Just as banks require, the longer the term the higher the interest rate premium.From a risk standpoint, the chances of you (or anyone of us individually) defaulting are MUCH greater than the risks of holding an S&P 500 index fund.I don't want to invest in something that is significantly more risky with equal or lower upside.

But with this plan I cannot help but wonder if all this could be done by simply saving all the cash flow in an index fund for 30 years and cross my finger the economy is not in a down turn at retirement age.

As far as stocks go, I am only in index funds.

The fees and comissions are high and anyone of us can beat the returns simply by investing in S&P 500 index funds that average 11% before inflation with fees as low as .018%.

But I'm left with the question, is it wise to keep adding my paychecks to an index fund rather than my savings?

Below is the Case Schiller Index of Chicago single family homes and condos:As one can see from the above, we were in an S1 Market in the 1990s and the BUBBLE (S2 market) started in 2001 (that's when Alan Greenspan started decreasing interest rates).

Severely Distressed Housing Price Index (HPI) ‐ 6 Trailing Months (annualized)ConnecticutWindham 09015 ‐3.50%MarylandSaint Mary’s 24037 ‐4.88%New JerseySomerset 34035 ‐0.53%Cumberland 34011 ‐8.02%New YorkMontgomery 36057 ‐5.03%Madison 36053 ‐5.11%Schenectady 36093 ‐5.60%Tioga 36107 ‐5.78%PennsylvaniaColumbia 42037 ‐1.23%Lackawanna 42069 ‐1.88%Pike 42103 ‐11.40%Schuylkill 42107 ‐4.13%VirginiaPulaski 51155 ‐1.39%Prince George 51149 ‐14.79%Goochland 51075 ‐14.94%CaliforniaPlumas 06063 ‐0.25%FloridaOkeechobee 12093 ‐4.74%GeorgiaPickens 13227 ‐0.35%

The path to financial Independence is simple: work hard, be frugal, give yourself a raise by switching jobs or improving your qualifications, invest in low cost index funds, and ignore get rich quick nonsense. 

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Dont buy house that has increased inventory, dont buy house that has mild future appreciation compare to national average, dont buy house that has less appreciation compare to CPI index.