At first it wasn’t planned, and I know I rant about this often, but I am glad I never got most of my wealth tied up in a high-risk illiquid decaying asset. That is, a house.

That was probably the second-wisest financial decision I ever made. (The first was stock market games I play.) Since I am partnered and luckily we share thinking in many areas, if we need to bug out with a big wad of cash to another domicile where they don’t speak much English, we can. We have nothing really tying up that.

One day, we will probably own a house. But we’ll make sure that most of our wealth doesn’t get locked down in that asset. It’s a terrible investment and it has huge financial risks — even absent something like a Great Recession. Replacing a roof is $30,000. Something not covered by insurance and there goes $200,000+ down the hole.

Our housing policies and practices in this country are terrible; housing as an investment is one of the worst ideas in history.