“Financially, the American dream shouldn’t be homeownership, however must be monetary independence,” Robert Johnson, CEO of Financial Index Associates and a professor at Creighton College, mentioned within the report.
“Folks fall prey to the tales of people realizing substantial beneficial properties by shopping for a house and promoting it at a a lot larger worth years down the street.”
He famous that almost 29% of family wealth was tied to home equity in 2021, in response to U.S. Census Bureau information. However he warned that housing wealth is illiquid and infrequently inaccessible for medical payments or long-term care.
Early withdrawal issues
Specialists cited within the report mentioned pulling cash from retirement accounts throughout prime compounding years will be particularly damaging.
“Merely put, that is a fully horrible concept. Folks want to save lots of extra for retirement, not much less,” Johnson mentioned.
Solely about 40% of People are on observe to fulfill their retirement spending wants, and the typical saver faces a $5,000 annual shortfall in retirement, in response to a December 2025 Vanguard report.
“If you take cash out of your 401(okay) and the inventory market to purchase a home, you might be successfully reducing your development in half,” mentioned Jay Zigmont, a licensed financial planner and founding father of Childfree Belief.
A hypothetical 35-year-old withdrawing $100,000 may obtain about $66,000 after taxes and penalties whereas lacking out on roughly $474,000 in potential development over 30 years, assuming a 6% annual return.
Housing returns vs. market returns
Whereas housing markets have seen surges — together with practically 19% worth development in early 2021 — such spikes are exceptions.
Traditionally, home prices develop round 3% to five% yearly, with forecasts suggesting about 2.2% development in 2026. By comparability, the S&P 500 has averaged practically 7% in inflation-adjusted returns since 1957, the report said.
“Nobody is aware of for positive what dwelling values will go up by or what the market will do over 10 years, however historic averages provide you with an concept of what would have occurred up to now,” Zigmont mentioned.
Withdrawing from a 401(okay) additionally successfully delays retirement timelines.
“There aren’t any good choices if one hasn’t saved sufficient for retirement,” Johnson mentioned. “As soon as one will get to retirement age and hasn’t amassed sufficient retirement financial savings, one solely has two choices left — continue working or settle for a decrease way of life in retirement — and neither of these choices are good.”
Specialists additionally warned that proudly owning a house doesn’t assure monetary safety in later life, citing components like long-term care, well being care and home modifications.
