“Never buy the most expensive home in a neighborhood.” “Your age is the percent of your portfolio you should have invested in bonds.” “You can withdraw 4% of your retirement savings every year.” Many of these sort of short, quick personal finance rules-of-thumb have become so generally accepted that most people don’t even question their validity. In many cases, the guidance these sayings offer are quite good. Yet some of them have morphed from solid money advice to almost zen-like statements that are just as likely to be untrue as true. For example, here’s one that sparks a lot of debate:
