Just as a bit of advice to everyone on here, don't bankrupt yourself trying to get a Bronco

[Bradley Thornton]

There’s nothing financially smart about buying a brand new $40k-60k car, no matter how you justify it to yourself lol.
I’ve heard them all. “I’m leveraging other people’s money...”, “It’s a tax write-off...I’m going to pay it to the tax man anyway...” etc etc. That’s not to say I wouldn’t get one, but I’m not going to kid myself. I’m prioritizing real investments first.

Lets say I make 205K a year and can write off the Bronco on my taxes. (I am married)
If I buy a 60k Bronco and write it off I went from a 35% Bracket to a 24% tax bracket.

So I would save $22,550 that I would have given the government now I will just do the simple x2 being instead of it going out I added it to my pocket. Thats $45,100. Now I paid $14,900 for that Bronco.

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[MrOzMan]

Lets say I make 205K a year and can write off the Bronco on my taxes. (I am married)
If I buy a 60k Bronco and write it off I went from a 35% Bracket to a 24% tax bracket.

So I would save $22,550 that I would have given the government now I will just do the simple x2 being instead of it going out I added it to my pocket. Thats $45,100. Now I paid $14,900 for that Bronco.

yeah good in theory, but you left out a couple of important things. Cashflow. I guess if you’re an employee, you get paid more steadily and predictably than a business owner, but business owners are better off retaining as much liquidity as they can to float the business.
The other is opportunity cost. You could have invested the money in real estate, IRA etc, so you lost the potential of whatever else you could have put that taxable income into. So that Bronco really cost you millions.

 

[Squatch]

According to this site, Jeep Wrangler owners keep their vehicles for almost 9 years on average. If you can be certain that you'll keep this Bronco for five years, then you should probably finance at these insanely low rates without putting money down and instead invest that money even if it's just maxing out your IRA contribution.

*not official financial advise

$5000 down saves you $245.21 at 1.9% for 60 months
$5000 invested at 1.9% for five years earns you $493.40

So, if you want to argue that by putting money down you aren't paying that pesky scourge called interest, you are robbing yourself of, in this case, nearly the same amount.

 

[Blksn955.o]

Those that have their finances in order will be fine those that do not might have some hardships. Even those that have things in order may encounter a catastrophic situation...ish happens. Hope everyone will make the best decision for themselves and their situation good planning and luck to all.

Hope to see everyone on a trail someday.

 

[Pablo]

75% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck.

I'm not expecting everyone on here to buy a 40k rig with cash but you should make sure that:

-You don't finance over 6 years
-You but at least SOME money down
-The vehicle's payment doesn't take up too much of your monthly income

If you have to seriously hurt your finances in order to basically buy a toy then you're not adulting right.

Wow, perhaps you should run for the presidency and tell us ALL how to live our lives.

What happened to self-responsibility and individual choice?

 

[Bradley Thornton]

100% agreed. Throw every extra dollar you can at the highest interest rate loan/card that you have. Most people (myself included in the past) don't realize how much money they're paying a month in interest. At my worst, I was paying something gross like $600 a month in credit card interest alone. When I finally buckled down about a year ago (and with the help of a strong real estate market in CO), I attacked it that way and now have no CC debt and my credit score went from something like 690 to 825. It sucks when you're in debt, but if you really put your mind to it, it is possible to get out. You just have to attack it strategically.

Granted, buying a $50K new car isn't the wisest financial decision overall, but if you apply the same mentality of putting your cash on higher APRs, you'd want to put as little down as possible, get as low of a rate as possible, and throw all the cash you have on an 18% credit card if it has a balance. You'll pay less in the long term.

Chris

Credit Cards are a great thing used properly I put every bill I can on a Credit Card but pay it off every month. I have 4 credit cards. All gain points for different things, Flyer miles, Hotels stay, money back, one we don't use at all but its in just the wife name from 20+ years ago. We will use one build up point then the next then the next. Then we will take a free vacation. Yes, we pay them off every month. Just working the system.

 

[Blksn955.o]

Regarding the interest and payment.

IMHO it is more of a payment I want to pay vs what down payment dollar cost averaging works out to be.

That said when the interest rate is below the cost of living/inflation rate...it does make you want to spend the money elsewhere.

