Originally Posted by wtd
I just have to look at the prices of new vehicles these days and my "itch" goes away. My last new vehicle was my 14 Mustang GT which I've had for 6.5 years. I'm also retired so buying a new vehicle is probably not the smartest thing to do living on a fixed income but at some point I will have to start spending my 401K and at that point, I may buy one more new vehicle.
You sound like my dad; he's been retired six years and hasn't touched his 401k yet (now 68). And that's probably been a good thing with the way the market has performed since he's been retired - I think we've only had one down year in the last six - he retired with somewhere around 300k...I imagine now it's up around $470k-$500k.
My dad leases now, he spent his whole life buying and driving clunkers. Now he just goes into the dealer and trades his lease in every two years. Low mileage leases, customer "loyalty rebate", whatever other "deal" they run...and he usually walks away paying between $200-$250 a month for a loaded Honda CRV. He likes doing it because he doesn't have to worry about car repairs anymore...no more tire replacements or check engine lights, brakes, exhaust. Nothing. He just turns them over with 20,000 miles on them and he's into the next one. Probably not for everyone, but it's stress free for him.
I just have to look at the prices of new vehicles these days and my "itch" goes away. My last new vehicle was my 14 Mustang GT which I've had for 6.5 years. I'm also retired so buying a new vehicle is probably not the smartest thing to do living on a fixed income but at some point I will have to start spending my 401K and at that point, I may buy one more new vehicle.
You sound like my dad; he's been retired six years and hasn't touched his 401k yet (now 68). And that's probably been a good thing with the way the market has performed since he's been retired - I think we've only had one down year in the last six - he retired with somewhere around 300k...I imagine now it's up around $470k-$500k.
My dad leases now, he spent his whole life buying and driving clunkers. Now he just goes into the dealer and trades his lease in every two years. Low mileage leases, customer "loyalty rebate", whatever other "deal" they run...and he usually walks away paying between $200-$250 a month for a loaded Honda CRV. He likes doing it because he doesn't have to worry about car repairs anymore...no more tire replacements or check engine lights, brakes, exhaust. Nothing. He just turns them over with 20,000 miles on them and he's into the next one. Probably not for everyone, but it's stress free for him.