I will say that owning my own home has not been good, financially. My condo building is old and the prior owners lived out of state and rented it out for years, so they did minimal upkeep, which has meant that I've had to spend a lot to fix it up as well as replacing the heat pump, windows and all the appliances. Meanwhile the market tanked so if I sold it now I'd only get the amount I paid for it over 10 years ago. But yes there are other benefits to owning your own place. Along the way I've learned a lot. And it is nice to sit back now, even with the old carpet on the floor and no pictures on the walls, and feel good about the way it looks.