For anyone thinking of taking out a loan

Negative. I have a .6% rate on my new car. I will pay 300 dollars in interest by the time I pay the car off. A small price to pay to not have to come out of pocket for a car.
Ditto. We bought our Ford Escape $0 Down, $500 cash back and 0% for 5 years.
They were dumbfounded when I wanted the $500 cash back as cash back! Apparently they've only had people request to roll it into the loan. Why would I put money down or give them money on a 0% loan.
Scary when you have to explain such a concept to a Loan Officer.
Even so people were telling us we were foolish for buying a new car. Yea we could buy a 1 year old escape for 5 grand less and pay 5% on a car loan. Plus the increased maintenance. If we paid cash then that's 30k we can't use in the future.
 
Even so people were telling us we were foolish for buying a new car. Yea we could buy a 1 year old escape for 5 grand less and pay 5% on a car loan. Plus the increased maintenance. If we paid cash then that's 30k we can't use in the future.

Used cars are crazy expensive these days. I don't even think a 1 year old car would lose 5 grand in value right now.
 
Because the myth that they are a better deal. Guy's like Pastor Dave have pumped up the price.

Bingo. Look at all of the people in this thread who have bought into this silly idea that buying used cars will make you a millionaire. It's artificially inflated the prices of used cars.

I've got news for you, people: giving up just about anything can make you a millionaire. Cable TV, a car payment, internet access, even Starbucks coffee. The real question is how you want to live your life. If I took the money I spend on satellite TV and instead invested it in Dave's favorite 12% mutual fund, I'd end up with an extra $1.8 million after 40 years. But I'll have spent that 40 years without satellite TV, which certainly isn't something that I want to do. Neither do I want to spend my life driving around in someone else's beat up crap, which is all that a used car is.

You can retire a millionaire (or even become a millionaire far sooner) without living like a pauper. Enjoy your life while still putting money away. Don't be like my grandfather. I'm going to inherit a bunch of money from him, but he's lived in squalor for most of his life because he didn't want to spend any money. That's no way to live.
 
Bingo. Look at all of the people in this thread who have bought into this silly idea that buying used cars will make you a millionaire. It's artificially inflated the prices of used cars.

I've got news for you, people: giving up just about anything can make you a millionaire. Cable TV, a car payment, internet access, even Starbucks coffee. The real question is how you want to live your life. If I took the money I spend on satellite TV and instead invested it in Dave's favorite 12% mutual fund, I'd end up with an extra $1.8 million after 40 years. But I'll have spent that 40 years without satellite TV, which certainly isn't something that I want to do. Neither do I want to spend my life driving around in someone else's beat up crap, which is all that a used car is.

You can retire a millionaire (or even become a millionaire far sooner) without living like a pauper. Enjoy your life while still putting money away. Don't be like my grandfather. I'm going to inherit a bunch of money from him, but he's lived in squalor for most of his life because he didn't want to spend any money. That's no way to live.

Amen.

Seriously though folks, you die at the end of this gig. Perspective.
 
I don't think Dave Ramsey is the sole reason used prices have gone up. I think it has more to do with a financial crisis and a cash for clunkers deal that wiped the used car market out.
 
Cash for Clunkers gets accused of that a lot. It involved less than 700,000 vehicles, of 41M+ used car sales a year.

Of course, it was bad for the environment (another example of supposed environmental laws causing damage), and had no effect on the economy, beyond adding a few more billion to the deficit.
 
I don't think Dave Ramsey is the sole reason used prices have gone up.

I don't think anyone is blaming him alone. More like blaming the mentality that has spread in recent years partially thanks to him, Suze Orman, and other personal finance "gurus" pushing this idiotic idea that buying a new car is the key to financial ruin.
 
I don't think anyone is blaming him alone. More like blaming the mentality that has spread in recent years partially thanks to him, Suze Orman, and other personal finance "gurus" pushing this idiotic idea that buying a new car is the key to financial ruin.
It doesn't help. Look at your own prophet. Many very wealthy people I know have all said the same thing as Ramsey in this respect. Don't drop major money in something that will depreciate and eventually need to be replaced. It is not the thing that makes you the money it just takes you to where the money is.
 
It doesn't help. Look at your own prophet. Many very wealthy people I know have all said the same thing as Ramsey in this respect. Don't drop major money in something that will depreciate and eventually need to be replaced. It is not the thing that makes you the money it just takes you to where the money is.

Maybe in 1999 when would get a 5 year old car for $2500. Today, not so much. A 5 year old Civic is worth nearly 10 grand.
 
It doesn't help.

