Where you buy and own a house can mean the difference between retiring rich and just getting by. Here's how homeownership -- in the right states -- is trumping 401(k) savings.
The biggest influence on our financial health isn't how much we save. Nor is it the funds we choose in our 401(k) plans. It is our ZIP code -- where we buy and own a house. Pick the right area, and your future is golden. Pick the wrong area, and you'll always be behind the folks who happened to buy in the right place. As you will soon see, no matter where you live, it is likely to be more important than your 401(k) plan.I've suspected this for years simply because the most valuable asset most of us own is our home. Check the net worth of different households, and you quickly learn that homeownership is more than important for most Americans. It's the whole ball game – 70%, 80%, 90% or 100% of net worth.One odd side effect is that people in some parts of the country are becoming much richer than people in other parts of the country not because of the work they do, the income they earn or the investments they make -- but because of where they live. As one Boston economist remarked to me several years ago, "You know, I've made more money on my houses than I have ever made as an economist." (The economist had owned homes in Wellesley, a Boston suburb, Beacon Hill and Washington, D.C.)"
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