I was raised to be very conservative when it comes to money. As a result, like you, I’m not a big fan of debt. Still, we need to face reality. We live in a debt based economic world. Even our currency, money in the eyes of most people, is borrowed into existence by governments issuing bonds. It’s a debt instrument, one which has shown to lose value over time through inflation. History has shown that all debt based economic models eventually fail in the long run .
In such an environment it doesn’t make much sense to save. Let’s face it, in an hyperinflationary currency event even an overindebted individual will fare much better compared to the most frugal saver. Does this mean we should suddenly take on loads of debt?
Probably not. Fact of the matter is that the world is currently in a financial state it has never been in in the history of human kind. Low interest rates, expensive stock and real estate markets mean that all classical portfolio management strategies go right out of the window. Nobody, not even professional money managers, seem to know how to best handle the situation.
The answer is usually to have a little bit of everything, including debt. Debt, which people with good credit, can now take on with near zero or sometimes even negative cost when structured correctly. It allows you to free up cash for other investments. Besides that, it is probably wise to own some currency alternatives such as precious metals and crypto’s in case of a currency crises.
In the end nobody knows what the future will bring. One can only hope for the best.