> No, the statement is completely true

Why don't we say this about other expenditures? Am I throwing my money away when I buy dinner and not a cow? Did I throw my money away by buying a carrot and not farmland? I don't think the statement is true or false, it's just meaningless.

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nayuki 7 hours ago | parent [-]

You somehow missed the second part of that sentence: "No, the statement is completely true: 100% of your rent money goes to someone else, and you also don't get any asset to sell later on."

The oft-repeated statement that "renting is throwing your money" is an implicit contrast to owning a home, where the mortgage payment "builds equity" in your asset that can be sold later.

"Throwing money away" means you don't get to own something that can be sold for money later on. That's why we "throw money away" on gasoline, but not "throw money away" in a savings account.

The second part of my argument is that throwing money away isn't necessarily a bad thing, because the alternative (such as paying to own something) can end up being more expensive and being a worse deal financially.

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zeroonetwothree 6 hours ago | parent | next [-]

That’s not what that expression means though. Wikitionary has it as “To spend money foolishly or indiscriminately; to waste money without regard of the consequences.” Which sounds about right.

How is it foolish to spend money on housing?

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01100011 7 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

No, I read that part of the sentence. I don't know why you'd assume I didn't. Should I claim you didn't even read my entire response?

I've never heard someone claim I am throwing away money when I buy something consumable except rent. It's a stupid statement that doesn't convey any useful information.

	▲	hunterpayne 6 hours ago \| parent [-]
		OMG...the phrase probably comes from some real estate agent. Truth is, 50 years ago investing in US real estate was such a good investment that if you could own you did. Today, so much "value" has been squeezed out of the housing market that owning is very very difficult. Most people under 40 who own, are now all in on an investment in both the housing and interest rate markets that could either crush them or be their best lifetime investment. Its very hard to argue at this point that making such bets is a good idea for most people. The worst part is that this was all unnecessarily engineered by people who believed Disney movies accurately portrayed public policy.