<prompt> Human: First post here. I hope Im following all the subreddit rules. I reviewed the side bar notes, used the search feature, and couldnt find an answer to my question. So here it goes. My wife and I have been contributing to a ROTH IRA account for the past couple of years. We have about 50k in the account. We dont save much money year to year beyond what we put in the retirement account. We are debt-free. We are in our early thirties, no kids. We plan to stay in our area for at least 8 years shes tenure track. It would appear that the time is ripe to buy our first home. However, in order to afford a 20 down-payment, we would have to withdraw the money from our ROTH IRA account. My understanding is that this would not trigger a tax penalty. My question to redditors is whether you think I should use the money in my ROTH account as a down-payment for a new home or keep it and continue to rent. I expect wed qualify for a FHA loan, but that just reduced the required down-payment. Either way the source of the funds our ROTH IRA would remain the same. In other words, do you feel like the tax and equity advantage of being a homeowner outweighs the tax advantage of the ROTH IRA account? Which do you think will put us in a better position for retirement? Assume our household makes about 90K a year, and we want to have kids in the future.  <response>: The equity advantage of owning a home doesnt happen, on average, until 10 years of ownership. Even then, its pretty shaky. You need to save up for your down payment, you shouldnt withdraw from your IRA.Owning a home is oftentimes not a good investment. Keep renting, save up for a down payment, and buy when youre ready. 