Quote:
Originally Posted by hi_officer
The allure of "owning something" - a car, a house, a boat, etc. - has been decreasing over the past few years as the millennial generation invents and uses new platforms to consume without owning something. This generation sees it as an anchor to their lifestyle.
I'm in the middle somewhere between owning and leasing. I want my wife to drive something relatively new and we know about how much she will be driving per year. If she gets into a fender bender (ding to carfax), who cares. Never out of warranty and usually free maintenance, yay! On top of that, leasing is generally cheaper than financing. So leasing it is for the daily driver type of cars.
There are some cars that I will finance though (i.e. gt3)
No way would I pay everything upfront (as opposed to taking a loan) for a car if it were >$30k. I can easily take that cash and put it into a 529, ETF, 401k, or whatever and get 3-5%.... and finance the rest at ~2% through a credit union.
As for leasing the NSX. I think it's a good idea. They are a hard sale now at $50k off msrp new. In three years you will struggle selling it for a decent price if you own/finance it. Most likely come out ahead in a lease vs. selling it / trading it in on your own.
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Sadly, I am in that millennial generation that you speak of but was brought up that owning instead of oweing is the smart choice in life and how to retire with money in the bank. Also it is a great sense of security I will admit, that knowing if my job ever gets outsourced(very good possibility within 30yrs), my home and cars are paid off. Granted my wife is a nurse and will always have a job but still. Me and my wife both daily cars that were under 20k and to lease a car for the same payment only to give it up in 3 years with restricted miles just isn't for me. Even if we kept the car for 5 years and it had 75k miles on it(15k a year average), I could hypothectically sell it and recoup half my investment. Which depending on the car and resale could be savings of even more than what I would have paid out for a 3yr lease. I also get that financing with a low rate and investing the rest but whatever that payment is, is less cash flow that could be sent to the 401k, etc to get even bigger returns. I always finance my cars but I always pay them off a lot sooner than expected. 500 less per month is 500 less that I could be sending to make me 5 percent or more. Again for the nsx, IF I was even considering spending that kind of money on a car, it would be to keep it longterm, not pay out 50k over 3yrs and have nothing to show for it at the end. That to me is not a wise financial choice and why my generation is going to be working till their dead...lol