[carlob]

Sweden is one of the countries with the lowest salary inequality in the world. In Eastern Europe 100k a year puts you at what 10x minimum wage? I think that would be considered a pretty high salary in France or Spain as well. I think your friend reaction is warranted, but I don't think it would happen often in Sweden...

[sdoering]

Even in Germany 100k€ a year puts you in the top 2% (maybe even top1%) for single earners. And in the top 5% for a couple.

So OP is - for eastern European standards (depending on which country specifically) very well off. Talking as if 100k€ was nothing special is actually quite telling imho.

[mmarq]

But it’s not guaranteed that you’ll ever be as rich as a pensioner who owns a flat outright.

Asset prices inflated so much that income is not completely irrelevant, but it is at best only half of the picture.

[anal_reactor]

Some people predict that asset prices will only go up compared to wages so if you buy a house today you'll be rich by the time you get old. There's a whole cult built around "SP500 grows 10% YoY".

[sdoering]

And I don't buy into it. When I sold my late fathers home, about 30 years after he had originally built it, I sold it for a bit less than he had paid for having it built.

So no: Asset prices not necessarily always go up. It depends significantly on where you build/own and how that area develops over your lifetime.

But - this deferred gratification - paying a morgage now to pay less rent in the future is clearly a bet towards a future in retirement where one has less disposable income, so it makes - from my vantage point at least - sense to invest now to have more freedom later.

Others have freedom now - and need to potentially scale down later. Both are valid positions imho.

Edit: Typo