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I spent a couple hours today looking at rent prices and apartment prices in the crappier areas of the city, because that is where I would be able to buy, if crypto ever went up again. *Of course it will.* My plan has always been to pay off the mortgage before doing anything else, but it might be better to instead buy a rental apartment, or two rental apartments with cash deposits, and rent them out instead. After renovations, I suspect the price-to-rent ratio would return about 1% gross per month, so the payback would be around a decade, and of course, the property would be owned by then as well, and could keep earning. 

![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/tarazkp/23ycwC4djPehRnqgF9qsxaRReS95LBbWwxhrPbqjPqWczh9K9CNHwm72um3tVopRPw9SB.png)

A decade seems like a long time, but it really isn't, especially at my age. It is not that I am super old, but I am no spring chicken either, yet I am also not in a stable financial position. If I had taken profits in the last bull market, bought a couple apartments then, they would be paid off by now also, and I would be well ahead of the game. And losing my work would have been mostly a non-event. 

This time, I am *determined* to make better financial decisions for the future of my family, and I think I have a better chance of it because I am in a different stage of my life, with different experiences under my belt. I want them to be okay *no matter what happens to me* and that is going to take building up more of an asset base that delivers income. Paying off the mortgage gives them some security, but more in the sense of being able to sell it. Ideally, they wouldn't have to do that and can instead offset costs with rental incomes instead. 

An apartment also means that our daughter can have a place to live while studying if needs be, or be able to offset her own rental costs if she studies in another city. I suspect at this point, that even with the changing world, she is probably going to continue her studies further than high school, but who knows with the collapse of economy we might see, as well as the increasingly rapid advancement of automation.  But, planning for nothing means that when something happens, we wouldn't be prepared.

> Something *always* happens. 

We live in a culture of "buy now, pay later" mentality, where people are driven to fulfil their desires, even if they can't afford it. I sometimes wonder what the world might look like if instead, there was an *invest now, buy later* mentality instead, where from a young age people would conscientiously build saving habits, rather than spending habits. We are conditioned to consume, and have built an economy is only successful when spending grows, even if that spending is on useless product and services. 

However, perhaps if people had investment mindsets, they would also have more tuned spending habits to only spend in areas that offer value, either as an investment that generates, or personal value. Right now though, the majority spend on personal value, without really tuning in value stream alternatives, so it seems natural to have a money in, money out schedule, without much consideration. There is a sense of "need" in spending, even if what is being purchased isn't necessary. And when *spend* is the personal paradigm, it is very easy to leave *invest* short of funds. 

With growing wealth gaps, declining wellbeing, and out of control spending, it seems there will be a strong rental market in Finland in the future. The places I was looking at as example options, aren't the kind of places people buy to live in themselves, they are rent and student areas. No area is really "that bad" in Finland yet, but there are still better and worse locations, and with more people moving into the cities for employment possibility, there will be somewhat a shortage of affordable rental options, as the new areas and buildings are incredibly expensive, for very, very little benefit.

But my hopes and dreams of financial independence rests heavily on the crypto markets of the future, and nothing is really certain there either. What I do think is that before every boom there is a bust period triggered by a couple meta-changing events, and I reckon we are heading there now based on US government activity. It will break down and then, there will be some kind of miraculous turn around, and surprise surprise - the wealth gap will have widened exponentially again. 

> I can't do anything about that.

What I can do is keep investing my own time and energy where I can, to be ready for whatever is to come to pass. And hopefully at that point, I will be able to prepare better for my family so whatever comes to pass with me, doesn't leave a financial hole in their lives.  


Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]


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