I’ve been trying to figure out if now is a good time to buy a house...and if so would it be smart or stupid to pay cash for it? When governments feel the squeeze, they are going to try to get more tax money from all of us. I expect property taxes will go through the roof right before the collapse, and that lots of people will lose their homes from tax increases alone.
If your cash is worth a lot more than it will be in a year or so, and interest rates are low, credit is the way to go! Borrow up the ying-yang. Being $500,000 in debt will seem like nothing when the interest rate on it is 2% and a candy bar costs $10 and the minimum wage is $50 an hour.
I remember when I bought my first house around 1980. We could not figure out how people that earned less than us could afford nicer homes. Then we found out that because they had bought 8 or so years before us, their house payment was $185 while our payment for a worse house was $550. Look at the value of today’s dollar not relative to ten years ago, but relative to ten years from now.
At a time of high inflation you want as much debt and “stuff” as possible. Inflation will monetize it for you just as it does for the government.