We play the lottery a couple of times a year, maybe $10-20 total per year. 

Please pardon me if that seems callous and selfish but I’m a republican capitalist so I don’t believe in ~hope and change~You see I’m not smart enough to play the stock market ( I can barely string sentences together on this message board) and I can’t throw a piece of inflated leather 80 yards  down a field , or slam dunk a basketball so looks like I’m stuck renting out these dumpy houses to idiots with non opposing thumbs to make extra money for the remainder of my life .

@Chris Wilkening Dave Ramsey is trying to help the most people possible (aka have a big audience) and the best advice for most people is to play things safe and let small gains compound over time.

Do you think it’s easier to play the “success comparison” game in the United States, thus making happiness harder to attain?

It is all about numbers and have to play the game right.

Or invest in more OOS and play the waiting game to find that one perfect deal to make your primary residence and go all in? 

If buy and hold rentals are still the right answer, then you need to determine if you prefer to play the cash flow, or appreciation game.

The almost year I spent learning and gathering information, "Gurus" and "Get rich now" systems were common and I always thought to myself "Why would someone throw away a winning powerball ticket to go play the slot machine?"

The even better part is that you can do an exchange, step up your basis, and delay taxation indefinitely if you learn to play the game right.

At the end of the day, for me, we look at the long term thesis and it's still very much in play. The