Reply to No retirement savings....what to do with $150k? Buy a house or invest for retirement

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Save $50k. Use gig income toward the $100k for down payment. Do not ever listen to people who will tell you to keep renting you will continue making people like me rich.

Good luck. And hope you and your family find a nice home. [/quote]

I disagree. Buying can be the biggest mistake. So many hidden costs sometimes. Current property needed 30k of unexpected stuff an inspector missed in one year. Many years ago I was thinking I "made money" on a house when it sold for 100k more than I paid. But then I calculated all of the money I put into it (not including bank interest) and realized I spent 50k on that house in 5 years. So my "profit" was 50k. I am not even counting costs of insurance and taxes and the cost of selling, which means my profit was much less than 50k.

The buy or rent calculator from the NYT is pretty good. Unless you stay put for 8-10 years, buying is almost always worse.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/upshot/buy-rent-calculator.html

I am selling my house in 2 years (I've owned houses before). I will never own again unless I pay cash.

The NYT calclulator with my numbers says buying never makes sense, which I can agree on.

In many scenarios, investing in an index fund over 20 years yields better results.

OP: Watch this video: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTy2Vh0GuIQ

Also, OP: You have nothing for retirement! I would put 100k in a retirement account. Then 20k in an emergency fund in a high yield savings and then 30k in an account for a down payment maybe later on. But I would consider not buying at all.

[/quote]

This! Do NOT buy a house. Mortgage interest rates are bad. Homes have increasing costs. You probably want a nicer lifestyle than you grew up with abroad. Plus your tastes may change in a few years or your job location might.

Follow Ramit Sethi about how not buying is a better idea.[/quote]

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