Consider this possibility too:KD5NRH wrote:A computer, maybe a laptop, DVD player, guitar, Playstation, Wii, whatever, is still a lot more than they can expect from a street robbery or car smash-and-grab. With most people using debit cards these days, $50-100 would be a pretty good haul for jumping somebody on the street, and potentially armed victims are less likely to be caught off-guard on the street than in their own homes. Add to that the popularity of hitting college apartments, (most college students are unarmed, usually have all of the above, and haven't bothered to write down the serial numbers) and it's a pretty easy choice.saltydog wrote:Most of the people that our family knows don't have much portable wealth just laying around. Maybe a computer, a TV, and a set of dinged up golf clubs. Portable wealth is in a 401k, gun safe, or safety deposit box.
I would imagine that some home invasions happen to poorer people too, and I have noticed that among certain folks of lower means, there is sometimes a tendency to keep assets liquid in cash, instead of putting it in banks. When you live hand-to-mouth, cash on hand is easier and quicker to access. Also, I have known people who simply have an institutional distrust of banks, and so they live entirely in a cash economy, and they have no bank accounts whatsoever. People who don't own much in the world but have cash on hand might make tempting targets for a home invader.