Gus_Smedstad

We travel semi-regularly. The $62k spending I mentioned earlier includes a trip to the Serengeti next month.

My net worth is a bit higher than the liquid net worth I mentioned, since I have a house and no mortgage. I usually only look at my liquid net worth because you can't spend a house.

I've socked money away for some time, but not specifically for this. More out of reflex, and for continuing income. It's just snowballed a bit.

I'm a bit worried about the "how long will you keep it" issue. I had my Supra Turbo for 16 years, but only kept my Panamera and the C4S cab for 18 months each.

My image of myself is of a person who keeps his cars for a long time, but that hasn't been my recent history. With the Panamera it was somewhat justified, since the car was just too big and not responsive enough for me, coming from a sports coupe.

The C4S cab sale isn't justified, really.

I've been retired for 13 years.

KWP1911

Bacura

Lol. Then spend it all. Your kids will love you! Unless of course you have no kids which means your expenses are almost non-existent.

Gus_Smedstad

No kids.

Catorce

You just said the magic word. I was against this at first until you said no kids and no mortgage.

Hey, it's all about priorities, isn't it. Just look at my signature if you feel bad :-)
I don't have car loans.

stephen k

Long story short if you can afford it you can have it. If you feel silly well you feel silly. Once you get behind the vehicle you'll be ok.

What I am more curious about is what does one have to do to be retired and have a passive annual income of $210k?

Penn4S

Unless you are trolling, which it doesn't appear so, you seem to have very good control of your expenses and your future. You know you can afford it and we are more than willing to tell you to go for it.

This expenditure is not going to change your good financial habits in the long term and you already know these cars are not money pits on maintenance so go for it and enjoy the new GTS.

Porsche_nuts

Now that we have more information, no kids, no mortgage, a bunch of savings and retired, what are you fretting about? Retirement is about enjoying your toys and enjoying life.

Airandwater

In 2013, the median household income of a Porsche buyer was $390k (US). Average net worth was north of $3M. Both according to a 2013 issue of Forbes.

Take that as you wish. Personally, I say sieze the moment. You are clearly financially disciplined and that is what makes this viable. You have a lot of disposable income. Dispose of it and enjoy if all your other needs (including retirement savings) are covered.

Every kid costs a middle class family about US$250,000 post tax dollars to the age of 18 (so that is before college!). So you have saved half a million bucks compared to most on this board (if they are average breeders).

We have no kids, no mortgage and no car payments. And solid job security. Somewhat below the Porsche buyer income metrics quoted above (I may be worth more dead than alive!!!). And 4 Porsches, only one of which was bought new ('15 Macan). The two '73 cars (an S and an RS) are part of our net worth and a fun investment we can drive. Cost very little when they were originally purchased years ago.

So every situation is different. There is no single guideline other than enjoy what you have left over after all the basics are taken care of.

911seeker

You can afford a Veyron...

mchrono

john45in

Let your heirs worry about your Porsche purchase. Asked my son, "want to drive your inheritance"?

Archimedes

Again, all a personal decision for every individual. Some folks believe you shouldn't spend more than the cash in your wallet on a car and others think you should leverage everything you own if the car is important to you. Everyone is different. What's right for you is whatever is right for you, not somebody else. Go with whatever your gut is telling you.

But I'd suggest removing all your financial information from this thread.

freeman727

210k take home is much different than 210k pretax. Other things to consider are kids/future kids, age, stability of job and future potential earning power. Without directly talking about my own personal wealth. I wasn't going to get a late model Porsche until car was 1/4 of annual take home and can easily pay cash. Probably more importantly is what age do u want to retire? Can you easily work to the age of expected retirement? How much of a nest egg will you have? Will you have reoccurring income (e.g. Dividends) or will it be a gradual erosion of your principle?

Personally, I want to retire at 55 with 5 mil. A lot will depend on the healthcare situation. I just got a 991.2. I figure I can have one more Porsche before I retire.

One thing I don't understand is why not finance. I got a rate of 1.99% APR and have investment income of >20% for last 12 months.

Gus_Smedstad

I'm sure to be bashed for sharing more financial information - why that's an issue for some is a topic that makes me want to digress at length - but it's not entirely passive.

My wife isn't retired. We've discussed this, and she doesn't want to retire yet. I'm a value investor in stocks, and I do fairly well. My contribution to that figure was about $130k.

It's somewhat appalling that you would even wonder that. I thought I was being more transparent than that.

Basically, I was wondering if there was a segment of this board that also thought, "man, it's weird that we spend this kind of money on cars."

Also, when I'm having troublesome feelings, I often feel it helpful to talk through them. In hindsight, this maybe wasn't a good forum for that. But if not here, where? Caring about cars to this degree seems like a niche interest.

Of course, there is no doubt a segment here that's extremely well off, and don't see it as a big expenditure. I just thought that the spectrum was wider than that, since I see a fair number of loan and lease topics, and I assume the Quite Wealthy don't need to bother with those.

Financial knee-jerk reflexes, basically. I think I can afford this; some in this thread disagree. But regardless of whether I can, it feels odd to be pouring this kind of money into something that's basically a hobby.

I hadn't realized it was so rarified. Again, I thought the spectrum was a bit wider than that, due to the loan and lease topics.