✍🏼Unsolicited Opinion: The Best Bet for 45 Years and Maybe the Next 45

If you invested $100,000 in January 1980, here’s where you’d stand by October 2025:

• Savings account → ~$700K

• Gold → ~$770K

• 10-Year U.S. Treasuries → ~$1.3M

• NY real estate → ~$1.1M

• London real estate → ~$2M

• S&P 500 → ~$10.6M

• Apple stock → ~$214M

Every “safe” asset and every global real-estate market was out-performed by simply buying a slice of American business through the S&P.

What If You’d Put $100K in NW Ohio Real Estate in 1980?

Let’s make a ball-park estimate for our region (north-western Ohio / Toledo metro area).

• The state-wide house-price index for Ohio shows that by Q2 2025 the index stands at ~504.13 (1980 Q1 = 100) for the all-transactions house‐price index, meaning prices grew ~5.04× since 1980. 

• If you take $100,000 invested in NW Ohio real estate in 1980, applying a simple 5× growth (just using the state index as a proxy) gives you roughly $500,000 today (before accounting for leverage, inflation, rental cash‐flow, etc.).

• Real world caveats: Local markets like Toledo have had more modest growth historically (median sale price around $135K in 2025 in City of Toledo, up ~4.6% year over year)  so our $500K estimate may even be optimistic or require active investment/maintenance.

• Compared to the $10.6M you’d have if you had invested that $100K in the S&P, the local real estate path looks far more modest.

Our Take for Toledo Money Readers:

Here’s what I want you, our audience in NW Ohio, to take away:

• Returns: The data make clear that the most outsized returns over the past 45 years came from owning business equity (stocks) rather than owning real estate in a moderate growth region.

• Local real estate still matters: Yes, investing $100K in NW Ohio real estate would have grown to perhaps ~$500K (give or take) over 45 years. That’s not bad, but it pales in comparison to the $10M+ from a broad US equities investment.

• Strategy matters: If you are buying real estate here, treat it as a cash-flow generating asset (rentals, value add, local knowledge) rather than gambling on huge pure‐appreciation.

• What about the next 45 years? Maybe we’re at the early innings of the AI / computing / business‐growth era the same way 1980 marked the dawn of the PC/internet age. If so, business‐equity investing may again outperform real estate by a large margin.

• Portfolio construction: For folks in NW Ohio: keep real estate in the mix (for stability, tax advantages, local control) but don’t expect it to be your explosive growth driver. For that you’ll want exposure to business growth, public or private.

In short: If you had $100K today to invest in NW Ohio real estate, you would be making a smart, solid, local bet, but however you slice it, it’s unlikely to turn into tens of millions purely from appreciation. Meanwhile, history shows the S&P path turned $100K into ~$10.6 M from 1980 to 2025.

So for the Toledo Money crowd: think of real estate here as the foundation of your portfolio it offers steady, dependable growth and think of broad equities or owning a business as the engine of outsized wealth creation

From Tool & Die to the Data Age: How Toledo’s Grit Forged America’s Auto Industry

If you grew up around here, you know the smell of motor oil isn’t nostalgia — it’s heritage. Long before fiber lines and cloud servers started buzzing, Toledo was the original engine room of America. Back in the early 1900s, no car in this country rolled off the line without something made right here.

Tool and die shops, stampers, machinists ; this region was the supply chain before supply chains were cool. Companies like Sheller Globe built steering wheels, dashboards, and molded parts for the Big Three. Jeep and Dana carried the flag across generations. And in 1934, the Auto Lite strike made national headlines, cementing Toledo’s place in labor history and proving what we already knew; this city doesn’t back down when something’s worth fighting for.

For decades, that formula worked. Factories hummed, paychecks built neighborhoods, and the word “union” meant you could put your kids through college. In the late 1970s, Lucas County had nearly 40,000 production workers; more than some entire states do today. By 2017, that number had fallen to about 17,000. The work didn’t disappear; it moved south. The auto industry chased lower costs and lighter regulation, spreading across Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia. For the Midwest, it felt like watching your own playbook being run somewhere else.

But here’s the truth, Toledo never lost its touch. Precision manufacturing. Pride in process. Showing up early, working hard, and making things that last. That’s not a trend, that’s DNA.

