"A BRONCO IS A BRONCO" - Buying a new Bronco, making payments, and affordability!

[Velociraptor]

I always felt like debt is a way for other people to own you, so not a big fan of owing money. Who is, right? Unavoidable sometimes with a house purchase or auto purchase. We paid off our mortgage early so done with that. Only had car payments three times. Second was for a Buick right after September 11 happened and got 0% interest so made sense to do payments. Third was leasing a new 2017 Porsche 911. Definitely a huge splurge for that car and was not sure owning it long term was what we would want so did a lease to have the option of just giving it back at lease end. We still loved it at the end of 3 years so paid cash for the residual. That ended up costing a bit more than a normal car loan, but paying cash for the residual made it not that much worse. For the Bronco I plan to do a trade-in plus cash. One of the perks of being older and having maxed out 401k retirement savings for many decades! The Bronco definitely also falls into the category of splurge toy.

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[rugbysecondrow]

I don’t know why this would be so controversial, but it does seem to have hit many of you close to home!

I admit that the “fattest part of the bell curve” of society does currently lack the education and will power to make educated decisions about their own finances. I’d like to encourage these people to, if they’re willing, become educated about it themselves and decide what the best strategy for them. Or, if they even have enough cash flow and funds to make it worth it, hire an expert to help them make these sorts of decisions.

Part of it is because you come off as a contrarian for the sake of being contrary and not helpful, which was the OPs tone.

Second, how is the OP not encouraging people to be more aware and to educate themselves more? That was the point of the post, links included, to help people and give them sources to help themselves.

To be honest, I don't know what your greater point is, other than to object to the OP, but your views seem to be in line with your username..."NotApplicable"

 

[North7]

Dogma: a point of view or tenet put forth as authoritative without adequate grounds

(Pretty clear to me but I’ll bite and explain again)

I’m simply pointing out that almost everything in financial decision making should be highly individualized and incorporate many variables. As such, there is no universal good advice. Much of what is parroted as “the right way” to manage money (by those who have no real credentials to be making such blanket claims) aren’t even based on the most objective criteria possible (such as statistics, mathematics, historical data points). Instead they are based on things like the assumption that the reader lacks will power or the ability/desire to become their own advocate and make their own financial decisions with confidence. I think this sells people short.

I don’t know why this would be so controversial, but it does seem to have hit many of you close to home!

I admit that the “fattest part of the bell curve” of society does currently lack the education and will power to make educated decisions about their own finances. I’d like to encourage these people to, if they’re willing, become educated about it themselves and decide what the best strategy for them. Or, if they even have enough cash flow and funds to make it worth it, hire an expert to help them make these sorts of decisions.

You are 100% correct, for a college level course on US Financial Literacy, but we are not speaking about Donald Trump, Jeffrey Skilling, and Bernie Madoff, we are discussing real members on this forum, I would guess to say the average income is between $50K and $150K. Many in the general public fall for the shysters selling $50K investment or real estate classes to help their financial literacy. Or the investment brokers who promise a 20% return, the gullible do fall.

A few of us have lived through enough good and bad financial decisions and are just passing along some ideas for others to consider "those are our real credentials". Like that hot stock tip I got right before the Internet bubble burst, yup, the company went bankrupt and I lost my entire investment, now I only invest in broad based market funds, like VTI, and my 401K and IRA's have grown very nicely.

We have seen enough to have our family emergency funds intact, have maxed out our 401K's and IRA contributions and know to pay down or off our home mortgage, all while monitoring investment opportunity cost vs loss across all of them to achieve our end goals. With these decisions some of us are able to pay cash for our Bronco's. Have we had to sacrifice a few fun things along the way, sure, but we "Begin With the End in Mind" to achieve our lifetime goals.

 

[Hkak45]

You are 100% correct, for a college level course on US Financial Literacy, but we are not speaking about Donald Trump, Jeffrey Skilling, and Bernie Madoff, we are discussing real members on this forum, I would guess to say the average income is between $50K and $150K. Many in the general public fall for the shysters selling $50K investment or real estate classes to help their financial literacy. Or the investment brokers who promise a 20% return, the gullible do fall.

A few of us have lived through enough good and bad financial decisions and are just passing along some ideas for others to consider "those are our real credentials". Like that hot stock tip I got right before the Internet bubble burst, yup, the company went bankrupt and I lost my entire investment, now I only invest in broad based market funds, like VTI, and my 401K and IRA's have grown very nicely.

