This Week on Thinking Is Cool

By luck or fate or some other reason, you’ve found yourself reading an email from Thinking Is Cool, *the* podcast to listen to if you want to have better conversations. If this email was forwarded to you, sign up for regular correspondence from me, Kinsey, right here:

Good morning! I made it back from my no-laptops weekend upstate and I’m just saying, you didn’t hear it from me but if I ever go missing like totally off the grid? Do not check a cozy cabin nestled in the Hudson Valley. Definitely don’t check there. I won’t be there. And I 100% won’t be there wearing a cozy cable knit sweater reading a book and drinking a glass of wine.

I have a special episode for you this week so...shall we take it anywhere?

This Week on Thinking Is Cool

For generations, young people have been expected—nay, counted on—to buy a home by a certain age. Owning a house meant joining the ranks of real adults and laying claim to something with as much financial value as it boasted emotional value.

But then...reality kicked in. Affordable housing became effectively nonexistent, real estate prices spiked, student loan debt got heavier and heavier, and incomes stagnated.

Today, buying a house is more complicated and at times more impossible than it ever was for our parents or grandparents. Younger generations are stuck in a tricky spot—culturally, owning a house is really important but financially, it feels out of reach.

We know owning real estate is historically a Very Good Call™, but the macroeconomic mood has shifted, and we need to figure out what that means for so-called “accomplishments” like homeownership. It’s not guaranteed anymore.

So what are we to do? How are we to reframe our understanding of homeownership to better fit the world we live in and not just the one our parents lived in? And how are we to take advantage of the endless scroll of investing options we have instead of just owning a house?

Today, let’s explore and deconstruct the idea that owning a home of your own (mortgage included, white picket fence optional) is the ultimate marker of success. We’ll take a journey through the concept of real estate ownership in the modern era for our generation—and eventually answer the larger question...should you buy a home? Could you buy a home even if you wanted to?

This episode was produced with our partners at Fundrise, Thinking Is Cool’s Season 2 presenting sponsor. As you know, I’ve spent all season telling you about how Fundrise really is changing the idea of real estate investing for everyday people. Today, we’re talking about why that matters so much—why real estate is something you can’t ignore—with the help and support of the Fundrise team.

I’m a Fundrise user and you can believe me when I tell you this: Complicated as real estate might be, there’s nothing complicated about using Fundrise. Fundrise is a platform on which you can invest as little as $10 in private real estate. No major costs, no major complications—just a quick and easy way to, oh I don’t know, put your money toward something more useful than just a rent check.

You might not be able to own a home, but that doesn’t mean you can’t invest in private real estate. And with Fundrise as my partner, I’m about to tell you why. Let’s take it anywhere.

Listen to the episode: Apple // Spotify // everywhere else

Thank you so much for reading. This episode features some very special guests and quite a lot of introspection from yours truly. I’m amped for you to hear it. And apologies it’s out a little later than usual—we had some minor technological headaches.

I’ll be back in your inbox on Friday for more fun. In the meantime, I’ll meet you in your headphones and on the internet. Have a great week, everyone.

-Kinsey

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