Hey all,
So I had a conversation with my mom earlier today where I brought up my interest in real estate investing. It immediately set off a red flag in her head and she started going at me wondering who I was talking/listening to that would give such bad advice haha. She went on and on about how she's concerned that we'll lose all our money and end up in bankruptcy. Most of the stories she hears are from her friends who had bad experiences or are just anecdotal. She has brought up stories she has heard the headaches of investing out of state and having to deal with bad property management companies as well as bad tenants. Interestingly, they own several rental properties that are local to them and still strongly advise against going into it. She and my dad are ultra-conservative and have used financial advisors to invest and are also living off their pensions. They are doing very well and took "early retirement" when they were closer to 60 years (actually probably less than that). My mom is super-frugal and they obviously did something right raising us and also saving up the nest egg. The thing about her though is that she generally is the biggest Debbie Downer in the family - anything that sounds remotely risky (even if it was me walking to the park to shoot hoops when I was younger) she has to worry about and will make attempts at mitigating if she can. She's a risk-averse control-freak in other words. This makes sense in the realm of her own preference not to invest in real estate.
Anyway, I know I shouldn't have brought it up with them but it's too late now as I've "spilled the beans" so to speak. They're going to be badgering me about it especially when they visit next week. What are some good points to discuss in terms of dispelling her concerns and misconceptions? I could always say "ok ok ok" and just ignore what they say but I'd like to try having a civilized conversation to get them to understand my perspective so they're at least supportive of it. I have not yet mentioned "early retirement" as one of the goals because I know they will completely balk at that too, thinking I'm crazy for considering that when I have two kids to "put through college" (my mom's words) and a wife to take care of. I've already pointed out to her that the wealthiest people or at least those who are doing very well and have freedom to mostly do what they want without being tied down to a day job are those who invest in real estate to counter her point about real estate being dangerous, scary and risky. Not sure if that was the best point to bring up but I think there is some truth to it. I guess this goes back to the whole RE vs Stock Market debate as well but even with the stock market they'd still rather have a financial advisor handle all their money for them. They have the right to think they know best because they're in a position where they're safe and sound, but it doesn't mean it's the *only* right way. That said, I just want to prepare myself for a discussion with them.
