I'm with you -- I'm taking my early retirement and socking it away. As for the housing market, you might want to wait as rumors have it that the housing market is destined to crash (again). That doesn't help you in the present, though.

And although it might not sell at a better value to upgrade your basement, I wonder if that's a ruse because I'm seeing more houses now that have finished basements (and that is the realtor's selling point).