Most working stiff family budgets are monthly, and I googled "car budget" to see what the *experts* suggest and the answers ranged from 10% to 15% of monthly take home....

So assuming your take home pay is 60% after taxes/benefits/401k etc, a $1700 car payment--which is 10% of $17,000 net obviously--would work out to a required pretax income of $340,000 annually.

 

A lot online can be misleading. Folks saying their homes are paid-in-full not mentioning the house was inherited, dirt cheap, or built in a non-affluent, competitive market. Likewise, folks saying they wrote checks for cars only to learn the car wasn't really $130k cash and they traded in a boat, bike and watch to get it along with cash they inherited or saved for 10 years. This isn't at any particular person but, people have slick ways of making their points online. I don't doubt there are deep pockets here. Plenty of successful people for sure.

 

I could have traded in my watch?!! Damn that salesman!

 

I did a quick search online for ***** and giggles only to find this rather amusing article. Check out the second graphic on the page which states you should be making 1 to 1.5 million/yr to purchase a 911. I guess that means only about 500,000 people in the US could possibly ever afford one.

Guess I'm out of luck or have made some really bad choices in the past!

http://www.financialsamurai.com/the-...e-must-follow/

 

I didn't click the link, but I happen to agree with the metric of "making over $1M before buying a new 911." That, or have saved what you do make to where your net wealth is large enough that income doesn't matter.

Not at all saying I care what anyone on the internet does; but I am saying that if somebody approached me and asked for financial counsel, one of those two factors would have to be in play before I said it was a financially acceptable idea to buy a new 911.

But then, nobody who ever approaches me for financial counsel is remotely in the position of considering a new 911. Most are trying to figure out how to get out from under one they already have.

 

Making over $1M or making over $1M/year ? I only ask because it's fairly easy to accumulate assets of over $1M between various accounts, investments, etc.

Earning over $1M a year consistently is a different story however.

 

Pretty sure they mean annual, pre-tax. Their thesis is that the car's selling price should be no more than 10% of one's annual pre-tax income, hence a $100k-$150k 911 would need $1-1.5 mil of income. This is kind of funny because it assumes you'd be buying a new car every year and then burning it. A flawed article in every possible way. Great click-bait though.

 

Sure.. If you have an AP Royal Oak Grande Complication.

 

You mean my $600 ten year old Heuer F1 won't cut the mustard?

 

Lol

 

Yes you should make $1m per year before you buy a 911. By that same metric you should make over $250k before you consider a Toyota prius, $400k before you buy a Jeep etc. and everyone else should ride the bus. Life is short, if you have the cash or can comfortably afford the payments and driving a Porsche is your dream, ignore the "I have more money than you" posts and do it as the memories will last a lifetime.

 

Matters less about what you earn, and more about how you spend and save.

 

+1

 

Counterpoint: Much fun can be have in the sportscar world for considerably less than new 911 money. Tempering one's instant gratification with a measure of "austerity" while enjoying those sportscars can be a great way of

a) learning to actually drive, rather than relying on big power and loads of electronic systems to make it seem like you know how to drive. My first track instructor at Road Atlanta made me stay in 3rd gear the whole first day... in a 94 Miata. If you don't carry every ounce of momentum through the turn in 3rd gear in a 128hp car, you feel like somebody dropped anchor. The guys on track in 911s could blow that turn never know it, cuz they had lots of power to overcome it.

b) in the end it's how happy are you. I was extremely happy in Miatas, Boxsters, older (cheaper) 911s, Z-car, etc, as long as each one seemed like a step up in some way, and they always did. By delaying the rush to the top, I found that not only did I save much money along the way, but I was happy. No need to get my new toy that I thought was going to be the greatest thing ever, then immediately realize the let-down when the new buzz wore off, and start planning for what the next new thing will be.

Works very well for me. I wouldn't change it if I had life to do over again. Nor would I buy a new 911 if I made $3-or-400,000. In my grid, that's crazy.

 

i do both. i get bored with my cars and typically move on every 2-3 years. nothing wrong with a lease if you get into reasonably