The New Economy

I recently read an interesting article called The 30-Year American Dream. The article was at wethesavers.ingdirect.com/homeowners-living-room/the-30-year-american-dream/.



Having been a math teacher, I am a numbers person. So it caught my attention in the article when it said:



“In 2003, 83 percent of Americans said they thought owning their own home was a safe investment. According to a recent National Housing Quarterly Survey, today only 64 percent of Americans think it’s a safe investment, down from 70 percent at the beginning of 2010.”



As well as:



“Today, the average American changes jobs every four years, moves 11.7 times in a lifetime and refinances their home roughly every five years. Pin these numbers against the backdrop of a 15 or 30-year fixed rate mortgage, and you see the bulk of American homeowners paying thousands in insurance for mortgage duration they don’t need.”



Most people today still consider owning a home to be a good investment and that is a bold-faced lie. It is not an investment and should not be looked at as an investment. This lie must have started back in 1938 when Fannie Mae was born.

If I was a lot younger and did not want to experience the joys of gardening and being around nature, I would rent instead of own.



People think, wrongly, that there are a lot of tax advantages to owning a home. Wrong again. Do the math. Plus by moving on average 11.7 times in your lifetime, I have moved maybe 3 times that, owning a home can become a very poor use of your money, which is why I said it should not be looked at as an investment.



In today’s economy buying a home could be tragic as many people are seeing their home’s value dive bombing.



Why am I spending so much time talking about home ownership and it being a bad choice for most people? We are in a new economy, a global economy. No longer are we affected only by what happens in our neighborhood, city or state. We are affected by events on the other side of the world.



The economic power is shifting from west to east. The USA will soon no longer be the envy of the world and we need to face up to that if we want to come out on top and enjoy a happy and successful life.



In fact, a new book will be published later this year called Happiness & Success, Why the Trade-offs Aren’t Necessary. It will show you what you need to do now to ensure you will be well off in this New Economy.