Rent Is Surging

How the left spreads misinformation, fear, and bad advice to ‘save/protect’ people

In their war on the ownership society, the left wants people to rent instead of owning homes. Because so much wealth is held in real estate, one way for the left to accomplish their goal of making society poorer is to get people out of homes and into rentals by spreading misinformation about real estate… Continue reading How the left spreads misinformation, fear, and bad advice to ‘save/protect’ people

Is James Altucher Right About Never Buying a Home?

James Altucher really doesn’t like home ownership, but repeating an argument ad nauseam doesn’t make it good advice. James had a negative experience with real estate due to bad dotcom investments, in addition to 911, which forced him to sell his newly purchased expensive New York apartment at a loss, not because of New York… Continue reading Is James Altucher Right About Never Buying a Home?

Buy Stocks or Real Estate Instead of Paying Down Student Loan Debt

From Mike ‘the lawyer’ Cernovich: I currently have a relatively large mount of unpaid student loans. My student loan interest rate on the outstanding balance of the two loans is at 2.2% and 3.65%, respectively. I pay the interest only, as the difference between my student loan interest rate and market returns are substantial. (Why… Continue reading Buy Stocks or Real Estate Instead of Paying Down Student Loan Debt

Why Millennials Are Still Living With Their Parents

From the American Interest: Why Millennials Are Still Living with Their Parents Pew’s analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data finds that in spite of an improved labor market, “the nation’s 18- to 34-year-olds are less likely to be living independently of their families and establishing their own households today than they were in the depths… Continue reading Why Millennials Are Still Living With Their Parents