Yea I agree, and things like trading on high margin or using standard lines of credit to invest are generally bad unless you really know what you are getting into.

But it isn’t always hard to beat interest, it just depends. HELOCS are a great tool for people and depending on your situation, you can get them significantly lower than typical returns. Yea it’s a risk, but so is getting in your car and driving to work everyday. There is no income without some type of risk, opportunity cost, physical/mental health, etc. I think just like most things, there is balance. A student loan for a college degree is not much different than a traditional investment, neither is a note on a truck + lawn care equipment for a fledgling business. They all have risk, but they (along with mortgages) are more tangible for a lot of people.

My point is mainly that, sometimes it is ok to go into debt for a single purchase. I don’t think it’s smart to just open a bunch of credit cards and yolo your life savings into long calls, but I also don’t think it’s smart to squirrel money away in your mattress because all debt is evil.