The Modest Millions
Free tool · The Life of Nelson, chapter 2

Rent or buy? Run your numbers, not your friends' opinions.

"Rent is throwing money away" is half true. This calculator shows the other half: the full monthly cost of owning, and what the same money does when you rent and invest the difference.

Your numbers

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Change the assumptions
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*Charged only when the down payment is under 20%, and kept for the whole stay.

What owning really costs per month
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Where that money goes

After the stay

You bought
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after selling
You rented + invested
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in an index fund

Price-to-rent ratio

1015 · buying often wins20 · renting often wins30+

Coming next

The Nelson Money Kit

The spreadsheets behind the series, built so you can change every number. Join the list and you get it first, at the launch price.

  • Rent vs. Buy, as a spreadsheetThis calculator in Google Sheets and Excel, with year-by-year tables.
  • Look Rich vs. Be Rich trackerSee what spending to impress costs you over 30 years.
  • Pay Yourself First budgetThe automatic-transfer system Nelson uses.
  • Money Talk checklist for couplesThe questions to ask before you move in together.

Get it first

One email when the kit launches, plus the occasional new calculator. No spam.

AGE 23

The Life of Nelson: one ordinary guy, 30 years of quiet money moves.

Every chapter is a money decision at a different age, from renting at 23 to retiring at 45. Chapter 20 comes back to this calculator and checks who really won.