I think higher education is a good idea if you are established in your field and know you want to specialize. My employer paid for my masters, and it paid off in almost 100% pay increase. I feel like it was an excellent investment of my time, but I don't know if I'd want to have 50k in debt if I had to pay for it myself.

I think for people now, the best investment is in savings. Financial security is a freedom for which I dream.

Getting a master's is overrated. Nursing is now overfilled with people -- too many people not enough jobs. Getting a master's in any liberal arts area is also not an investment -- no one cars if you can read Shakespeare in middle English. There is a glut of MBAs -- has been since the mid 1990s. A master's in something like gender studies or social work isn't going to gain anyone a raise. So I'm all for investing in property.

I bought a multi-family row house with 3 apartments in Fells Point, and I live in one of the apartments. When the other apartments are rented, the rental income covers my entire mortgage, property taxes, homeowner's insurance, and most of the utility bills for the entire building.

I don't feel tethered to Baltimore just because I own a home in Baltimore. Rather, because I bought the house at the right price (lots of right-priced homes are for sale right now!), I can sell it without a loss, or rent it without a loss. And I live free, and have done so for 11 years.

My theory is that everyone needs a place to live, so why not get your money back after a sale when you are an owner, as compared to losing everything when you are a renter. This presumes you are buying the house at whatever the right price is for you, which for most people means that PITI is less than what they would pay to rent.

1 in 3 say their financial situation is getting worse. The other 2 out of 3 are not facing reality (or are ignorant). The only people doing well right now are bank CEO's and other big corporations (B'/C we as a nation don't care about the TRILLIONS of $'s we are spending to continue to bail them out) . If we stopped giving them $, they would all still fail right now.

Sadly, The dude above would also fail with his "renting" idea as well. If we stopped bailing out bankers- housing prices would drop another 50% easy in this area. This will happen within 5 years - just a matter of time. Every cent gas goes up, it is a banker/homeowner getting bailed out. Just reality. The Public won't allow that to happen forever. Housing is a dead investment. It is still a house of cards (just worse b/c now everyone he even knows about it this time around)

Owned smaller houses are a possibility. Here's why:

I know several middle class people in their 50s and 60s that were raised in Baltimore city and went to the public schools. As we know, this isn't really happening anymore. Middle class families (with kids school-age) are few and far between in the city.

One thing that could potentially happen is that middle-class people attempt to raise families in city neighborhoods (or county rowhouse communities like those that exist in Parkville) again for four reasons: 1. Gas prices will eventually motivate people to move closer to their jobs. 2. Housing in decent city neighborhoods is affordable (although taxes are not competitive with the county). 3. Smaller spaces make utility bills more affordable. 4. Upkeep is easier on a smaller house.

Large, expansive houses are desirable and always will be, but I imagine people will grow more conservative as this recession continues to take hold.

I have to agree with Anonymous, masters degrees are becoming overrated, mostly because they are becoming too common and no longer put you at much of an edge over someone without a degree. The friends of mine who are doing the best right now (my friends age range are 25-25) are those with industry contacts and work experience. Those of us (myself included) with advanced college degrees all seem to be stuck in dead end jobs that earn us less money in a year than our total student loan debt, and we've very little room to go somewhere else. A masters makes you specialized in something - and in many cases, it's something that is not hiring or does not pay well now (but was not the case 6 years ago when I signed up for the program). If I could sell back my degree I would, it's making it harder for me to find work in my opinion, and it's making it impossible for me to afford rent on my own apartment!

I'll gladly throw a wrench in your argument.

Three out of the four of us all have post-baccalaureate education. One of my sisters is still in college. For what my sisters & I do, a higher education is necessary and the three of us in completely different fields. I own my house, and if all goes well I might be owning another with my pops. Guess it depends on how you structure your goals.

We've always held that a home should be affordable & something to hang your hat between your adventures. This way there is no excuse as to why you can't go on that trip because your mortgage is $3K a month and you have to wash your 15 windows.

My Masters has paid off, my employer also paid for mine and my pay is already up 50% from what is was when I started the program.

Student loans are the next bubble to pop. Just wait for all these new college grads who get government subsidized student loans and can't find a job to make the payments. You do realize they don't check your credit. It's income based. The less money you make, the more money you qualify for. Good luck paying that one back when you graduate with 100k in student loans with no job. Ever wonder why tuition is so expensive these days? Look no further than the Dept. of Education. Student loans are the enablers in allowing Universities to charge more. They know if they jack up the price they will get paid no matter what because of these student loans. Just look at the data that compares student loans and college tuition. Tell me there is no correlation.

Gas prices are killing people. A gas station attendant told me that she's considering moving somewhere "you don't need a car."

Currently I think the highest and best use of my money is to make a happy and comfortable life for myself and future children. Although I'm in the middle of a divorce, I have always wanted to adopt children so I'm sorta working towards that.

But honestly based on where I spend the most of my money and time, I think GARDENING is at the top of my list. I'd like to have a dazzlingly beautiful garden one day.

I'd also like freedom (ahem) from my ex-husband, so I've been spending too much money extricating myself from my badly though out marriage. Divorces are expensive. He's also a security "issue" so I've had to spend thousands on extra security for the house. In my case, getting married appears to have been a horrible and expensive mistake. :(

I'm in a lot of debt now, but I hopefully will get out of most of it by the end of the year. For most of my life, I haven't borrowed a lot of money, but I did lately. A lot for house-related improvements, landscaping and property taxes.

As far as the plants and trees, I believe they'll pay off in the future years in terms of enjoyment and safety for me and the children as well as food security, since I've concentrated on planting a lot of edibles. Crazy, right?

On paper, I'm better off, since my gross income (gross being the operative word) is well above six figures (woo), I guess. But there are still people who make much more, and I also have higher expenses. Taxes, utilities and my vehicle expenses have taken a BIG bite out of my savings and income.

I also did capital improvements to my rentals, which I hope will pay off in terms of more income later. But in the short term, they haven't paid off and they're just expensive. Wah poor me.

Nevertheless, I'm happy. I can't move to a tropical climate now but I realized that I can at least have my house look like a tropical paradise for part of the year. Sooo...looking forward to watching the trees grow. :D

I do think the student loan bubble will pop. At this rate, in twenty years or so college will be so unaffordable that it won't even make sense to go. There is going to have to be a "back to reality" event for college, similar to what housing is experiencing now.

I chose to pursue a Masters in my late 30's, which means a debt load so high I'll likely never be able to own a house- but I'm fine with that. Home ownership seems like an anachronistic throwback to a time when worker movement was discouraged by cultural propaganda. I have a job I love, partly because I was and am able to move wherever it takes me.

Juanita, you can live with me & my sisters. When we retire we are going to sit on the beach & drink fruity concoctions with umbrellas & sell strawberry jam on the side of the road. I'm going to have a pool boy, and a gardener too!

pigtown girl Sounds like a plan!