Originally Posted by
Sam York
I can agree with that. Paid my house off 3 months ago and have a 60k cash reserve. Feels great. I should never need to borrow or owe any money ever again.
If I want a new car I'll wait until I have the cash. Want a new house, yep, I'll wait until I have enough cash less the value of my current house.
Fund your retirement accounts FULLY before you sink too much cash into real assets.
In the event of job loss or hardship leading to BK you keep the IRA/401k, but everything else is fair game for creditors (except a cheap house and a cheap car).
Remember you don't have to owe money to the bank but you WILL owe money every year to various levels of government. You should plan BK protection with that in mind.
Life is risky and lenders have their place in helping share that risk.