Is Home Ownership An Investment?
This has been a lot topic among bloggers, so I’ll throw in my 2-cents.
Every asset you own can be classified into 3 broad categories: necessities, luxuries and investments.
Examples include:
Necessities: electricity, gasoline, food, water, clothing, banking, medicine and *shelters*.
Luxuries: Tag Heuer watches, iPods, Coach bags, Ferraris and sailboats.
Investments: stocks, bonds and rental properties.
No. That’s not a typo. I did place “shelter” as one of the necessities, but I believe the crux of the misunderstanding centers around what exactly do we consume: is it the warmth provided by the shelter, or the ownership of the shelter itself? Let’s clarify by drawing parallels from my dividend-paying stocks.
I consume electricity, but also consider my ownership of Fortis as an investment. Similarly, I’m a part-owner of Saputo, Canadian Oil Sand, Reitmans, Royal Bank and Johnson & Johnson, which all provide essential products and services […]
Original post by Financial Jungle Guy