Am I crazy for wanting to lease a top-of-the-line 3-series out of college?

[phreak]

GF, dude. You don't want a Miata. My dad has a 'tuner' Miata that is fun to drive for 10 minutes at a time but is not the same as driving a solid, well kept BMW. A BMW is more than it's performance. I guarantee you will regret the Miata if you have to drive over 100 miles at a time...and much more so if for some reason you want to take a road trip.

As for the GTI suggestions, you're gonna spend 22k for a bare-bones new VW that you will not enjoy because there is not much about them to enjoy. IMO you were right about wanting that E46ZHP as a perfect mix of car and affordability. And now that you're making $$, maybe check out models with lower miles that are cleaner than you were looking at before.

And as someone who just paid off my first car, I will readily +1 the idea of buying used; it's a great feeling owning without owing. Your credit score will also thank you

 

[dah328]

Originally Posted by phreak

GF, dude. You don't want a Miata. My dad has a 'tuner' Miata that is fun to drive for 10 minutes at a time but is not the same as driving a solid, well kept BMW. A BMW is more than it's performance. I guarantee you will regret the Miata if you have to drive over 100 miles at a time...and much more so if for some reason you want to take a road trip.

As for the GTI suggestions, you're gonna spend 22k for a bare-bones new VW that you will not enjoy because there is not much about them to enjoy. IMO you were right about wanting that E46ZHP as a perfect mix of car and affordability. And now that you're making $$, maybe check out models with lower miles that are cleaner than you were looking at before.

And as someone who just paid off my first car, I will readily +1 the idea of buying used; it's a great feeling. Your credit score will also thank you
This is a good post. The BMW is neither the most luxurious car nor the highest performance car. It is probably not the car I would buy if I were building a race car nor the car I would buy to be chauffeured around in, but it is the car I buy (used) to drive myself every day because it is a good compromise between comfortable and fast.

 

[otc]

Originally Posted by GreenFrog

Definitely. My employer matches 7% for 401K, so I'm definitely going to max that out. Would 3% for my Roth IRA be too little? How much do you contribute to your RIRA if you don't mind me asking?

I think I'm 10% into my 401k...the match is 50% up to 6% but I went up to 10 due to the aforementioned "if you don't see it, you don't miss it" concept (even though I'd prefer the roth to the 401k while I am eligible). For the roth, I max it. I had set a somewhat arbitrary number to go into the account every paycheck but come tax/bonus time (since you can make prior year contributions before tax time) I maxed it the rest of the way.

 

[username79]

Originally Posted by gomestar

****, it was like 48%, I looked at YTD which included an extra paycheck in the total withholdings


correct, which I think the OP should take into consideration when looking at earnings potential.

Yes, but you can adjust withholding to compensate. Your bonus is not *taxed* at any rate different than your regular income (unless your bonus pushes you into the next bracket).

 

[marg]

I would recommend the Nissan 350/370z, especially if you don't need AWD. Good value RWD car, and the used ones can be had for cheap.

I have always had nice cars, and it's very difficult now to drop down to the "responsible" vehicles. My parents leased me a new 3-series for my first car in high school. They thought it was safe as a 7 series saved my mom's life in a multi-vehicle accident. Probably not the best thing for (a) my ego or (b) learning financial responsibility. Now I am a homeowner, and the 2009 Infiniti g37x coupe that I love is nothing more than a financial anchor. After paying all the bills and contributing to savings, there is less than the ideal amount for everything else in life. I spend a large part of my day commuting to work and night school on the highway, so at least I am enjoying the car, but I would rather have more money to put toward more important things in life.

 

[Dashaansafin]

Originally Posted by username79

You realize that not everyone lives or would even contemplate living a life like yours? In your world, everyone lives inside the city and has no need for a car. In fact, since they work all day and most of the night, they wouldn't have time to go anywhere anyway. Do the MDs laugh at the guys who go out every night and spend more than a 3 series car payment on bottle service? Some of us live in beautiful places with wide open, twisting, curving roads. Some of us don't work all day long in the middle of a city and have hours to go out for a ride, explore new places, or take the day to go to the track. People that sit inside an office building for 100hrs a week should not be giving life advice. What are you working for? What is the purpose of money or making it if you don't pursue what makes you happy? Is your goal in life really to save a lot of money? Become a VP? Work even harder? Buy a house so you can sleep for five to six hours just like you do at your apartment? Those of you that don't care about cars will never understand what it is like to drive a fast car. Driving a "reasonable used car" like a Honda Accord or Corolla is like sex in the dark with a *********. All you care about is getting there; rolling over or even better, getting out and leaving. Now go get into an M3 or a 911 or some other fantastic piece of machinery, roll down the windows on a beautiful day, down shift to 2nd, shift at 8400rpm into 3rd, and try to wipe the **** eating grin off your face. Life is too short. Do what you want. That means for people that love cars: get the car that makes you happy. While some dumb ass is riding a desk so he can take his parent's outdated financial advice and "buy a 'starter home' and a used car", you can rent a much nicer place and drive a new sports car; while saving and investing *more* money.
Honestly what the **** are you talking about? Where the hell did I tell the kid to do exactly what I said and live a life like I chose? I told him to do w/e you want but its stupid to lease a 60k car on a 75k salary. I dont want him to spend ALL his disposable income on some stupid car. And hes forgetting matinence, insurancel, parking, etc costs. Maybe thats why you are ******* broke? Yes because spending what you cannot afford brought us into the ******* crisis. I bet you thought it was great to take out a liars loan and put it down on a house 20x your salary. And your comment about a second tier bank, going on and on about me not knowing whats it like to drive a beautiful "machine", etc. try again.

