For now I am more inclined to focus on equity and thus the emphasis on the price of the underlying.

The average Joe will outlive his assets.401ks were never supposed to be a retirement mechanism, they are defer bonuses.

I know nothing about them and am taking a giant leap of faith that they're the kind of person who keeps their end of the deal and pays their bills.It sounds like you need to find out what a mechanics lien is...

Market appreciation is nice to have, but since it's largely out of our control we can't put too much emphasis on it.Real estate's advantage over Wall Street is that we have the ability to force appreciation of our properties.

My grades were good enough to go to a state university but I wanted to go to trade school to be an auto mechanic.

I'm aiming for a solid return on cash, and I agree with your emphasis on positive cash flow.

This was under 5k total owed according to them.They never hired an attorney or went through the proper process, filled a generic mechanic's lien (found on rocket lawyer), and filed them with the registry of deeds.  

The temptation to cut corners with AI is very strong, and the mechanisms to curb/control it are practically non-existent.7.

I say I'm disabled, I am an ex-machine mechanic, plumber and electrician.

My greatest question is why does, say a Jiffy Lube mechanic, believe after reading A book (ok, let's be honest, the back cover summary of the book) and with that "depth of knowledge" is now an expert in all things real estate, economics etc??