It's not necessarily about being able to afford a house, but rather about whether home ownership is the best option financially when compared to other options. 20 years ago, homes were so cheap that I'd be willing to buy a home just for the sake of being a homeowner and enjoying the security that entailed. However, nowadays with sky high housing prices, home ownership would need to provide concrete financial benefits when compared to other investments.
Admittedly I'd likely be more motivated to look into buying a house if I wanted children.
>Sounds like, in lieu of anything else, you should try and buy a rental property or two. Start slow, eventually FIRE, that whole thing.
Yes this is the path I am most likely to go down. Buying some rental properties and retiring relatively young is an attractive option.
> Ownership would need to provide concrete financial benefits when compared to other investment
And
> retiring before my 40th birthday.
Are quite the Freudian slips
Even I a young tech worker know I will never get a pension and I will never own a "proper house" the closest I will get to that will be more like a caged house in Taiwan.
Sounds like, in lieu of anything else, you should try and buy a rental property or two. Start slow, eventually FIRE, that whole thing.
That said, yeah, the same sentence could then be applied but with time: "why retire when I have nothing to do with my time?"
I'm 30 and still don't have a great answer for either, whether it be time or money.