How can you factor in the aspect that a cool car might impress someone who might get you a better job? Or it allows you to "look the part" and "fake it till you make it"? People sometimes rent cars and watches and suits to appear higher class when talking to potential investors or other business partners.

Having a better house might allow you to invite more people over for parties or dinner, which can have downstream effects in your social mobility and status.

If you can keep up with the Joneses and chit chat about your vacation to some nice place, it may allow you to become an insider in some group.

At least that's the "logic" (even if subconscious) to chasing status symbols. Though very often it fails because faking it is hard and you can easily be clocked as a tasteless tryhard. But if you don't take too large steps up, you might get away with it and reap the social benefits.

You can buy investment properties to convert debt to income and get nice returns. While this is technically a business, there are ways to make it quite passive and thus more like an investment than a business. Margin stock accounts also exist, although I don't know enough to know what situations it makes sense to use them in.