Mrs. Dow Jones' Haley Sacks Says Renting Can Be the Smarter Move as Buying a Home Requires Far More Income...

Haley Sacks, the personal-finance creator behind Mrs. Dow Jones, is pushing back on the idea that owning a home is what responsible adults do, according to TheStreet and Fortune. She says she would "only buy as a lifestyle choice, never as an investment choice," and that if she ever buys, she expects "it's going to be a money trap." Sacks is putting the money that would go toward a down payment into the market.
Home values rose 30% in real terms between 2019 and 2024, while incomes for households under 40 rose 9% over the same period, according to Pew Research Center. As of September 2026, Zillow estimates that buying a typical home requires household income of around $121,500, using a 10% down payment on a standard 30-year mortgage, versus $77,300 to rent a comparable place.
Sacks also named prediction markets as an example of platforms packaging speculative bets as financial strategy. Fortune cited research from Northwestern University and the University of Chicago showing that when buying feels out of reach, some households take bigger swings on volatile assets.