Today, we’re watching that same DNA fuel the next wave of growth. Stellantis employs more than 4,300 people at the Toledo Assembly Complex (working their tails off, lately), with another 900 jobs on the way as part of a $400 million investment in a new midsize truck program. Mobis North America just announced a $13.8 million EV battery systems plant bringing 185 jobs to town. Dana continues to expand into electrification. And a growing ecosystem of Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers is setting up shop nearby to serve them.

The real story? Our economic development teams have evolved right alongside the industry. The Regional Growth Partnership, JobsOhio, and the Toledo Regional Chamber of Commerce are attracting high wage, advanced manufacturing jobs that complement our legacy instead of replacing it. From Findlay to Fremont, they’re turning “rust belt” into “growth belt.”

The same sites that once echoed with stamping presses are now attracting data centers, EV parts plants, and automation companies. The tools look different, but the mindset hasn’t changed; build it, build it well, and build it here.

So the next time someone tells you the future is all digital, remind them: even the cloud needs hardware. And odds are, someone from Toledo helped make it.

By the Numbers

• $49.3Bn | Gross Domestic Product of the Toledo MSA in 2023.

• 10.8% | Share of jobs in the Toledo area in production occupations (5.7 % nationally).

• 43,800 | Number of manufacturing jobs in the Toledo MSA as of August 2025 (not seasonally adjusted).

• 16.9% | Manufacturing’s share of Ohio’s private-industry output in 2021.

• Top 5 | The Toledo region was ranked as the #5 manufacturing hub in the U.S., recognizing its workforce and supply-chain strength.

💼 The Advisor’s Desk

Welcome to The Advisor’s Desk, where the professionals of Northwest Ohio pull up a chair and share their best kept secrets; the kind that save you money, protect your business, and make you sound like the smartest person in the room. Each week, we tap into local expertise, from tax advisors and attorneys to commercial real estate pros and insurance veterans, to bring you practical tips that matter.

Do not worry, The Money Confessional will be back soon to spill the beans. For now, consider this your weekly dose of free consulting without the billable hours.

How to Give Smarter

This week’s expert: Your friendly neighborhood tax advisor.

The holidays are the one time of year when even the IRS looks festive. Between the bells, bows, and benefit galas, Toledoan’s give big; and this season, your generosity can also help you line up a cleaner 2025 tax return. Whether you’re dropping toys at Cherry Street Mission, writing checks to the Toledo Humane Society, or supporting a UT scholarship fund, there are ways to turn goodwill into good accounting.

🧾 The Toledo Giving Game Plan

1. Itemize, or It Doesn’t Count

The IRS doesn’t hand out gold stars for nice behavior; if you want a deduction, you need to itemize.

With the 2025 standard deduction set at $29,200 (joint filers), many people miss out simply because they don’t surpass the threshold.💡 Toledo Tip: “Bunch” donations — combine what you’d give this year and next year into one lump sum. That one-time move could push you over the limit and let your generosity work double-time.

2. Give Assets, Not Just Cash

If you’ve had a good year in the markets, consider donating appreciated stock or mutual funds directly to a local nonprofit. You avoid capital gains tax and get to deduct the fair market value. That’s what we call a two-for-one Toledo special.

3. Use a Donor-Advised Fund (DAF)

A DAF is like a charitable trust on training wheels. You can make a big contribution now, get the full deduction in 2024, and decide later which local causes to support; maybe the Victory Center, the Arts Commission, or United Way of Greater Toledo.
It’s philanthropy with a tax-planner’s patience.

4. Track Everything

Receipts are your best friends. For donations over $250, you’ll need an acknowledgment letter from the organization. Smaller amounts? A bank or credit card record works.

Use tools like ItsDeductible or Charity Navigator to log your giving and confirm each charity’s 501(c)(3) status.

5. Volunteer Time Isn’t Deductible; But Your Gas Might Be

You can’t write off your hours, but you can deduct mileage, parking, or supplies related to volunteer work. If you’re driving to the Ronald McDonald House or delivering meals downtown, track those miles, it all adds up.

6. For the 70½+ Crowd: Give from Your IRA

If you’re over 70½, you can donate up to $100,000 directly from your IRA to a qualified charity through a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD). It doesn’t count as taxable income, and it satisfies your Required Minimum Distribution (RMD). Smart, simple, and saintly.

📈 By the Numbers |

🏙️ Why It Matters

Every dollar that stays in Toledo strengthens the ecosystem: charities hire locally, buy locally, and reinvest in the region’s people. That’s the spirit of Northwest Ohio’s grit: we build, give, and grow right here at home.