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There is the philosophy that a person lives up to their car…so if they show up to work in a high class car they act like it. It’s similar to dressing for the role that you want.
Now, that might be a particularly destructive philosophy, but that’s how I’ve balanced it. It’s probably really bad advice
It depends 🙂
If you act like a dumbass you’ll get fired regardless of what you drive to work.
But if I see you drive either an ND or a GTS 4.0 I may see you as a fellow enthusiast, but it may not come with any tangible benefits.
Remember to have gratitude for your good fortune and the results of hard work. Then make sure you are meeting your baseline investment plan. Then:
Answer the following question:
If I were to die in about 10 years, would I regret not buying & enjoying this car now while I can? If yes, buy it. Tomorrow is not guaranteed. Live your life and enjoy it.
I try and put my wasted brain space of car knowledge to use by identifying good value in the market for whatever I’m looking for.
When it’s a toy, not buying new is really the key. That allows me to avoid the majority of depreciation and invest it in the meantime. Monitoring prices will show the “bottom” of the market for whatever I’m looking at which often times will mean I can buy, drive for a couple years, and then not lose anything when I sell.
For a daily driver, find something reliable and responsible(ish) that will still scratch that itch enough and keep it for a long time.
I personally have an Audi Allroad since I love wagons and find the A4 to be plenty quick but a S4, S5, BMW M340i or X3 M40i would be fantastic daily’s if you want some excitement and reliability / decent gas mileage.
I used up be like that. I talked middle out of it every time. I have now learned that if you truly like something and want it, you will always think about it and probably get it one day. In my case I got my car 5 years after I could have. I regret not getting it sooner. It would have been paid off by now and I would have enjoyed 5 years younger and 5 years more.
Long story short, buy it and enjoy. Money can slate disappear, the memories won’t.
F
Because you DIE eventually and this is the only life you have.
I tend to buy inexpensive “projects” to scratch the itch without having a noticeable impact on my finances. You can get some pretty nice cars for under five grand that clean up and drive wonderfully if you are mechanically inclined - I’ve had several old BMWs and an Alfa that fell into this category and I can typically break even or take a minimal loss over a few years of ownership (hell of a lot better than depreciation on a new car).
Use your money in a way that makes you happy. If the security of money in the bank does it for you, keep saving/investing. If you want a car, buy a car. You can’t take either with you. At the end of the day, he who dies with the most toys or the largest estate is still dead. Enjoy it while you can.
You can sleep in a racecar, but you can’t race in a house. Plan accordingly.
Savings rate of 25% is arbitrary.
Max out your 401k, your Roth IRA (backdoor if need be), your HSA and keep 2 months of expenses parked in an HYSA.
Buy a car. It’s an investment too. Sure it depreciates, but it’s not just a cost/loss of $60k. It costs $60k, plus whatever you put into it after, less how much you sell it for down the road. If you buy the right car, the true cost can be closer to $0.