u/Oven-Relative

everyone from older relatives to coworkers tells me I need to buy a house eventually. I'm 23, making decent money in tech, but the math just doesn't make sense to me at all.

if I just rent a normal apartment for the rest of my life and aggressively dump all my extra cash into index funds, won't I end up with way more liquid money and zero loan stress in the long run?

why is there such a massive stigma against renting forever? is there some hidden trap to renting that I don't know about, or is buying a house just old school thinking that people blindly follow?

(I genuinely want to know if my logic is flawed here)

everyone from older relatives to coworkers tells me I need to buy a house eventually. I'm 23, making decent money in tech, but the math just doesn't make sense to me at all.

if I just rent a normal apartment for the rest of my life and aggressively dump all my extra cash into index funds, won't I end up with way more liquid money and zero loan stress in the long run?

why is there such a massive stigma against renting forever? is there some hidden trap to renting that I don't know about, or is buying a house just old school thinking that people blindly follow?

(I genuinely want to know if my logic is flawed here)

everyone from older relatives to coworkers tells me I need to buy a house eventually. I'm 23, making decent money in tech, but the math just doesn't make sense to me at all.

if I just rent a normal apartment for the rest of my life and aggressively dump all my extra cash into index funds, won't I end up with way more liquid money and zero loan stress in the long run?

why is there such a massive stigma against renting forever? is there some hidden trap to renting that I don't know about, or is buying a house just old school thinking that people blindly follow?

(I genuinely want to know if my logic is flawed here)

everyone from older relatives to coworkers tells me I need to buy a house eventually. I'm 23, making decent money in tech, but the math just doesn't make sense to me at all.

if I just rent a normal apartment for the rest of my life and aggressively dump all my extra cash into index funds, won't I end up with way more liquid money and zero loan stress in the long run?

why is there such a massive stigma against renting forever? is there some hidden trap to renting that I don't know about, or is buying a house just old school thinking that people blindly follow?

(I genuinely want to know if my logic is flawed here)

I am a 2025 passout undergrad from VIT Chennai from CSE with AI/ML. I have been through all the highs and lows in college from failing subjects, to barely clearing backlogs, to juggling responsibilities in many clubs, to grinding academics along with placement prep. (Interestingly our batch was the only one which I know of who had 3 exams during CATs in one day)

Even though I was a 9 pointer towards the end, most of my first 3 years - I didn't prep that hard on my placements. I initially faced rejections through the roof - from my name not even getting shortlisted for companies which I thought were beneath me to going to the final rounds of many companies (after travelling to Vellore) for companies like Wallmart, Wellsfargo etc. At one point, I was honestly depressed and after rethinking my life - I sat and got placed in a mass recruitment company even after being a 9 pointer for 7LPA.

But life had other plans, and by luck (which was an equally important factor along with prep) got a marquee offer in May 2025 in a wall street Fintech firm when we generally don't even get dream companies visiting the university.

Again the purpose of this post is not to brag but to empathize with everyone going through the journey and just say one thing - don't stop believing in yourself and there is light at the end of the tunnel.

I was an introvert for most of my time in VIT, so to give back (and try to challenge myself) I am conducting an AMA session at 12pm (however I will try to answer any questions throughout the weekend). Feel free to drop in and ask me any questions and I will try my best to answer with utmost honesty and practicality.

(didn't rephrase my raw thoughts with AI)