Hey Joey.

When you buy a house with a mortgage, the house is not an asset for the bank. That's why I stand firm on RK being full of it here (as well as on many other things).

Here's how it works... You own the house (your asset) and owe on the mortgage (your liability). The bank owns the mortgage (their asset), and doesn't own the house (it's just collateral in case you default).

If you do default, you decline (or are forced to decline) to continue making payments on your mortgage. This makes the mortgage a (nearly) worthless asset for the bank, so they foreclose on your home. This takes away both your asset (the house) and your liability (the mortgage).

An asset is defined as something of value. It is *not* defined as something that brings in money. That latter is an income-producing investment, or job, or profitable business.

Note that I never said that your primary residence is a good investment. It's a financially savvy (in most cases) asset that reduces your long-term housing costs compared to renting.

If you house-hack by renting out a portion of your house, or buying a multi-unit property and leasing out the units you don't occupy, or even renting out your entire home periodically (e.g., via AirBnB), you can offset some of your remaining housing costs, or even turn a profit.

If you borrow against your house for a down payment on a rental property, you can alsostart turning an overall profit. Note here that to borrow against your house implicitly means that the house is an asset. You can't borrow against a liability.

If you do any of the above, that's great, but it doesn't negate your house being an asset even if you don't do any of that.

As for your car, again, not a liability. The auto loan (if you took one) is the liability. The car itself is a (depreciating) asset.

If you rent out your car (e.g., via Turo), it makes it a good investment. If you don't that still doesn't make the car a liability.

It's not just "some people" who firmly believe anything that holds value is an asset. That is literally the official definition of an asset.

Having an asset produce income is financially better, but it does not make it any more of an asset. It just makes it a better investment.

I hope that clarifies things a bit.