[quote=Rich Toscano][quote=kcal09]Savings accounts are not yielding anything and the stock market is too risky for me. I’m sitting on enough cash to buy an investment property outright without going through the hassles of applying for a mortgage.[/quote]

That may be the case right now, but it makes more sense to think about what savings accounts will yield (or whether other options will be too risky) on average over the entire duration of the mortgage, not just right now.[/quote]

I think it is risky to just assume interest rates will rise and savings and bonds will pay much more in the future.

We are already in the middle of what might turn out to be called The Lost Decade for the US. Same principles apply except our precipitous crash wasnt caused by raising interest rates but the bubble itself bursting. I personally am not counting on any large rise in interest rates within the next 5 years OR much growth either for many years.

There are very few things that actually create money in the US anymore. Almost all of the largest money makers and new firms are all service and advertising related. All of the internet companies and financial companies just move money from one place to another and most of that money that is in the system is debt. Just the way it is. No hot economy coming anytime soon. The Govt cant do much more and there isnt much out there to create new money, jobs or earnings besides service. Hasnt been for many years. The last bubbles were all created by Govt. intervention including housing.