I feel like I can speak on finances because on a limited budget, I was able to pay for my town house in Vegas, in cash in full. Why you should invest in real estate over the stock market. If you have a 401K or a Roth IRA, that is different because your organization will match you a certain percentage.
1-Stock market is good for CEO's who get dividends, we are not in that level, with Real Estate, you are more in control.
2-If the market crashes your stock is worth $0.
3-If your property burns to the ground you still have the land.
4-In our MBA classes they taught us to have a conservative diversified portfolio. Invest in an S&P 500, that way if a few of your stocks go down, you will not go down with the ship.
5-My formula have 20% of your cash in commodities ie gold/silver etc liquid assets. Started collecting gold coins back in the 80s, with bday money at $400 an oz, today it is 1320(just checked). have the rest in long term real estate. Of course this is all assuming
1-You are free in clear out of all debts including credit cards, student loans etc.
6-Personally I am working on getting a four unit rental income, if all goes well and I start at LV Metro, I can have the necessary funds to do so. Remember a property is a liability unless one can generate revenue and they have it paid off. People make money off of the second property so take care of that note. If you MUST get a 15 year loan amortization but I wanited until I was 35 to get my first house. I feel as if I can speak on this subject and this is why an MBA is so valuable. Even if one is not in corporate America, it can be apart of their every day life.
http://www.cnbc.com/2014/12/08/where-to-put-your-cash-a-house-or-a-stock.html