Back to the original post I think there are several statistics that apply to different geographical areas or demographics in the same post, leading us to conclusion that half the continent is out on the street, and demonstrating risk of back of the napkin calculations on policy decisions, even if we assume good will and honest effort :-/
He's arguing below that about 50% of the US population is homeless, which is not even close to accurate.
In the Netherlands, you aren’t taxed on your primary residence, but all other wealth has an approximately 2% annual wealth tax. This makes it challenging to accumulate wealth through any means other than a primary residence, which was many of my coworkers’ primary way of saving.
Granted, they also have mandatory pensions, which can give you a good income in retirement, but that’s different than wealth accumulation
Bullshit. American unemployment pays consdeirably more than UK unemployment. Throw on food stamps and housing assisitance on there, and the US might still be below the more generous European countries, but you definitely have a safety net.
> unlike in Europe... So owning your home is a big part of having something to retire on and pay bills
So what, like the UK? And Ireland? And argaubly all of Europe east of Germany and in Scandinaivia, all places where home ownership is comparable or greater than the US?
UK unemployment (called Jobseeker's Allowance) is up to £90.50/week. $115.30 in dollars.
Also your math is off: even at your $4200/mo estimate, that's $50,400/yr, nowhere near your "not too far off" $60k. And that puts it at 30%-50% below the $70k-$100k range, which makes that range laughably inaccurate.
That would mean you are paying $2k a month in tax and insurance?!
"Apartment in a moderate-cost area is about $70,000-$100,000/year."
Are we saying apartment rental is between 5 and 8 thousand dollars a month? What is the definition of this moderate cost area??