Do NOT buy a house? What I just learned about building wealth in 2025

A few years ago, I was 100% convinced that buying a house was the ultimate financial goal. No more "wasting money on rent," finally owning something — it just made sense.

Then I had a chat with Humphrey Yang, a finance expert, and he told me something that completely changed my perspective:

"Do NOT buy a house!"

At first, I thought, Wait, what?! But the more he explained, the more I realized how much I had to unlearn about building wealth.

Here’s what I learned:

• Step 1: Save, but don’t overdo it.
  Before thinking about investing, stack up 3-6 months of living expenses in a high-yield savings account. Anything extra? Invest it. Keeping too much cash is just losing money to inflation.
  

• Step 2: Saving is good, but investing is better.
  Most people think saving is enough. But once you have your emergency fund, you should start investing — ETFs, index funds, even real estate (as an investment, not your home).
  

• Step 3: Buying a house isn’t always a smart move.
  In some cities, renting is way cheaper than buying. Between mortgage interest, taxes, and maintenance, you could end up paying more while locking up all your money in one place. Instead, investing in a mix of assets gives you more flexibility and potential growth.
  

• Step 4: Bitcoin is no longer “too risky.”
  A few years ago, financial advisors were saying, "Keep Bitcoin at 1% of your portfolio, max." My own (pretty conservative) advisor told me to handle all risky investments myself while he focused on the “safe” ones.
  
  This year, 10% of our retirement contributions went straight into a Bitcoin ETF.
  

• Step 5: Ignore the noise, think long-term.
  Markets go up and down. The worst thing you can do? Panic-sell. The best thing? Keep investing regularly and trust the process.

So, do you really need to buy a house to build wealth?

Humphrey says absolutely not. There are smarter ways to grow your money in 2025.