Posted by Masayuki on April 29, 19101 at 00:09:18:
Generally speaking, buying a house is a low-risk-and-low-return way of managing an asset while purchasing a business is high-risk-and-high-return. Since I have an aversion to risk and do not want to become richer, I would choose to buy a house.
If you buy a house, almost everything is in your control. You can choose the place to live, the size of the house, and the structure of your home. I like listening to music and I need a room with good acoustics and soundproof walls. I can certainly choose to buy a house with such a room. On the other hand, a business is often out of your control. It depends on customersf preferences, which are hard to predict. Also, the managers you hire may not obey your intention. I prefer certain things to uncertain one.
Purchasing a business is also risky in that it may fail and go bankrupt. In that case, it means that you lose money and nothing is left to you. If you buy a house, however, your home will hardly disappear. Earthquakes rarely occur. Fire can be prevented if you are careful enough. You never lose gmoney,h which takes the form of a house. I do not want to lose an asset.
Finally, business might yield a good deal of money with some probability. But I do not want that much money. I do not regard as important what I can buy. The truly valuable thing in my life is love to my girlfriend, my parents, and my friends. Therefore, business has no attraction to me.
In conclusion, I prefer buying a house rather than purchasing a business because I do not like something that goes beyond my control, has high-risks, and makes a large amount of money. I wish I could have enough money to buy a house, though.
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In your book, Topic 155 is categorized as "Making an Argument." But I thing it is a "Stating a Preference question and I compare a house and a business. Does this fail to address the question correctly?