In any finacial planning, you have to factor in inflation or you may find your investments dropping in value. Inflation has long since eaten away at the money people have in simple interest accounts, so a good plan has to have a balance of higher risk along with low risk, as in CD's as example, or bonds. As for housing, what we see happening now was expected, after all, the normal real estate market cycles every ten years or so, but this time it was on wild ride up for almost 18 years. The bubble had to break, and along with it, the housing bubble exploded, but a home is not part of a financial plan as much as it is a place to live. Just as many have found out, the equity they thought they had in their homes disappeared in a matter of six months, so we are back to 2004 levels in many areas. I don't calculate housing in my financial planning, nor should anyone in my opinion.
Good luck,
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