First off, a house is really both an investment and a home. I would disagree with anyone that says it is one and not the other.
When you look at a house as an investment, one has to realize that there is a certain risk involved. So unless you are ready to lose some money if you made a bad decision, you should not invest. The most important thing to remember is that "investing" is never a bad decision. But investing w/o analyzing the risk involved is definitely bad. At the cost of sounding like any financial advisor, diversification is the key. Don't put all your eggs in one basket.
1. You do not want to buy a house because the real estate market may collapse.
2. You do not want to invest in stocks because the stock market could go down.
3. You do not want to buy gold because their track record for long term returns is a joke.
4. You do not want to park your money in a savings account because the interest doesn't even beat inflation.
Then what is an average investor to do?
The answer is "diversify" to minimize risk. Each of the above is a solid investment if you know how to play it. We need to invest in house, gold, stocks, bonds, savings account, etc, and be prepared to take a the risk of losing some money in any one.
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Originally Posted by sk2006
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