Steven

And it was like these numbers don't mean anything to me. These numbers are just going into the new house. But that house that I left behind meant everything to me. So that gets back to like don't think of it as a financial transaction. It should be this is where you want to raise your family and build some memories.

I have no memories of my daughter's first steps in my Vanguard index fund. That's really it. You are investing in a Vanguard index fund because you think you're going to make money over time, whereas you should not have that mentality when you buy a house. It should be within your financial means, but you should be doing it because it's a good place to raise your family for a long period of time.

I have no memories of my daughter's first steps in my Vanguard index fund. That's really it. You are investing in a Vanguard index fund because you think you're going to make money over time, whereas you should not have that mentality when you buy a house. It should be within your financial means, but you should be doing it because it's a good place to raise your family for a long period of time.

Yeah. That was true in previous generations because if you go back to the 1950s, 60s, 70s, we were building so many more homes

Yeah. That was true in previous generations because if you go back to the 1950s, 60s, 70s, we were building so many more homes

we are today that they were much cheaper even when interest rates were higher they were much cheaper and so the advice of hey you got an entry-level job you should go buy an entry-level house probably made sense in the 60s and 70s in a way that it doesn't today the other element here that is very easy to overlook in the housing problem the housing debate is that the homes that we found adequate in the 50s and 60s we would not find adequate today

we are today that they were much cheaper even when interest rates were higher they were much cheaper and so the advice of hey you got an entry-level job you should go buy an entry-level house probably made sense in the 60s and 70s in a way that it doesn't today the other element here that is very easy to overlook in the housing problem the housing debate is that the homes that we found adequate in the 50s and 60s we would not find adequate today

So Levittown in New York is like the prototypical example. That's when like end of World War II, build big, like build the middle-class community, build this huge new community called Levittown in New York. And that was like the typical white picket fence, middle-class home that we like long for today. And they were cheap, they were affordable. The average new house in Levittown

So Levittown in New York is like the prototypical example. That's when like end of World War II, build big, like build the middle-class community, build this huge new community called Levittown in New York. And that was like the typical white picket fence, middle-class home that we like long for today. And they were cheap, they were affordable. The average new house in Levittown

was 700 square feet. It had two bedrooms for an average of a family of five or six moving into it. One bathroom for those six people, no air conditioning, no garage. It would be a house that if I showed you today, you would be like, it's a crack house. Nobody would say that is a beautiful middle-class house. So expectations over time have increased tremendously.

was 700 square feet. It had two bedrooms for an average of a family of five or six moving into it. One bathroom for those six people, no air conditioning, no garage. It would be a house that if I showed you today, you would be like, it's a crack house. Nobody would say that is a beautiful middle-class house. So expectations over time have increased tremendously.

So now the average new middle-class house is 2,200 square feet, where it used to be 700. So like what an entry-level house is, the definition of that has expanded tremendously over time.

So now the average new middle-class house is 2,200 square feet, where it used to be 700. So like what an entry-level house is, the definition of that has expanded tremendously over time.

my wife and I rented for years and looking back at the time and looking back, it was the best thing that we ever did. We rented for 10 years before we bought a house because we lived in five different cities and we could just easily just pack up and go. And then we just, we weren't tied to anything. We had flexibility. And yeah,

my wife and I rented for years and looking back at the time and looking back, it was the best thing that we ever did. We rented for 10 years before we bought a house because we lived in five different cities and we could just easily just pack up and go. And then we just, we weren't tied to anything. We had flexibility. And yeah,

it was pretty much the week that our son was born when we had our first kid, that it was like a switch in my head. I was like, I need to go have my own house because the flexibility that I enjoyed when we were childless, it was the opposite. I was like, I'd value stability now. I want a stable house for my family. And it was like instantly that switched.

it was pretty much the week that our son was born when we had our first kid, that it was like a switch in my head. I was like, I need to go have my own house because the flexibility that I enjoyed when we were childless, it was the opposite. I was like, I'd value stability now. I want a stable house for my family. And it was like instantly that switched.

And so that was not a financial decision of like, I need to go out and buy it because I have some extra savings. It was like, I want my house that's mine. And there's not going to be a landlord that sends me a letter and says, oh, sorry, you're evicted. Or sorry, we're selling the building you need to leave. This is my house. That was the shift for me.

And so that was not a financial decision of like, I need to go out and buy it because I have some extra savings. It was like, I want my house that's mine. And there's not going to be a landlord that sends me a letter and says, oh, sorry, you're evicted. Or sorry, we're selling the building you need to leave. This is my house. That was the shift for me.

But it's not, in the slightest. I mean, for anyone who's owned a house, you know the expenses that go into a house. It's not just the mortgage. It's the broken water heater. It's replacing your roof. It's the expenses that go into it. Like, you want to talk about throwing your money away, try replacing your roof on a house that you own. That feels like throwing money away.