This is Optimal Finance Daily, episode 1982, investing with debt by Wanderer of millennial-revolution.com

and on your host and personal finance enthusiast, Diana Mariam.

We're going to get right to it and continue optimizing your life.

Investing with debt by Wanderer of millennial-revolution.com

We recently received an email from a reader that went something like this.

Quote, I know your stance on buying a house and I agree with your reasoning.

However, I live in the Midwest of the US, where it's more financially sensible to buy a house instead of rent.

I currently live with family while I'm paying off debt, and I'll be debt-free by the end of next year.

Once my debt is paid, I plan to save more aggressively for retirement, increase my emergency fund from a couple months to a year, and save for a house.

So my question to you, if given the opportunity, would you buy your first house in cash over getting a mortgage?

Okay, first of all, great job on becoming debt-free. You deserve a pat on the back for that.

Now, on to her question.

It's no secret that we here at millennial-revolution have certain opinions on housing.

Hint, not a fan.

Housing should be treated as a place to live, not as an investment, and in many high-cost cities, it makes much more sense to rent rather than own.

But in certain cities, it might not be the worst idea.

Justin McCurry from rootofgood.com bought his house in North Carolina for just $108,000.

At that price, you won't blow up your retirement plan too badly.

So in situations like this, or the housing costs are low enough for it to make sense, and you have the cash, does it make more sense to take out a mortgage or just pay cash?

If it were me, I'd always choose to pay cash. Here's why.

We've all heard the arguments of why it supposedly makes mathematical sense to go into debt, or in this case, deliberately take on a mortgage to invest.

If the interest rate on the debt is only 3-4%, and markets give you gains of 6-7%, it makes sense to do it, right?

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