 

[xpress]

Taxation on bonuses? Civics? Christ...

OP: Have you gone through the credit approval process? Lenders (At least here in Canada) don't like lending to someone who has had a job for a week or two.

 

[tj100]

Originally Posted by username79

Yes, but you can adjust withholding to compensate. Your bonus is not *taxed* at any rate different than your regular income (unless your bonus pushes you into the next bracket).

It sort of is. Your regular wages are taxed at a blend of all the tax brackets up to the one that you're in (i.e. you pay 10% on the first $8,500, 15% on the next $26,000, etc.), yielding an effective tax bracket much lower than your marginal tax bracket. Your "regular" salary soaks up the tax benefits of the lower brackets, yielding a bigger hit on your bonus. You will often find that your usual take-home is something around 65% of your salary, but your bonus (because it's at the marginal rate) is more like 55%.

You could adjust withholdings to accomodate, but it would mean a lower paycheck every week - Uncle Sam is going to get his money, it's just a question of when.

As an aside, a firm I worked for early in my career had the biggest letdown bonus structure of all time. The partners would tell you that your bonus was $75,000 (and you'd be mentally buying a new car) and then they'd tell you that first, they used the $75K to max out your 401(k) (which took like $40K off the top), and then you had a ~40% tax hit, and suddenly your $75K bonus resulted in a check for like $20,000. I hated it then, but ten years later, I appreciate my 401(k) balance a little bit more...

 

[CouttsClient]

Originally Posted by username79

This is stupid. First, we keep moving the 3 series up and up in value. It's actually probably about 45-50K for the 335. Second, a single person making 75K can easily afford $500/mo in a car payment, invest wisely, max out their 401K, save for the holy grail of life in this thread - a down payment on a home (

), rent in a decent place, and still have money left over to blow on nice clothes and food. Not sure how that doesn't equate to 'afford'. Outside of StyleForum, where everyone is a closeted homosexual, take pictures of eachother's $700 shoes during circle jerks, live exclusively in rental studios in NYC, and only work as analysts in 2nd tier investment banks, $100-125K is actually the range for top end professional salaries in the United States. Someone making 75K in their early twenties is doing REALLY well and will be making 100-125K (or more!) by 30. They can afford a 3 series.
I am a few things but stupid as it relates to money is not one of them. We obviously have different ideas of what 'afford' is. Carry on...

 

[Joffrey]

This is such an intelligent thread.

 

[Prince]

Crazy thread man. Just buy a used car instead of all this leasing crap. Buy a car that you can pay for right now. If that's a 5, 10 or 20 years old 3-series, so be it. Owning a car > leasing a car.

btw, if driving is really your passion and you're into bimmers, why are you specifically looking for these new type of bimmers. Get an E30 325i or something. Now THAT's a car that is fun and involving too drive. I mean, leasing a new 335i is not a good choice, but that does not mean that you should get into a ****** crapbox. There is plenty of fun to be had within your budget.

 

[turboman808]

Originally Posted by CouttsClient

I am a few things but stupid as it relates to money is not one of them. We obviously have different ideas of what 'afford' is. Carry on...

HAHA

I make a mid 6 figures a year. My daily driver is a 1997 geo metro. Gas, insurance and repairs $250 a month.



The 21 year old version of my would think the 38 year old version of me is out of his mind.


Of course I have several classic cars, all paid for and some worth quite a bit of money. But they are for special occasions. I just couldn't bring myself to drive something I cared about every day and park it on the street.


Anyways I was once told that "afford" meant you could walk in with cash and pay for it without disrupting your life in any way. If you have to make payments you cannot afford it.

 

[GreenFrog]

crazy thread indeed. did not expect this kind of reaction haha.

still, lot's of good financial nuggets of wisdom interspersed throughout the thread!

i think im going to work for a couple of months first to see what my cash flow is like and go from there, because my budgeting i have right now is all speculative.

 

[Rambo]

Sparky, this isn't that hard. Buy a cheap, but fun to drive car now, and later when you've banked some salary, THEN you buy your city racing dream car.

 

[turboman808]

Originally Posted by GreenFrog

crazy thread indeed. did not expect this kind of reaction haha.

still, lot's of good financial nuggets of wisdom interspersed throughout the thread!

i think im going to work for a couple of months first to see what my cash flow is like and go from there, because my budgeting i have right now is all speculative.

Your monthly expenses(by which I mean bills that have to be paid every month) should never exceed 50% of what you bring home. I would aim for %25. This gives you alot of free money to go skiiing, enjoy a cruise, invest in other business ideas.

If you live like this you will be surprised just how fast things will grow. I still have my day job. Only because I make alot of contacts and it keeps me form getting bored. But it's only about 1/5th of what I make. Rest comes from investments I have been able to make because I had the money ready to make that investment.

Don't do like I did and ************* up right at the start. Took me over 10 years to sort myself out.