Most people, especially in here, don't understand that most "assets" are not investments because they have been brainwashed by banks to think that their devalued car is an asset. Their house is an asset. And so on.
When in reality, if it were not for the housing bubble, most people would never see any kind of profit from a home sale. And you certainly cannot expect to profit from selling most cars. Yet banks view this form of chattel as something with value and therefore brainwash you to believe that you are making money by owning them and borrowing from the bank against them.
I agree on one part.
A car is definitely not an asset in general, particularly recent models, but I don't think banks promote them as assets, but simply provide debt to allow their purchase. The debt usually amortises fast, to reflect the expected decline in value. It's similar to paying for a lease on a car, no-one expects to have any savings as a result of it.
That said some older cars, if bought well can be great assets, such as collectible sportscars, which have rocketed in value recently (mainly older Porsche/Ferrari/McLaren etc).
Regarding housing, other than in the recent bubble, which was extreme by any standards, especially for the US, housing has generally been an excellent asset. It is is almost always been cheaper historically to pay a mortgage over 30 years, than to pay the ever increasing rentals over the same period and equally over the longer holding periods capital values increase massively. Owning rental property is even better, since the upside is free provided the tenant pays the mortgage. The majority of privately owned wealth at middle-income levels in most developed countries has been created from ownership of property. Few people make significant wealth from simply saving their incomes through their lives.
Any money you may saved from a mortgage will come at the cost of career opportunities. You can't relocate for a promotion or a better job on the whim, if you're stuck with some mortgage. There's a reason why many people consider your house to be your biggest liability (in more aspects than one) rather than an asset.
