Personal Finance

I'm 36 with a $3.25 million net worth — should I keep renting to maximize savings?

Aaron Webber

Published: January 6, 2025 9:30 am

Rent or buy? That is the question Americans have been asking themselves for generations. The American Dream has typically included a home that you own outright, some kind of pet, a successful desk job, and a family. But as private equity snatches up more and more homes, sending the price into the stratosphere, more people are opting to rent instead of buy (even though rent is also higher than at any other point in history, proportionally), and it looks like a future wherein we own nothing and rent everything we need or want is increasingly likely.

One particularly rich individual was feeling the pressure to buy a home to check that box of ‘success’ but was making more money while renting. They weren’t sure their decision was the right one, so they took their worries to the people in r/fatFIRE, a community focused on retiring early with “a fat stash” of money.

Please remember, that the responses to his question, and anything you read in the article as well, do not reflect the vast majority of Americans, and are not legal advice. It is opinion. You should always speak to an expert.

The Question

The author of the original post says they are 36 years old with $3.25 million in net worth. They live in a very expensive city, earn around $700,000 per year, and put away around $250,000 every year into savings.

They currently pay around $4,000 per month in rent and anticipate paying up to four times that much per month if they end up buying a home. They asked the community if they had any suggestions on how to save money on taxes if they sold stock to pay for a new home, or if it was better just to keep renting forever.

The Community Response

The overwhelming majority of comments agreed: that renting is the right answer, and it has been for a long time.

In fact, a few responders actually recommended against buying a home at all. Homes used to be one of the best ways to increase your wealth, building on your equity and selling before retirement to enjoy the spoils of your early purchase. But that is no longer the case in many places. American corporations and private equity have bet trillions of dollars on the fact that Americans are addicted to the idea of living in a home that they own, and their whole business model relies on the assumption that we will buy homes even when it is not in our interest to do so.

Older Americans will always recommend buying a home, saying something along the lines of ‘You’re missing out on building equity’ or ‘I’d rather pay my own mortgage than someone else’s’. But younger Americans know the situation has changed: owning a home has become a dream that many of us will never be able to realize.

When it comes down to making ends meet or increasing your existing wealth, if your own calculations show that it’s cheaper to rent than to buy a home (including maintenance, HOA fees, taxes, and more), then trust your gut and keep renting, there’s nothing wrong with that. Don’t let an old dream take away your success of tomorrow.