[quote=earlyretirement]
Actually I’ve noticed the same thing as CA Renter. (Not to say that I haven’t met lots of successful people that leveraged as well). But I mostly work with high net worth and ultra high net worth individuals and families and ironically almost none of the clients I work with came from wealthy families or got inheritances.
Most of them are self made type people that started a business, work super hard and lots of hours and also avoid debt. This is not to say that these people didn’t utilize some debt to get ahead. Because most of us at some point in our lives (especially when we are starting out) have had to take on debt.[/quote]There in lie my point. Even your high and ultra high net worth people you know used debt to get started. Do you think they’d be where they are if they didn’t take on debt? I never suggest debt in perpetuity. I too would want to get completely debt free one day. But that day will be when I reach my early retirement goal where I can live off my interest and not have to worry at all about income. Until that day, I’ll continue to try and grow my nest egg and not pay off my primary a day early. Especially when we’re talking about low 2% loan after mortgage deduction. It’s all about income and expense to me.
