Finance · ~8 min read
Is buying smarter than renting for the next decade — and what payment can you actually carry?
Start with the Mortgage calculator. Principal, rate, term, and any property tax or insurance you want rolled in. The monthly payment is the number that has to fit the budget — list price is just the input that produces it.
Rent vs Buy folds in the same purchase price, down payment, rent, appreciation, and investment return assumptions. The “winner” is horizon-dependent — five years often favours renting; twenty often favours buying if you stay put. Change the years and watch the answer flip.
Money not locked in a down payment can compound elsewhere. The Compound Interest tool (and the rule of 72) shows how long capital takes to double at a given return — useful for “what else could this cash have done?” without pretending markets are certain.
Snapshot the mortgage payment card and the rent-vs-buy headline. Two images beat a spreadsheet dump when you’re aligning with a partner or advisor — and everything stays on-device until you choose to share.
You didn’t get a yes/no from the internet — you got a chain of defensible numbers you can re-run with your own assumptions.