What about retired people? A friend&#x27;s single mom paid off her house 35 years ago in a relatively poor neighborhood in southern California. She worked as many jobs as she could to do that, all would be considered menial today; laundry, sewing, cleaning houses.<p>That area is now expensive enough that even with Prop 13 her children have to pay her property taxes for her. Her family, friends, church, etc. are all there, so it&#x27;s not a trivial thing for her to move someplace cheaper (which would be at least 50 miles away, not a reasonable bus ride in that area).