Owning a home is the American Dream. It's the ultimate symbol of a successful adulthood and the best way to build wealth in this country. Why should you pay rent to someone else when you can build equity for yourself, right? Not all countries prioritize buying a house, though; take Germany, where renting is much more common. How has the decision to prioritize homeownership in the US shaped our communities, for better or worse? And is that wealth-building mechanism really accessible to everyone who works hard and plays their cards right?

Podcast Guests:

Kelly Phillips Erb, Philadelphia-based tax lawyer and Forbes columnist aka “The Tax Girl”

Feli from Germany, YouTuber and podcaster from Munich, Germany

Lisa Rice, President and CEO of the National Fair Housing Alliance

Jenny Schuetz, Senior Fellow at Brookings Metro, author of “Fixer-Upper: How to Repair America’s Broken Housing Systems”

**This episode is part of Season 4 on Top of Mind: Assessing Assumptions. Could the systems we've built to keep our communities safe and thriving work better if we weren't so set in our ways?