so if not owning a lifted f350 stresses someone out we should dedicate threads to this in this community and pat each other on the back for each inch of lift we put on it? no punch them in the face and try to show them the error of their stress.
Some people are focused purely on maximum investment returns, at a risk level that others aren't OK with.
Others are focused more on overall quality of life and mental stress factors into that.
If you're in the first group, then leveraging the hell out of your house and going for investment returns makes some amount of sense.
I'm obviously in the second group, and to me, my wife, and evidently a lot of other people in this thread,
not having debt is worth an awful lot of mental sanity and is worth something to them. I personally consider the stress of carrying debt around as worth about 2% extra - so if I could only earn 2% on something involving shoveling a lot of debt around, I'd generally not do it. That's my decision, along with my wife, and we prefer it that way.
I expect most people on this forum wouldn't enjoy living out in rural farm country on a hillside of rocks. We happen to greatly enjoy it, as it's quite close to family, and works well for how we like to spend our time.
Some of the stuff we do will, certainly, delay a "FIRE date." We're
OK with that. Because we don't feel a need to retire as early as absolutely possible, as I enjoy how I earn money, and it lines up quite closely to what I'd do in my spare time anyway - but I don't have to pay for nearly as much hardware this way.
I'm a pilot. I fly. We like flying places in small planes. It's a great way to travel, if not the most financially efficient, but it's within somewhat handwaving distance of commercial for a family of 4, if a good bit slower, more scenic, and more likely to divert due to weather.
We spend a good bit less than comes in, and try to focus on spending money efficiently instead of just doing what other people do, though living in a lower cost of area where not everyone is competing to have the fanciest toys makes that an awful lot easier.
Not everyone on the board is focused on the absolute earliest retirement and their calculation spreadsheets for it. That's fine.
... besides, a lifted F350 is usually a silly choice. If you're doing serious offroading, you're way better off with something shorter (an old Jeep is a lot of fun, for instance). An F350 is a good tow beast and heavy stuff hauler, and putting a sky high lift on that makes both loading the bed and hooking up trailers trickier. I've got 19.5" wheels and light truck tires on mine, which wear great, but the bed height is a bit higher than I'd prefer for some purposes.
Also, not everyone has a mortgage or can get one. And interest rates on a HELOC are usually enough higher that it's not worth it from those.