As I said, neither does having cable TV. That's a nonsense argument. Money has no value at all if you don't spend it on what you want and simply accumulate it for the sake of accumulating it.

Look at your own prophet.

You mean the Oracle? He buys a brand new Cadillac every few years. Bad example, my friend. ;)

Many very wealthy people I know have all said the same thing as Ramsey in this respect.

Apparently your definition of "very wealthy" differs greatly from mine. I don't know of anyone who I would consider "very wealthy" who doesn't have a brand new Rolls, Bentley, Maserati, etc. You must be talking about those people I mentioned above who spend no money and accumulate it simply for the sake of having a bunch of it. Which again leads me to ask: why? Do you just want bragging rights? Because I certainly can't see any other reason for having a few million sitting around if you don't intent to enjoy it.
 
Used cars are crazy expensive these days. I don't even think a 1 year old car would lose 5 grand in value right now.
My wife and I have always bought used, and now buy from a salvage place; mine has hail damage, and my wife's hit a deer. The hail damage is visible on my car, but wife's car has been fixed up and you can't tell other than some scratches on top of the dash (apparently the deer broke the darn windshield, poor deer!). So we both bought them outright for thousands less than new, and with fairly low miles (less than 50k). Besides essentials, I use the financial free board to put in my IRA, Thrift Savings Plan, and not worry about maxing out my 401k.

There is indeed something to be said for living life, and my hope is that my splurge will be sole ownership of a plane. With my retirement already building up and no debt besides the mortgage on my house, I hopefully can enjoy flying GA mostly guilt free!
 
As I said, neither does having cable TV. That's a nonsense argument. Money has no value at all if you don't spend it on what you want and simply accumulate it for the sake of accumulating it.



You mean the Oracle? He buys a brand new Cadillac every few years. Bad example, my friend. ;)



Apparently your definition of "very wealthy" differs greatly from mine. I don't know of anyone who I would consider "very wealthy" who doesn't have a brand new Rolls, Bentley, Maserati, etc. You must be talking about those people I mentioned above who spend no money and accumulate it simply for the sake of having a bunch of it. Which again leads me to ask: why? Do you just want bragging rights? Because I certainly can't see any other reason for having a few million sitting around if you don't intent to enjoy it.
Yes, a Cadillac to him is nothing. You have to keep the perspective.

I've never said they have their money lying around they make great use of it by amassing more land, businesses and so on.
 
Yes, a Cadillac to him is nothing. You have to keep the perspective.

It's not much to a major airline pilot, either. But with some of the Dave Ramsey brainwashing, you'd think that some of these guys make $8/hr and work at McDonald's.

I've never said they have their money lying around they make great use of it by amassing more land, businesses and so on.

They also enjoy it.
 
I can think of nothing worse for America's youth than being forced to listen to the financial voodoo that Dave Ramsey spews. High school kids need to be taught how their credit rating works, not how to avoid having one like a backwoods hick.

Completely agree. Credit is a tool, both in personal and professional settings. It's understanding how to use this tool effectively that should be learned.

Working with my stepson now to learn a lot of this. I can only hope that he actually takes it to heart and avoid mistakes I've made in the past and come out the better for it.
 
Getting my first credit card when I was in junior high was the best thing that ever happened to me. It allowed me to have a credit rating of 780 by the time I was 20 so that I could purchase my first house. That purchase has increased my net worth by many thousands of dollars over the years.

Listening to Ramsey, I never would have had that card, and I wouldn't have had a credit rating at all. I'd still be a junior first officer making $45k/yr at a regional and paying rent to someone. But hey, I'd be debt free! Yay! :sarcasm:
 
Getting my first credit card when I was in junior high was the best thing that ever happened to me. It allowed me to have a credit rating of 780 by the time I was 20 so that I could purchase my first house. That purchase has increased my net worth by many thousands of dollars over the years.

Listening to Ramsey, I never would have had that card, and I wouldn't have had a credit rating at all. I'd still be a junior first officer making $45k/yr at a regional and paying rent to someone. But hey, I'd be debt free! Yay! :sarcasm:

Heck credit cards were the reason I was able to become an airline pilot. When I first applied for student loans, I was denied due to no credit history. Got several credits(and free pizza:D) a cell phone, paid credit used off every month and 6 months later....APPROVED for enough money to fund all my flight training.
 
I can think of nothing worse for America's youth than being forced to listen to the financial voodoo that Dave Ramsey spews. High school kids need to be taught how their credit rating works, not how to avoid having one like a backwoods hick.
I was referring more to the need for a Personal Finances class not necessarily a "Ramseyesque" finance class. I used to actually think that I would never need credit and that I would just pay cash for everything. Then I turned 20.
 
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