My point was that since you cannot know with certainty that you will be able to sell before your ARM resets, it is very hazardous to assume that you will be able to do so, regardless of your intention to do so.
To take your examples: Leasing a car makes sense only if it is a deductible business expense. Financing a purchase makes sense if you get a favorable rate.
As for the life insurance example, it always is better to buy term than whole life, with the very rare exception that if you have a very large estate, there can be estate planning reasons to buy whole life at very advanced ages when term is not available. And even this exception will probably go away if they get rid of the death tax.
By the way, I do know something about life insurance, having passed a couple of the actuarial exams many years ago.
