Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I just wanted to get the opinion of retirees, especially those that have been retired for a number of years, what percent of your wealth do you consider acceptable to spend on cars in retirement?
Wife retired at 54 a couple years back and I'm getting ready to retire in the next few months and I was wanting to get the opinion of retirees.
We bought a new car recently for wife and I'm thinking of buying a very exciting car for myself and added together, it would constitute about 5% of our wealth (we won't have a note, pay cash)....do you think that's too much and if so, what do you recommend or if you think that's too little or not a problem, I want to hear that too.
Our pensions, investment income, SS should be easily sufficient to live on. Yes, we could conceivably get by on one vehicle but we are both pretty active and we live in an outer suburb so public transportation is not really feasible.
5% of what? You dont have to answer that question here, but 5% of $5 million is different from 5% of $500,000. Are you taking into consideration that 5, 10, 15 years down the road you may have to buy cars again?
I plan to buy a car for my wife in a couple of years and will spend about 2.5%. We will be 60/61 by then. But we do have 4 cars. Two newer drivers and two old German cars. The total value of our cars is less 4% of our wealth (if you include our house as wealth).
Last edited by Vic Romano; 09-15-2017 at 02:33 AM..
5% of what? You dont have to answer that question here, but 5% of $5 million is different from 5% of $500,000. Are you taking into consideration that 5, 10, 15 years down the road you may have to buy cars again?
I plan to buy a car for my wife in a couple of years and will spend about 2.5%. We will be 60/61 by then. But we do have 4 cars. Two newer drivers and two old German cars. The total value of our cars is less 4% of our wealth (if you include our house as wealth).
So You think the maximum % of your wealth spent on cars should be based on your wealth? So what % is the maximum you should spend at these wealth points:
1) $10M
2) $5M
3) $2.5M
4) $1M
5) $.5M
Yes, in the future (we keep cars about 10 years) we will likely have more wealth next time to purchase our cars....so not a large concern, just a reality of living.
there is no such thing as how much as a percentage of assets since there are to many variables .
I believe you mentioned that you are using some of your assets to live on in retirement? I don't expect to do that other than this car purchase and possibly a winter home in Arizona. How did you determine the amount to spend on this car purchase? I look at it as a slight reduction in my yearly investment income/wealth reduction (money taken from investment to consumption).
I am "semi retired", but regardless of %, I don't see a need to spend more than necessary on a vehicle(s).
Like you, OP, I keep many years. I'm currently driving an 11 year old vehicle. I will probably replace it in 5 years.
Our other vehicle is a '14, and my OH puts a fair amount of mileage on it for work, it will probably need to be replaced the same time. That will crimp our budget, but if we pay cash for one , a small loan paid off early may be needed.
AS noted a % of wealth is dependent on what that wealth consists of. Too many variables and I'm not sure what our wealth will be in 5 years.
Spend only what you need to that you'll be comfortable with for the next 10+ years. I never did understand trading every 5 years or less mentality.
If you are buying a sports car, id think twice!!!
But it's up to you.
I believe you mentioned that you are using some of your assets to live on in retirement? I don't expect to do that other than this car purchase and possibly a winter home in Arizona. How did you determine the amount to spend on this car purchase? I look at it as a slight reduction in my yearly investment income/wealth reduction (money taken from investment to consumption).
i picked the car i liked and bought it . there was no thought . it did not effect my success rate as far as drawing an income . it just effects the balance at the end in our case
We bought a new car recently for wife and I'm thinking of buying a very exciting car for myself...
I interpret "very exciting" to be a sports car. Don't forget the cost of registration, insurance, maintenance, etc. Since this will be a new vehicle the Vintage Car Discounts will not apply. I almost bought an old Ferrari three years ago for $35k, a low low price for a low mileage Ferrari. Registering this car in Michigan would have cost me over $1k per year, and from Ferrari forums I learned the regular maintenance these cars require averages to over $1 per mile driven!
Lots of other hidden costs when purchasing "very exciting" cars.
My exciting car is a 17 year old European performance convertible that cost me less than $7K. Even so, its insurance and registration is higher than our two daily drivers and it gets driven less than 3,000 miles each summer.
i only bought bmw's for decades but eventually i got tired of speeding tickets .
traded in the bmw for a jeep sahara back in 2012 and trading in the sahara for a 2018 subaru that drives itself pretty much .
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
