so is it time for Washington to do something about this I.e. windfall taxes on rent increases, increase rent more then 5 percent you pay extra taxes, or don’t allow any tax deductions for repairs/taxes/insurance. Etc. maybe limit the number of rentals you can own. This is a real problem that is killing the middle class in America. Your thoughts ?
This is sort of a complex topic.
In general, my viewpoint is that, except for some unincorporated areas of Alaska, that there are no real "home owners" in America. Paying property taxes is essentially like paying rent but in a different format. Lots of people have to exit their homes and living situations if they just can't keep up on their property tax payments.
I don't think much will be done from our collected cabal of elected officials as they stand to profit from the current trajectory of what many people are calling "The Great Reset"
For people without kids right now but are thinking about having them, I would say stick to the DINK principle ( Double Income No Kids) and then stick to the FI/RE principles ( Financial Independence/Retire Early spectrum) While I don't agree with everything said for FI/RE, I do agree that the practical considerations for buying a home are different at a generational level. I have property in Brooklyn and had it for a very very long time. Could I afford it today? Yes. But I also have a full lifetime of earning behind me to do it. But I can't sit here and say the practical issues of buying a home then are the same for someone who is in their 30s right now reading this in these forums. I also agree with the core "minimalism" concept of FI/RE, which is be mobile and be able to leave anywhere at anytime for any reason. Having lots of stuff only weighs you down. I would just suggest for those people in this DINK situation to just not have kids period. Buying a home is really critical if you have children. If you don't, you can find a way to get by much better.
For those with young kids in the middle school and high school range, I would suggest getting your kids to join the military as a career. It's probably the best still functional retirement plan for a wide scale range of ability types ( I'm not going to go full Jordan Peterson here, but many people aren't going to be heavy hitters in STEM, that's just reality) Unless there's a specific goal in mind ( i.e. like being a surgeon), I would tell those folks to get their kids into the military. That gets those kids out, working, earning some money, having a pathway to pay for college, find a new culture, and maybe last the 20 years or more to get a pension and long term medical.
For those already entrenched with a marriage, home and kids, I would say you just have to ride it out. Statistical odds are divorce are high and once those kids leave the nest, many of those guys in that situation will be handed divorce papers. For the average person, moving when you have kids entrenched in school and you are likely entrenched in your career situation is not really viable for a lot of people.
The design of the "nuclear family" was meant as a benefit long term for the state and government. There is a need for future workers, soldiers and taxpayers. If the system denies you the means to participate in that social compact, then remove your end of the bargain. Look at Japan, there is a crisis for the massively declining birth rate over time. Japan is a dying society. Lots of people there are living longer and fewer and fewer people are getting married and having children. That's how the average American who is scraping by to make a living fights back - Don't have kids. Don't have any more kids. Don't be a wildly extravagant consumer.
If every American operated under the FI/RE principle, this country would economically collapse.
There are still lots of single guys in here. Find a skill. Not a career but an actual transferable and needed skill. Hone that like a sharp edge of a knife. That will help you create a career. More the better if it's something you can do remotely. If you can, do it remotely and rent in the cheapest place you can find. Don't buy a home even if you can scratch together the money. Don't get married and don't have kids and don't live outside your means.
Notice I say "Buying a home" instead of "Home Ownership"
If you are paying property taxes, you are still a renter. The "state" still has their boot up against your throat. Given bad luck or a bad string of circumstances or bad situations, that "home" can easily be taken from you.
Find the cheapest rent you can and stay lean and mobile. "Buying A Home" is often a trap for most men. I mean lots of them invest into that situation because they have obligations to their children. If you get to retirement, if there is still such a thing and the world doesn't destroy itself by then, look at being an ExPat if that's viable. Personally I think Mexico is a decent choice for most Americans retiring today or soon with the understanding that their income will be fixed and not very much for the long haul for the rest of their lives.
I don't expect there to be widespread public policy change to move away from the current trajectory. The wealthy elite own America and they own the political establishment. The design was and is to make all of you cattle. Before, in older times, when I was younger, at least there was some attempt to put frosting on it. Now the wealthy elite want to do it and rub it in your face.
If you don't have children, then the cabal of power brokers who actually run this country can't have a generation of new slaves to push around.
I'm a geriatric. I'm retired now. I don't have many more years left. I'm not in the generational timeline that many of you are in right now. Focus on necessities. You don't need a new air fryer. You don't need a water rower. You don't need a weighted blanket. If you can't fit all your possessions in a single car, then you have too much stuff.
Widespread public policy will have an ATTEMPT to change once the cabal of wealthy elite realize no one is having children anymore. Be fair about it, why would anyone want to have kids today if they were starting out right now? I'm not talking about those of you with 15 year olds at home right now, but people in their early 20s as of today just starting out in life. Why would my godson want to have kids and get married and buy a home today? It's the "Tinder generation" Sorry but I'm not going to be PC here, I'm not all that gung ho at the thought of my godson marrying off to someone who was ripe on Tinder for a decade before she met him. Not a type like that. And how many are there out there that are not types like that? The world is chaos. The economy long term looks cooked. It's the age of woke identity politics. It appears there is basically state sanctioned cultural and social terrorism allowed. Everyone is staring at a tiny phone screen instead of talking to each other. If you talk, you risk getting sued. Who wants to have kids as of today? Let's be honest. It's not a hard sell for most.
No children. No future workers. No future tax base. No future cattle and slaves for the wealthy elite.
Channel your inner Matthew Broderick here - If you present people with a Lose/Lose/Lose/Lose proposition, the only answer is not to play at all.
There are zero real "home owners" here if you bought a house in America, unless you are in some unincorporated part of Alaska and that is some brutally hard and complex day to day living. (There's a reason it's unincorporated)
The only things you own in his life is your integrity. How you react. How you choose to be happy or sad. When you cry. When you laugh. Who you love. These are things that no one can take from you. Those are things that you can only surrender away on your own choice.
Here's what matters the most. Real freedom is the power to walk away from anyone or anything in this life, other than your own biological children, at any time.
