[Bring_Back_Shantz]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

Yeah, that's pretty much what I meant. I suspect most of the people in the study will get a mortgage, and won't have it paid off by 35. So either they're not looking that far into the future, or don't consider it debt.

I'm on track to have my mortgage paid off in my late 30s, so 35 is certainly possible, but it wouldn't be easy. Probably the easiest way would be buying a home dramatically less expensive than your income would allow for, and paying much higher payments.

I think that right there is one of the biggest problems right now.
Everyone wants the nicest house they can "afford".
Just because you qualify for a $xxx mortgage, doesn't mean you can necessarily afford it.

Too many people are living it up, then get qualfied for a huge mortgage, buy the most expensive house they can "afford" basedon on what they qualified for, and then wonder why they can't afford it while they try to make their BMW payments and eat out 7 nights a week. God forbid you have to give up all the fancy dinners, so on to the credit card it goes, and the debt starts racking up.