 

[Blksn955.o]

Credit Cards are a great thing used properly I put every bill I can on a Credit Card but pay it off every month. I have 4 credit cards. All gain points for different things, Flyer miles, Hotels stay, money back, one we don't use at all but its in just the wife name from 20+ years ago. We will use one build up point then the next then the next. Then we will take a free vacation. Yes, we pay them off every month. Just working the system.

The nice thing is also 1 payment a month vs all the individual ones.

 

[TXJeepScientist]

I did the Dave Ramsey thing and paid off my house yesterday. ???

 

[Bradley Thornton]

yeah good in theory, but you left out a couple of important things. Cashflow. I guess if you’re an employee, you get paid more steadily and predictably than a business owner, but business owners are better off retaining as much liquidity as they can to float the business.
The other is opportunity cost. You could have invested the money in real estate, IRA etc, so you lost the potential of whatever else you could have put that taxable income into. So that Bronco really cost you millions.

This has now become a debate over making money vs living life to the fullest. I live in the grey area.

 

[jayhawkco]

Credit Cards are a great thing used properly I put every bill I can on a Credit Card but pay it off every month. I have 4 credit cards. All gain points for different things, Flyer miles, Hotels stay, money back, one we don't use at all but its in just the wife name from 20+ years ago. We will use one build up point then the next then the next. Then we will take a free vacation. Yes, we pay them off every month. Just working the system.

Likewise. One of my other frequented forums (fora?) is FlyerTalk where you learn how to "use and abuse" the system for travel. I've been to 70 countries and wouldn't have ever had the chance without playing the game.

Chris

 

[bulliesindabronco]

75% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck.

I'm not expecting everyone on here to buy a 40k rig with cash but you should make sure that:

-You don't finance over 6 years
-You but at least SOME money down
-The vehicle's payment doesn't take up too much of your monthly income

If you have to seriously hurt your finances in order to basically buy a toy then you're not adulting right.

75% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck.

I'm not expecting everyone on here to buy a 40k rig with cash but you should make sure that:

-You don't finance over 6 years
-You but at least SOME money down
-The vehicle's payment doesn't take up too much of your monthly income

If you have to seriously hurt your finances in order to basically buy a toy then you're not adulting right.

Something to note: I work for a very large dealer and ordered a Bronco myself. The stock to our dealer will drop in sometime in the Spring of 2021. My order may not arrive till Holiday's of 2021; After Thanksgiving or even Christmas. Ford has different programs for different times of the year and also on different trim levels. Those programs can be applied to your price "depending" on when your Bronco arrives. Trade assist, factory cash, repeat customer cash etc. What might be great for those later order drops is that stock unit and sales will have started in Spring. So by the time your Bronco lands there might be some very nice programs. Even myslef working at the dealer I need my payment under a certain amount. My order "may" not reflect what i can afford. BUT, there will be certain trims that have better incentives and lease out at a lower rate. (I plan to lease then buy, if there are no issues with 1st model year, recalls etc.) So one can always not buy their ordered Bronco that has landed at the dealership and purchase another one that already is in the dealer because the higher trim level may finance out better because of dealer programs. And there "will be" many programs on the Bronco at the end of he year 2021. July 4th, Labor day will be there as well, and yes, even on the Bronco there will be certain discounts on certain trims.

 

[Bradley Thornton]

yeah good in theory, but you left out a couple of important things. Cashflow. I guess if you’re an employee, you get paid more steadily and predictably than a business owner, but business owners are better off retaining as much liquidity as they can to float the business.
The other is opportunity cost. You could have invested the money in real estate, IRA etc, so you lost the potential of whatever else you could have put that taxable income into. So that Bronco really cost you millions.

One last thing thats actually why I didn't do it X3 because the money is already spent so I couldn't invest.

 

[MrOzMan]

This has now become a debate over making money vs living life to the fullest. I live in the grey area.

Definitely understand the gray area. Life is best when well balanced. That’s why I take a little advice from Dave Ramsey, a little from Grant Cardone and others. Don’t try to do anything to extreme. I like to avoid both short and long term financial stress.

 

[Rednek]

I'm just going to follow family tradition and spend myself into oblivion and leave my kids with all the debt after I pass on.Truthfully tho I have paid off all my bills except my sidexside (paid off next month)house is paid off and empty nesters so a treat for Mama and me to go exploring in is in order

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