"Or they invest hundreds of thousands into a property bubble and have it pop on them. he! he! he!"
It's a shame you would take pleasure in others misfortune. Your talking about people that just want to own a family home. Smart investers carefully weigh up all options and pick what suits their personal situation the best, and the SMART ones factor in corrections in the market and generally retire with lifestyle that I personally envy.
If you fully believe everything you post cash won't serve you any better than a house. 40% - 50% drops across the board would be catastrophic for everyone. With a country already in huge debt, to bail out the banks would be kissing our economy goodbye. Hope you've got plenty of gold and silver buried in your backyard, or should I say your landlords backyard.
Atleast you would get a good laugh and could point your finger and say I told you so while you're lining up for your food stamps.
