I’ve come to the conclusion that I have a low risk tolerance…
Not so much that I’m afraid to invest in moderately risky markets because I’ve done and continue to do that.
My results have been, as you’d expect, fifty-fifty.
Investing in Pets.com was a mistake.
Cashing out just before the dot-com bust was not.
Using that “found” money to buy a BMW Z3 was, yes, a mistake.
Anyway, I say this because there’s been a lot of talk in my social circle about purchasing homes.
I’m certainly not in the market, but living vicariously through these acquaintances (all of which earn an income comparable to mine) while they search for a home, I can’t help but wonder why they’re looking in the price range that they are.
Without actually saying anything outloud (I’m a terrible friend), I think that they’re all nuts. I’d never be willing to take out a mortgage *that* large.
Three grand per month? Yeah, I don’t think so…
But sometimes I sit and think, hey, wait a minute… I can apparently afford to live in a house that commands a $3k mortgage payment so why am I living like this?
I dunno, maybe this is where the often referenced ‘consumer confidence’ comes into play — you know, “Consumer confidence fell 6 percent during the month of July…”
You here stuff like that on the news all the time…
How do they measure that, anyway? Seriously.
So, I suppose my low risk tolerance is due to the fact that I have low consumer confidence.
Is that how it works?
I’m not sure…
I generally like to think my consumer confidence is pretty high.
Perhaps I’m fooling myself?
Either way, I’m definitely not confident that I could pay a $3k per month mortgage payment for 30 years.
No freakin’ way.
Thankfully, I don’t have to.