Why do people invest, especially for holding?

Ex:

Say someone Fancies real estate. Assuming a 6 figure income or less. Does someone simply just live in their means and build up a savings account or better buy bonds or stocks for several years until one day they have enough money to invest in a 20% down income producing property. Say they save $100,000 and buy a $500,000 income producing property it generates NOI of 50,000, cash flow of $20,000.

assuming not flipping. What I like to know is why do people invest like this. Do they think for their long term future and suffer their earlier years to save money to one day save enough to buy something of risk that takes more years to break even with what you spent on the down payment and then probably 20+ years to finish the mortgage payments. Is this worth it?

Read more: Why do people invest, especially for holding?