There is nothing quite as disappointing as someone who feels they “deserve” something, especially a luxury good. They never learned the lesson from Kristy Shen that money is worth bleeding for, not because it can buy you luxury goods, but because it can buy you essentials like food and a roof. You have to have some money.
One essential need is a roof, but many young people refuse to give up the luxury of living by themselves, and housing is too expensive for that.
National averages for a 2-bedroom rental are roughly $1,750 to $1,900 a month. Apartment List put the national median 2-bedroom rent at $1,865 in Q1 2026. Zillow’s average for a 2-bedroom is $1,795. The 2025 Fair Market Rent for a 2-bedroom averaged $1,749. Most of these figures cover apartments, so a stand-alone house often runs higher, and the range across cities is wide. Utilities (electric, gas, water, internet) for a 2-bedroom house typically add about $250 to $400 a month.
| Roommate’s share | Roommate pays/month | You save/month | You save/year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50% (equal split) | $1,050 | $1,050 | $12,600 |
That is an outrageous amount of savings for simply sharing a house. Investing $1,050 a month in the S&P 500 at its 13% annual return over the last 15 years would have grown to about $577k, which is enough for many people to retire somewhere like Ecuador.
In Ecuador, almost every house is multigenerational because it makes financial sense. The house at the end of my street has grandma, three adult siblings who are parents, and five or so teenagers and younger kids. They recently built two small apartments at the back of the house for some of the older teenagers. It is a beautiful family full of love, and we hope to have our own similar housing compound one day, probably further out in the country.
I think the primary reason housing prices in the US are terrible is that there isn’t enough supply. Over the years, houses have gotten larger and larger because builders make more money on larger houses. NIMBYs also don’t want economical housing to lower their home values, despite the need. The last time small houses were built at scale was in the 1950s. Houses of 1,000 sq ft with 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom need to be built, but they face political and economic headwinds.
Coming back to my original point: one person can’t change the housing economy, but you also shouldn’t destroy yourself financially with high rent and utility payments when you could have roommates. Most people do not like roommates, and you might get a bad one, which can be terrible. Still, a bad roommate teaches many valuable lessons about assessing and managing others.
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