Magazine article

[thyme4change]

Have you ever noticed that doctor's with the longest wait have the crappiest magazines, but offices that get you right through have piles and piles of magazines that you could read all day long? Well - that's besides the point.

My doc had "Money Magazine" and there was an article about 6 ways to invest you have never thought of. It was from last July. The first point was that maybe, just maybe, young people should buy investments on leverage - because a dollar saved early is more powerful than a dollar saved later. The article was well written - apologizing for suggesting it, and then convincing me it wasn't a bad idea. All I know is that I was glad I was over 40 and the advice didn't really apply to me.

I know Phil leverages his properties, and that seems extreme to us, but if a responsible and motivated 20-something hedged their bets by buying on leverage, what would be your response?

[daennera]

If you have the cast iron stomach to handle losing everything, then go for it.

If not, then don't.

If you only invest money you have, you only lose money you have. If you invest on leverage, you lose that money plus whatever was used to obtain the leverage (house, good credit rating, etc)

[Savoir Faire-Demogague in NJ]

There is nothing wrong or sinister about Phil leveraging his real estate acquisitions. Everyone buys real estate secured by some type of debt. In the case of rental property, as long as there is good cash flow there is nothing bad about re-mortgaging to take out cash. It is done all the time.

[thyme4change]

I didn't mean to imply that Phil was doing something wrong. But it is often a discussion point that makes some uncomfortable. I think his responsible leveraging of assets is better than people buying primary residences with 0% down.