How much is enough?

[TingTong]

Yes it looks like you made a foolish decision in hindsight but on the positive side you are now living in a comfortable house albeit a liability.

The whole gist of this thread is that people can "retire" (choose not to work) whenever suits them, it just depends on what quality of life you are happy to accept.

In general, you can:

1) stop working at a young age on an average income, or
2) you can stop working at an older age on a higher income.

It depends if you believe money can buy time.

Agreed with disclaimers. It depends on how much you are willing to indulge in the non-monetary benefits of PPOR ownership: peace of mind, security, etc. My PPOR bought in 2010 for 750k for cash is now worth at most 700k. If I had to pay interest costs on a mortgage as a minority of home owners do, the losses would be far compounded. If I were to rent it out, I would only get 500 per week. So overall, a loss-loss situation.

 

[matto_]

PPOR decision process is EXTREMELY different to the investment decision process.

Saw the MMM article on real estate. Also mentions having a request from an australian for him to help buy in his local area.

 

[china]

Whilst PPOR decision making is different to IP, it is still important to buy PPOR at the right price and appreciates in value over time. Otherwise it is a bigger liability than it should be.