[AI-generated image]
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A post by a salaried worker planning to sell a 2 billion won ($1.47 million) home, move into a jeonse rental and pour the proceeds into US ETFs has gone viral online.

The post, titled "Planning to sell my 2 billion won home and go all-in on US stocks," appeared Sunday on Blind, a workplace community app.

The author, identified only as A, said the plan is to sell the home, move into a 500 million won jeonse property and cover the deposit through a jeonse loan. "Korea's jeonse system is a scam, so I plan to live in a jeonse place using a 500 million won loan and the remaining cash," A wrote. "No matter how I think about it, sitting on a 2 billion won house makes no sense."

A said living expenses and loan interest would be covered by employment income, adding that the combined pre-tax annual salary with a spouse exceeds 250 million won.

For investments, A outlined a plan to put 500 million won each into SOXX, which concentrates on US chipmakers; QQQ, which tracks the NASDAQ 100 index; and VOO, which tracks the S&P 500 index — a total of 1.5 billion won across the three funds.

When one commenter asked why A was buying both SOXX and QQQ, A said, "I'm a stock newbie myself," adding, "Semiconductors will always be an issue, so this is my compromise instead of using leverage."

Another commenter said the strategy "will be a laughingstock if a prolonged sideways market kicks in," but acknowledged it was "at least a better choice than domestic stocks since these are dollar-denominated assets."

Skeptics warned that "going all-in on anything is a shortcut to ruin" and questioned the logic: "You call yourself a stock newbie but you're selling your Seoul home to go all-in on equities — that makes no sense. I'd recommend keeping the house and using your income to invest in index funds."

Supporters pushed back, with some noting that "the NASDAQ has risen sixfold over the past decade and 18 times over 20 years — real estate can't compete," while others said "US stocks are far better, but very few people can actually put 2 billion won into the market, which is why it's so hard."


dbsdn1110@heraldcorp.com