The mortgage isn’t the cost
Interest and ownership costs are spent. Principal is different: it moves cash into home equity by paying down the loan. I follow both, then deduct what’s left of the mortgage when the home is sold.
Buy or Rent?
Price both lives.
Put the same home on both sides. I’ll follow the cash, the mortgage, the invested difference and the eventual sale. You’ll see where each path leaves you, and what has to be true for the answer to change.
Explain it like I’m five
Buying turns some monthly cash into a home; renting leaves more cash free to invest. This page gives both lives the same budget, follows the home, mortgage, rent and investments month by month, then sells everything on paper to see which path leaves more spendable money.
New to all of it? Start from zero: ten short lessons that assume nothing.
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Rent isn’t throwing money away
Rent buys a home and the freedom to leave it. The fair comparison assumes the renter invests the cash the owner put into the property, and that either path invests any monthly difference.
Three kinds of break-even
Spendable wealth, monthly cash flow and cumulative cash paid answer different questions. I name all three, find every wealth crossing and never call the first crossing permanent unless it stays that way.
What the numbers can’t price
Stability, freedom to move, control over the home, maintenance responsibility, job or residency uncertainty and emotional value belong in the decision. I won’t turn them into a fake lifestyle score.
Methodology and limits
The calculation runs in this browser. Your last Local scenario can stay on this device, and it reaches your account only if you choose to save it there.
You type today’s money. The maths runs month by month in nominal terms, then hands the result back in today’s spending power.
At the selected horizon, that month’s normal cash flows happen first. Investments are sold, the renter’s deposit returns and the owner’s home is sold with the remaining mortgage, selling costs and applicable tax deducted.
Source-backed rules are a dated snapshot held constant through the projection. Recheck them before acting; future law isn’t known.
Educational arithmetic, not personal property, mortgage, tax, investment or financial advice.
Common questions
- Is rent throwing money away?
- No. Rent buys a home and the freedom to leave it. A fair comparison counts that service, then assumes the renter invests the cash not tied up in a deposit, purchase costs and the property.
- Isn’t mortgage principal a form of saving?
- Yes. Principal reduces cash today, but it also reduces the loan and builds home equity. I keep it in the cash-flow receipt without treating it as an economic cost, then deduct only the mortgage still outstanding when the home is sold.
- Why does the renter invest the difference?
- Because both paths need the same household budget for the comparison to be fair. Whichever path needs less cash upfront or in a month invests the difference. Otherwise one side quietly wins because it received more outside money.
- What does break-even mean here?
- The main break-even is when one path first leaves more spendable wealth after the owner sells. Monthly housing cash and cumulative cash paid have their own crossovers, shown separately, because they answer different questions.
- Why can the answer change more than once?
- Rent, home value, mortgage interest, ownership costs and the two side portfolios move at different rates. One path can pass the other and lose the lead later. I find every crossing rather than calling the first one permanent.
- Does this include my country’s taxes and fees?
- Only where the page says it does. A dated, source-checked preset can fill a deterministic rule; regional, personal or incomplete rules stay manual. Today’s rule is held constant through the projection, not treated as a forecast of future law.
- Is home equity part of my FIRE portfolio?
- Not in the roof number. I do count the home if it is sold for the wealth comparison, but I do not pretend a primary home is liquid retirement capital. The owning roof number clears the remaining mortgage, then funds ongoing owner costs.
- Does a higher result mean I should choose that path?
- No. It is one balance-sheet result under your assumptions. Stability, freedom to move, control over the home, maintenance and uncertainty can matter more, and I will not hide those choices inside a fake lifestyle score.
- Are my inputs stored or sent anywhere?
- The calculation runs in your browser, and the current Local scenario can stay on this device or in your account if you save it there. The normal working address stays clean. If you explicitly create a share link, its address contains the numerical assumptions for anyone with the link to read.
Nothing here is financial, investment, medical or retirement advice: it’s arithmetic and education. The calculators use the numbers you enter, The Exit Rehearsal compares your own Plan and Reality without interpreting either, and The Spare Key prices the fallback you enter without recommending one. Some tools remember work in the browser, some can place a scenario in the page address, and the Rehearsal and the Spare Key stay in this browser unless you print them, download them, or keep them in your account. Each tool tells you what it keeps and where. Decisions about your money are yours, ideally with a licensed adviser. I’m happily not one.
Bring me a challenge.
The Exit Audit, then ninety minutes: a straight verdict, real alternatives with their pros and cons, and your first move. If you want someone to nod along, I’m the wrong person to pay.