Trigger alert.
For the record, this applies to most people, but not everyone.
It doesn’t apply if I’m actively downgrading my permanent residence with each sale.
It also doesn’t apply if I have an investment property attached to my primary (like a duplex I rent out).
For all other cases, my house is an expense, not an investment.
An investment makes me more money. Put $1 in and get >$1 out.
An expense on the other hand is consumed. Put $1 in and I’ll get an experience or a feeling or a memory, but I’m not getting more money from it.
But houses go up in value, Rick. So how is that not an investment?
Because my house will likely be exchanged for increasingly larger houses until I settle into my forever home.
All that money buried under my house will make my kids rich when I’m gone, but it’s unlikely I’ll see any of it.
For my life, that money was consumed. Which is TOTALLY fine.
But I’ll do that with my eyes wide open when I drop the down payment, remodel my kitchen and put in solar panels.
(Okay just MAYBE I’d count solar panels as an investment as long as the tax breaks are still around.)
