[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by HockeyIlliterate

Well, your house isn't an investment, and so it shouldn't be treated as one. Furthermore, if you pay cash for your house (as I believe that one should), any loss in property value should have no effect on your income-producing assets nor on your need to draw from them.

You realize that the median individual income in Canada is $27 k, don't you? Let's say we have a couple with typical incomes, so $55 k household income. And let's assume this couple takes your advice and lives within their means - so they decide to buy a dilapidated duplex in a sketchy part of a medium-size city for $180 k. Assuming this couple gets together at 25 (which is very young for this day and age), how long until they can save that $180 k and buy a house?

And what if they want kids at some point there? How does that affect your model? It costs $245 k to raise a child in Canada, and that's before factoring in university. So $500 k for two kids, and more like $600 k if you set aside the recommended amount in RESPs.

Originally Posted by HockeyIlliterate

Which is why I believe that everyone should have a healthy emergency fund that is stored away in a (reasonably) high-yielding government-insured bank account.

There's that word again. I have a feeling your social circle is fairly homogeneous (and small).

Originally Posted by HockeyIlliterate

They live below their means. They don't buy too much house, and they keep their cars until the wheels fall off. They avoid debt. They appreciate good value, and not necessarily simply a good price. Keeping up with the Joneses is of limited interest to them. Instead of, as the quote somewhat goes, "spending money that they don't have, on things they don't need, to impress people they don't like or who don't care," they spend money on what makes them happy---which may mean not spending any money at all.

You forgot "they earn a much higher than average salary and never suffer a sustained period of unemployment or underemployment."

Originally Posted by HockeyIlliterate

It is achievable for anyone who is willing to prioritize and put forth the effort necessary to achieve such a goal.

So is living on a strict diet of lentils, whole grains, and legumes, while competing in triathalons. Presumably, that doesn't describe you. So you must be lacking in discipline and self-control.

But what you're presenting is, in fact, impossible for most Canadians. It is possible for those who have well-paying jobs, extraordinarily strong self-discipline, and a spouse with the same traits.