Real Estate vs Stocks: 6 Rentals or an Index Fund, Who's Richer at 66?

Real estate vs stocks, tested over 32 years with real numbers. Uncle Ray, a union lineman in Mesa, Arizona, put every dollar of his overtime into six rental houses. We compare him with the exact same overtime invested in an S&P 500 index fund, and with his crew partner Walt, who spent his overtime on boats. Rental property vs index fund, year by year from 1989 to 2026: mortgages, rent, vacancies, repairs, property tax, the Phoenix housing bubble, a tenant from hell, the 2008 crash and three houses bought at the bottom. At 66, who is richer and by how much? And what happens if both Rays sell everything today? Chapters 0:00 Six keys on a garage wall 1:35 Same crew, same paycheck, one difference 3:18 Key 1: the first rental and Ray's $7 rule (1994) 5:17 Key 2: Saturdays (1998) 6:33 Key 3: the most debt (2002) 7:53 The Phoenix bubble: 8 years without buying 8:41 Meet index-fund Ray (S&P 500) 9:23 The tenant from hell and the 2008 crash 10:11 Key 4: paying cash (2010) 11:23 Key 5: the bottom (2011) 12:16 Key 6 and the payoff (2012) 13:24 Houses vs index fund: the final numbers at 66 14:16 What if both Rays sold everything today? 15:16 Hours, income and risk 16:44 What to take away 17:27 Every July 18:05 Next episode The numbers we used Home prices: S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Phoenix Home Price Index Mortgage rates: Freddie Mac yearly averages + 0.5% for a rental Stocks: S&P 500 total returns, year by year Rent +3% a year with a dip during the crash, property tax about 0.6%, 8% of rent for repairs, empty 1 month in 20 Ray's rule: at least $7 of monthly rent for every $1,000 of price Selling: about 7% in costs plus tax on gains and depreciation The streets and tenants are made up. The numbers underneath them are not. Run your own numbers: https://claude.ai/artifact/CmKppLJzf6DLfC7M8MSnE3 Ray, index-fund Ray or Walt? Tell me in the comments which one you would be, and what a typical house rents for and sells for in your city. Ray is a fictional character and this vide

Added 20 Oct 2026