Opinion Dollars and sense By Masako Yamada	フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする
お金と「感覚」 学生時代から投資に興味にあった筆者だが、 「家を買うこと」にはまだ手が出ずにいる。 お金では割り切れない感情面の問題が絡むためだ。

I started taking an interest in investing money and saving for retirement when I was in college and it was then that I began thinking how I could best allocate my extra income. For the past 10 years, I've chosen to keep very little in a regular bank, instead splitting the money among stocks, bonds, mutual funds, money market accounts, certificates of deposit, 401(k)'s, and pension plans.

One investment that I have not made is buying a home. I considered buying my own place in Boston when I was a graduate student, and again when I got my job offer here, but I never got around to it. Given that I was writing my dissertation until the last moment, not only did I not have time to find a home, I didn't even have time to look for a rental apartment. I ended up calling the apartment complex closest to my workplace and mailed in a deposit without visiting.

I feel fortunate that I have an income that is high enough, and live in a location where home prices are low enough, that I could buy a house by myself. Real estate prices in this area have been quite hot, and many of my colleagues, including young singletons, have cashed in on huge profits within a few years of buying. And yet, I still hesitate.

If I were to buy a place, my monthly expenditures would be two, three or even four times higher than my current rent. One can argue that I'd be "investing" in the home as opposed to "throwing away" rent, but nobody can predict real estate values, especially if the property will be kept for only a few years. Many people stretch themselves to the limit to buy a home, arguing that they will "grow into" the monthly payments as their salary increases, but they make themselves financially susceptible in the process: what if they lose their job and need to sell their house immediately... but it doesn't move for months? I sleep easy living modestly and investing my extra money. And who knows whether this might even give higher returns than buying a house?

Unlike securities, a home carries a lot of sentimental value: one can fall in love with a home and there is no price. Home-owners obviously treat their properties as investments and expect them to appreciate, but they also enjoy pleasures such as running around on a green lawn, tending to a garden, putting nails into walls or blasting a stereo.

What makes this decision difficult is that both the financial value and sentimental value of buying a home must be taken into account. Some factors I like about my current apartment are that it's low-maintenance, it's located close to work, I could move in a heartbeat, and the rent is relatively low, which means I can put my extra cash into different investments. These benefits outweigh the fact that it's somewhat old, I can't make a lot of noise, and my rent money is essentially wasted.

I recognize the sense of stability and pride of possession associated with buying a home. But is it worth the moving costs, the higher monthly expenditures, the time required to maintain the property, and the inevitable fact that it will be harder to leave when the time comes?

(553 words)