Times are tough all over

[tw]

Originally Posted by DanaC

I rent, I dont accrue more than a few hundred in debt and if I end up unemployed I can claim help with that rent. Whatever the economic climate there will always be landlords. I don't need to own a house, I just need to be able to live in one.

This works as long as you have other investments. One reason that home ownership is encouraged: a home is the only investment that so many have. The home mortgage *requires* him to invest in something. If you don't have a mortgage, then you should be investing continuously in some other equity.

Mortgage makes it easy for one to accumulate some wealth by forcing homeowners to keep making those payments - to keep investing in their net worth.