I read saw this over at Free Money Finance: If we really want to be rich, the best financial advice David Bach has for us is to buy a house.

I have to disagree. Bach compares the average net worth of a renter (under $5,000) versus the average net worth of a homeowner ($171,00) and goes on to argue that nothing will multiply your wealth like owning a home.

The problem I have with this statistic is that Bach is not really comparing apples and oranges. For it to be a valid comparison, you would have to compare the average net worth of renters and homeowners in the same income range.

It makes me wonder why David Bach encourages homeownership so much. If you have ever read any of his books, most of his financial advice is pretty solid. He teaches readers principles such as: paying yourself first by saving 10% of your income, spending less than you earn, and watching our for those little purchases that can really add up.

When you compare owning stocks to owning a home, it is crystal clear which investment is the winner. According to this article from Smart Money, after considering inflation, stocks have returned 7% in the long-haul while homes have returned an average of 0%. Home values have skyrocketed in recent years, but the historical data shows that you have more to gain when you invest in stocks.

Is it a wrong move to purchase a house? No, not at all. Just don’t expect it to be a fast-track to great wealth. Building wealth is still achieved through sound financial planning. By starting early, diversify your investments, and being consistent in saving, you too can be on your way to great wealth. You don’t have to get so fixated on owning a home at the expense of all other things.

I was reading a recent article in Kiplinger’s magazine about insurance and read that renter’s insurance is only $100 to $200 any year. I didn’t know that it was so cheap. I’ve never applied for renter’s insurance, but looks like I can get it from the same provider as my car insurance. Since I only pay about $300 through AAA insurance, I’m thinking about seeing how much extra it would really be.

But the real question is, does it make sense to buy renter’s insurance? I found an article from MSN Money that gives the basics of renter’s insurance. Although my landlord’s insurance may cover losses related to the building itself, there is nothing that covers my personal property. Not, that I have a lot of stuff to insure, but since I’m getting married and starting to buy furniture this might be a good idea. Looks like these are some of the common events the insurance covers me against:
- Fire or lightning
-Windstorm or hail
- Explosion
- Riot or civil commotion
- Aircraft
-Vehicles
-Smoke
-Vandalism or malicious mischief
-Theft
-Damage by glass or safety-glazing material that is part of a building
-Volcanic eruption
-Falling objects
-Weight of ice, snow, or sleet
-Water-related damage from home utilities
-Electrical surge damage

Earthquake and flood seems to be additional insurance you have to buy. There is a significant difference in the type of coverage you can get: “actual cash value” or “replacement cost coverage”. The “actual cash value” type insurance will pay you back only the value at the time an item was damaged/stolen item. So basically this is the depreciated value of the item. The “replacement cost coverage” type insurance reimburses you for the amount you actually had to pay to replace an item. I’d rather have this type of insurance where I can purchase and lost/damaged items and get reimbursed.

Additional benefits of renter’s insurance includes the cost of “additional living expenses” in situations where your apartment becomes unlivable, or “liability” in situations where some gets hurt in your apartment and sues you.

The last thing to consider looks to be the deductible amount. Just like health insurance, I will have options of how high I’m willing to pay in a deductible so that I can reduce my premium.

Well, sounds interesting, so I’ll at least get a quote from AAA and see how much it will cost me.

I wrote last year about my plans to put together a cheaper-pedic mattress based on ideas from this Fatwallet thread.

Well, I purchased the combo for my new apartment and I am happy to report that I am loving it. The cheaper-pedic foam mattress is an effort to get the same feel of a Tempurpedic mattress at a fraction of the cost. This is what the mattress consists of:

1. Base Layer: 5” Firm Topper, Queen 60×80″ (J.C. Penny Catalog Number: RN725-5805A, $109.99)
2. Top Layer: 3” Sensus® 5lb Queen Memory Foam Mattress Topper (SleepWarehouse $289.95)
3. Zippered Cover for stackup.

The J.C. Penney topper acts as the supporting base, and the expensive Sensus is where you get the memory foam action.

I tried it out for a few days and found it to be a little too firm. The 5lb density Sensus is very dense, heavy, and supporting. I like to sink a little bit more when I sleep. So I went to Walmart and bought a cheap 1” foam topper for $39.99 and placed this inbetween the two layers. Now, my cheaper-pedic mattress is perfect. It is very comfortable, and pretty comparable to the Tempurpedic mattress I see at the mall.

My dad visited my new apartment and he loved it as well. In fact, he loved it so much he asked me to buy him a set too. Hopefully my fiancée is also going to love our new bed. She prefers mattresses that are firm, so I think it won’t be a problem. Now all we have to do, once she moves down, is buy a queen bedroom set to put the mattress onto.

My fiancée was down in L.A. this past weekend and we took the time to look for an apartment to live in once we get married. After some discussion we had decided to look around in Long Beach.

Like a diligent engineer, I had mapped out about 25 potential apartments onto a google map I had printed out. There were a lot of good listings on move.com. Lifehacker also had a good article on tips for apartment hunting. I never thought to add Craigslist searches into my RSS reader. Pretty convenient.

Long Beach is a fairly large city and has different pockets that each have different feel. Like a typical beach city, anywhere near the waterfront is ridiculously expensive. For example, newly built Camden Harbor View has 1 bdrm. apts. (500 sq. ft.) for $1500 and 2 bdrm. apts. (1000 sq. ft.) for $2500 a month. Wow, that is a lot of money.

We looked at other apartments in the downtown Long Beach area but all of them were pretty pricey. But as we went further East, the prices got less expensive, but the buildings got older as well.

Ideally we want to live in a 2 bdrm. apartment that is not too run down. It would be nice to find something around $1400 to $1500. Especially since I’m contemplating going back to school.

Well, I guess we still have time, but apartment hunting and moving is such a pain.

If you’ve ever stepped into a Brookstone or a Mattress store, you’ve seen those Tempur-Pedic Foam Mattresses. They’re heat-activated and conform to the contour’s of you body and promise to give you an amazing nights rest. I’ve always wanted to try one since I occasionally have lower back aches, but the Tempur-Pedic beds can cost thousands of dollars. Ouch! But there’s a “Cheaper”-Pedic solution for much, much less.

Highlighted in this thread over at Fatwallet, the basic concept is to purchase a cheap foam base (5” Extra-Firm Topper from J.C. Penney) and stack a high-quality foam topper (3” Sensus 5 lb density topper) to make a mattress stack-up. People generally recommend 4 or 5 lb density foam to guarantee adequate firmness. A popular high quality foam topper is the Sensus Foam, manufactured by Foamex, which is sold over at Sleep Warehouse. A queen set-up will cost you $99 for the J.C. Penney Extra-Firm Base and $289 for a 3” Sensus Topper. This is exactly what I’m planning to purchase next year after I get married. Discount stores such as Overstock or Ebay also sell foam toppers but there have been complaints that what’s offered are cheap imitation foam toppers. I would recommend spending the extra money to buy a higher quality foam topper such as a Sensus. Firmness can be relative from person to person, so if you find your mattress to be too firm, you can always add another layer of cheaper foam in between the stack-up to soften it up a bit. Finally you can finish-off your “Cheaper”-pedic foam mattress by purchaing a 9” zippered cover from Bed Bath & Beyond to put the whole stack-up into.