We have seen enough to have our family emergency funds intact, have maxed out our 401K's and IRA contributions and know to pay down or off our home mortgage, all while monitoring investment opportunity cost vs loss across all of them to achieve our end goals. With these decisions some of us are able to pay cash for our Bronco's. Have we had to sacrifice a few fun things along the way, sure, but we "Begin With the End in Mind" to achieve our lifetime goals.

I respect your honest input on all this? I always like to say street smart beats out book smart? Lol it’s all a balancing act and making sure you have the end result in mind. Unfortunately there are so many people that don’t want to take advice from anyone and don’t want to be financial literate so they work their whole life and then just pray that their families can take care of them when they get too old to work. (Or they pay some financial “guru” a boat load of money to pretend that he cares about their end result)

 

[Dannyboy71]

Debbie downer thread ?

 

[Hoofnmouth]

Yup, the wife and I are "Dinks". (double income, no kids)

Lol never heard that term ,like it ,party on?

 

[North7]

Debbie downer thread ?

You can do this! Do and plan the best you can with your personal financial situation and you will be successful, but the lack of a plan is a downer.

Assuming you live and work in Orange County California. I worked in Orange County and lived in the Inland Empire, the commuting is a pain but the housing is cheaper. You can find a way to make things work for your personal situation.

 

[bytheway]

My wife got jealous of all my Bronco talk and now wants an Explorer ST. I'm cool with it since I loved the one I drove when figuring out if I wanted to order the Bronco.

Ford Credit is offering $2000 of rebates if you finance through them. Are there any downsides if I take that rebate and then immediately refinance through my credit union?

 

[Palerider]

For me, I've been saving for this since 2019. I worked extra in the summer (I'm a teacher) and will be working about a dozen Saturdays and my Spring Break this year to have a large down payment. Plus I have a trade-in / truck to sell to add to that.

I can 'afford' $600 a month, but I do NOT want that as my payment. $550 is our budget, but I still want to get that lower - in a perfect world, 500 or just under.

Interest rate will be part of the factor. 5% is a non-starter and I am hoping / expecting / projecting to get 3% or less.

This way we can pay the 600 and eat away at the principal quickly and get this paid off prior to 2026.

Yes, financially there are better ways to use your money - but we are all talking about buying a Bronco and if I was that committed to financial sense, my plan would be looking at the 2024-2025 model.

Getting the car payment over with lets us continue to build the car fund for any repairs on our vehicles or eventually my wife's next vehicle.

Interest rates at credit unions can be as low as 2%. Indiana members CU and Lake michigan CU, both 2%, though higher, of course, based on credit score, etc.

Welcome to the IMCU Auto Loan Center!



Credit Card & Loan Rates

DESCRIPTION	AS LOW AS
Prime Platinum Visa Credit Card	6.25 APR*
Autos - New	1.99 APR*
Boats, RV's - New	4.24 APR*

Lake Mich credit union, which also does business in Florida.

 

[dcg2]

When my son was a young Marine with plenty of money, he wanted to get a new truck, even though his current truck was in great condition and paid for. I told him to put the expected payments into savings each month and see if he could really afford it. After 3 months he decided there was nothing wrong with his truck. He still owns that same truck 6 years later.

Awesome dad move! You sir are winning.

 

[tyrobronco]

Interest rates at credit unions can be as low as 2%. Indiana members CU and Lake michigan CU, both 2%, though higher, of course, based on credit score, etc.

Welcome to the IMCU Auto Loan Center!



Credit Card & Loan Rates

DESCRIPTION	AS LOW AS
Prime Platinum Visa Credit Card	6.25 APR*
Autos - New	1.99 APR*
Boats, RV's - New	4.24 APR*

Lake Mich credit union, which also does business in Florida.

I'm hopeful - but trying to plan for worse-case scenario when budgeting...

 

[mdepll]

Some of the dogmatic advice in this post is not objective, and I don’t see your credentials as a fiduciary for all the readers...

There is no “universally true” financial advice, and I highly recommend that readers either research their own situation enough to make their own decisions or hire someone who is legally obligated to provide management/advice that is in the best interest of their client.

Bronco is an average-priced new vehicle and debt is cheaper now than average inflation over the past 30 years. Figure out for yourself if you can afford it at all and decide for yourself how much debt you want to use to finance it. Not rocket science.

I respectfully disagree with your one comment about bronco being an average priced vehicle. In Canada, a mid-level trim with a few options (with mid package, 2.7 auto, and a hard top) will cost you $70. That's not average at all!

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