My dad asked me last month why I’m still renting at 41.
I told him the cheapest decent house around here is about $430,000.
He said, “Then start saving.”
I told him 20% down would be $86,000.
He said, “You don’t need that much. Just put some aside every month.”
So I did the math for him.
After rent, daycare, groceries, insurance and everything else, I’m lucky if I can save $500 a month.
He grabbed a calculator.
$86,000 ÷ $500 = 172 months.
Over 14 years.
He just stared at the screen.
Then he said:
“I put $4,000 down on my first house. Took me less than a year to save it.”
Then he went quiet.
“I honestly thought you were all just spending too much.”
That was the moment it clicked.
He wasn’t trying to be insensitive.
He genuinely didn’t understand how different the numbers are now.
Sometimes people aren’t defending the system.
They just never stopped to look at the math.