Matt Franklin – If You Are Young, Consider Buying a House Right Now

Mar 31, 2021

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BIO: Matt Franklin and a friend developed PostureNow to help people improve their posture. They presented it at Shark Tank and ended up making pretty good money from the device. Matt also runs his video production business, Bottle Rocket Labs, and has found a new obsession of learning about investing and preparing for retirement.

STORY: When Matt was 28, he had a job while studying economics. Even though he was making good money, he blew it all. Matt regrets not buying a house then because today it would be worth so much.

LEARNING: Buy a house when you are young, especially if you know you will stay put for at least four years. Take advantage of incentives given to home buyers in the US. Andrew’s advice is to invest in what is right for you.

“Young people, buy that house and start the compounding effect today.”

Matt Franklin

Guest profile

Matt Franklin and a friend developed a goofy little invention to help people improve their posture. Once they had sold more than $100,000 worth of that product, they found themselves in the Shark Tank. After that appearance, things blew up temporarily, and they made pretty good dough; the company PostureNow, still operates to this day.

He also runs his video production business, Bottle Rocket Labs, and has found a new obsession of learning about investing and preparing for retirement. He shares what he is learning on his Rogue Retirement Lounge podcast.

Worst investment ever

When Matt was in school majoring in economics, he also had a daytime job that paid a pretty good salary. Unfortunately, Matt spent all his money on pointless stuff. He even continued to take on more student loans and deferred paying them. He only finished paying his student loans in 2020.

He should have been wiser and bought that house

Looking back, Matt admits that he wasted so much money when he was young, money that should have gone towards buying a house.

Lessons learned

Buy a house as early in life as possible

If you can stay put for at least four years, buy a house when you are still young. In four years, the value of that house will have gone up, and it will be worth a lot more should you choose to sell or rent it out.

Question your beliefs and welcome opposing views

Question your beliefs and interact more with people who oppose them so you can hear opposing viewpoints. Use your intellectual curiosity to find out what other opinions, other than yours, exist out there.

Andrew’s takeaways

Invest in what is right for you

Investment is different for everyone. For some, buying a house may be the right thing, given their circumstances, while for others, renting makes better sense. Ultimately, do what is right for you.

Incentives for buying a house in the US

Several incentives make it easy and profitable to buy a house in the US:

Fixed 30-year mortgages
Long-term low-interest rates
Fixed mortgage payments beat inflation over time
A house is an insurable asset
Tax deductions related to mortgage payments
The value of a house will never crash to zero as compared to stocks
You can opt for a reverse mortgage to draw back on your equity

Actionable advice

If you’re a young person, buy that house and start the compounding effect today.

No. 1 goal for the next 12 months

Matt’s number one goal for the next 12 months is to use his Rogue Retirement Lounge podcast to help 10 entrepreneurs shave 10 years off their work lives.

Parting words

“If you believe you cannot do it, or you believe you can do it, you’re both right.”