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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/52667780

I’ve started investing in ETFs (S&P 500) but wonder if it would be better to buy a property instead and put it to rent.

I’m in my early 40s and I plan to regularly invest in this and similar worldwide ETFs in the next 25 years, as complement to my public pension.

A coworker told me he saved money to buy a house and put it to rent. He can always move in if he wants and it gives him a stable source of income per month. I don’t know how much.

I don’t know if investing in ETFs in wiser here: on one hand I want a quiet life and now I simply work and the money gets invested automatically once per month. I’ve never been a landlord and I wonder if the learning curve would be too steep. Furthermore, I don’t believe I want to be a landlord. Ain’t it too stressful?

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[-] litchralee@sh.itjust.works 5 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Furthermore, I don’t believe I want to be a landlord. Ain’t it too stressful?

If an investment would keep you awake at night, it's the wrong investment for you. From the Bogleheads investment philosophy (mostly USA centric, but easily tweaked for non-USA):

Aim to select an asset allocation that lets you sleep at night, and avoid the destructive urge to sell out in a panic the next time the market plummets, then having to worry over when is the time to get back in. This leads to selling low and buying high, the exact opposite of prudent investing.

As you said, your time horizon is at least 25 years. Would you want to be a landlord (even one that just outsources everything to a property management company) for nearly three decades?

I will offer two anecdotes from colleagues of mine that pursued rental property. The first colleague came from a family of real estate agents, and basically every branch of his extended family already had rental properties. He now has six rental properties and benefitted from the extensive "knowledge capital" within his family on how to do rentals properly. He's also good with DIY and carefully selected long-term tenants that reliably pay rent, so he doesn't have to raise rent often, which keeps turnover low. It was clear he would be fine as a landlord, as a part of his diversified portfolio.

My second colleague became a landlord because he got married and moved to a different area to start a family, meaning his original home could be rented out. He wasn't too far though, so he took care of the property maintenance himself. As it happened, when he had twins, there wasn't much time left to deal with the rental, and in the end it was easier to just sell it and focus on his family. He made positive money from the sale, but the nature of holding just a single rental property means it could equally have been a loss if market conditions were different. I think he made the right move to simplify his portfolio, because although his retirement time horizon is decades out, he only has so many years to be a doting father. Life changes should ideally not cause one's portfolio to be overhauled.

this post was submitted on 13 Sep 2026
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