Spain's best investments: education, housing and prostitution

Education, housing and prostitution: a ranking of male investments

A user on a Spanish forum argues that education multiplies every euro invested by several orders of magnitude, that primary residence compensates for lower returns through implicit rent savings, and that the stock market only works if Spanish companies are avoided. The list includes a specific section for prostitution and relegates renting to last place for those who cannot aspire to more. The proposal quickly received a majority response: without contacts, money spent on training is wasted.

Education: multiplier or scam?

The starting point is that a good degree, a master's abroad and native-level English open doors others cannot imagine. Every euro in this category, he says, multiplies its value by several orders of magnitude. Objections came quickly from various angles. One user claims that a €1,500 MBA from a distance university and a €60,000 executive MBA from a business school produce the same paper, and that without a patron to push the CV, the result is identical: no better job and €60,000 less in the pocket. The most repeated conclusion is that training without contacts is time and money lost.

There are nuances. One user argues that a master's in the US, Canada or Australia does yield returns, because it allows obtaining a work visa and local salaries double or triple those in Spain. Another states that in Spain, surname and nepotism (enchufe) are valued more than titles, and that a master's from a top university does not prevent mockery during an interview. The emerging distinction is not public versus private, but Spain versus abroad.

Housing: the asset that pays for itself

Primary residence is the point of greatest consensus. It is argued that, besides appreciating when sold, it provides daily value: living without paying rent. Returns may be lower than stocks, but adding the implicit profit of not paying monthly rent compensates heavily. The variant of buying to rent out drops down the scale: it can make money, but it is a lower-quality investment, suitable for those who cannot aspire to the previous ones.

Objection comes via ownership. A user argues that housing only counts in countries where one is an owner, not a mere usufructuary tenant, and that Spain falls into the latter group. That is, real estate assets perform according to the legal and fiscal regime surrounding them, not just per square meter price.

Stocks, cars and time: what falls off the ranking

Stocks appear with a condition: pick winners and avoid Spanish companies. No further development. Cars, however, are explicitly discarded as investments and reclassified as expenses, unless used professionally. Those defending vehicles do so for freedom of movement and access to jobs and places unreachable by public transport, but the original post does not accept them in the list.

The most debated category is time. A user argues that the best investment is saving time for oneself, dedicating it to thinking and accumulating self-company rather than spending it on drudgery that only yields money. The reply is sharp: time cannot be accumulated, it is impossible. The discussion shifts to leisure, health and consumption. Regarding health, the answer is that you spend whatever is needed on the fly, not as an investment category.

Subsistence salary and the rat race

A salary of €40,000 is described as subsistence misery, enough for a 1970s apartment with concrete cancer, textured paint and terrazzo floors. This figure is used to dismantle the idea that education guarantees economic takeoff. In parallel, the management path is drawn: you arrive via contacts, being someone's friend or son, not via a €50,000 MBA. The degree is the means to network, not the cause of the salary.

The bitterest version comes from a senior civil servant who observes his surroundings: friends in the rat race, changing companies or waiting for promotion to climb slightly, unhappy because they have sold their souls. Against this, manual trades — plumbing, electrical work — are vindicated, which, done well, bring in over €100,000 annually in undeclared income (black market) without chasing unicorns or dying of stress.

The alternative list: contacts, languages and staying single

Counter-proposals emerge against the original ranking. First is the contact network as main asset. Second, a plane ticket and languages. Third, more domestic: don't marry, because only then do you live peacefully and save a fortune. Investing in learning to live with minimal money, discarding social conventions, and reading philosophy and good literature are also mentioned. And one more earthly option: tools, because a man with tools is a free man.

The common denominator of almost all replies is the same: money does not buy time, and time cannot be recovered. Defenders argue that time spent alone, thinking and discovering unexpected things, accumulates as self-company. The counter-argument is that this is precisely wasting time. The discussion remains open.

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What is a year of university worth compared to a year of networking? The question remains unanswered, and circulating numbers do not close it.