Need advice on buying a Kirkham cobra

[jhv48]

Originally Posted by FatBoy

I certainly wouldn't risk everything to buy a toy, but I see no reason why you shouldn't risk as much as you can afford to lose to get it.
As has already been said, you never know what tomorrow will bring and come the day of judgement, you don't want in a position where you're regretting not having done all manner of things.
I had a serious health scare a few years ago and it does give you a different perspective on these things.

Paul

That's my point. You don't want to outlive your money.

If you can afford to buy it for cash, then by all means do so. If you have to borrow or tap the retirement funds, you can't afford it.

Just don't mortgage your future in order to get it.

For the rest of you, it's a measure of maturity/immaturity to be able to assess your wants and needs and be able to budget and plan in order to achieve your desires.

It's the "gotta have it now" attitude that put this country in a financial tailspin. (Immaturity)

As for me, I would love to buy a nice Gulfstream, but it would seriously impact my retirement nest egg, so I will put it on the back burner until I win the lottery. If I die tomorrow, I will not be alive to miss not having it. If I don't, I have a goal that I will work towards attaining. (Maturity)

Your choice of course. Just don't want you to suffer financially later in life for the choices you made today.

And yes, I am in the Financial Services Sector.

[mln385]

If you have the equity in your house and can afford it then it makes perfect sense to use the equity to buy vs.cash. Your cash can stay in a mutual fund or stocks and will eventually appreciate.

The loan gets paid down every month and the interest is tax deductible which helps your tax liability should you need it. It is a tool just as any other financial desiscion just don't overextend yourself be wise.

[jhv48]

All good unless perhaps you are unable to meet the monthly obligation (payment) for some reason, health issues, stock market crash, etc.

Then you have placed your home in jeopardy. Not a good position to be in when retired.

You don't spend 30 years paying off the house only to mortgage it again in order to buy a car. Not smart thinking!

[mln385]

I guess everyone has a different way of looking at things. If you were unfortunate and had health issues any cash you have goes to the medical bills before you are eligible for any assistance from social security for which you contributed all your life to in a tax anyways.

My thought process is if you have the cash it is better to have it for those unforseen issues and still have some privileges like the cobra as well, you only go around life once.
So if you plan diligently you can have the cash for unforseen situations and a tax right off as well and still be secure financially.

[Cobra #42]

No cash = No toys

[CobraDan]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1965-...QQcmdZViewItem

[392cobra]

Originally Posted by mln385

If you have the equity in your house and can afford it then it makes perfect sense to use the equity to buy vs.cash. Your cash can stay in a mutual fund or stocks and will eventually appreciate.

The loan gets paid down every month and the interest is tax deductible which helps your tax liability should you need it. It is a tool just as any other financial desiscion just don't overextend yourself be wise.

Just to make the math simple,let's say you are in the 25% tax bracket.

How is paying your bank $1 in interest to save 25 cents in taxes a good financial decision ?

You can quickly go broke saving money like that.

Again...If you can't pay cash,you can't afford it.

[jhv48]

Originally Posted by 392cobra

Just to make the math simple,let's say you are in the 25% tax bracket.

How is paying your bank $1 in interest to keep from paying Uncle Sam $.25 in taxes a good financial decision ?

You can quickly go broke saving money like that.

Again...If you can't pay cash,you can't afford it.

Welcome to new age economics. Homes are not bank accounts to be accessed whenever there is some equity available. That is what got us into this financial mess. Time to go back to real life.

If you don't have the cash, you can't afford it. Repeat after me!

[JWilly]

I know this is not exactly what this thread is about but...Unless you are going to cover up the car and put it on jacks for years I don't see how anyone can look at any replica as an investment. If you drive them at all, there is just too many bad things that can happen. You buy these things to drive the hell outta them! Forget the $, If you are babying this thing so you can recoop most of your $ on a resale, That's not at all why you buy thse things! NOW GET OUT THERE AND KICK SOME VETTE-ASS.

Sorry, got carried away.

[Mastiff107]

Unless I'm mistaken, you can take it with you, right? Please let me know if I've gotten it wrong!!

[mln385]

Well if everyone had this same philosophy then the manufacturers of these cars would be few as there would not be near as many of these cars on the roads.

I would speculate that the majority of these cars are financed in some form or fashion.

Also if you have a 10% loan you are paying 10 cents on the dollar instead of 25 cents plus you have the tax right off.
Again just using 10 as simple math the rates are much more attractive now.
Also I don't want anyone to mis - interpret what I am saying hear, if you can not afford this car fairly easily wether it be a payment or cash then no you should not buy it . You should wait till that time arrives.

However now is as good a time to purchase anything if you have the capability it is a buyers market.


However everyones finances and positions are different it is up to the individual to decide what opptions are best for them.

[392cobra]

Just to make the math simple,let's say you are in the 25% tax bracket.

How is paying your bank $1 in interest to save paying 25 cents in taxes a good financial decision ?

You can quickly go broke saving money like that.

Again...If you can't pay cash,you can't afford it.

What I gave as an example has nothing what so ever to do with the interest rate of the loan. It Just doesn't matter what it is.

[SP01715]

I would never use a LOC to buy a toy, but that's just me. I had a LOC that I used for my business, but it was payed off along the way as the business made money.

As was said earlier, people using HELOC's to buy toys is part of the reason we are in this mess. The only way I would use a LOC for a toy is if I knew I would pay it off it a short period of time (6 months or less) and I did not have the cash on hand if a car became available that I had to have. I think the market will keep dropping for at least a year, so the best deals have yet to be had.

My philosophy is to never be upside down in a depreciating asset. If you are, and have to sell you are going to have to come up with money out of pocket to just get rid of it. My Cobra, 49 Cady, Harley, Dodge truck, off road toy and both of our daily vehicles are all paid for. I don't like bad debt.

I have been buying toys lately with cash for pennies on the dollar. Cash is king in this economy.

BTW, I am not touching my stocks. You have to ride it out at this point.

[jhv48]

Originally Posted by SP01715

I would never use a LOC to buy a toy, but that's just me. I had a LOC that I used for my business, but it was payed off along the way as the business made money.

As was said earlier, people using HELOC's to buy toys is part of the reason we are in this mess. The only way I would use a LOC for a toy is if I knew I would pay it off it a short period of time (6 months or less) and I did not have the cash on hand if a car became available that I had to have. I think the market will keep dropping for at least a year, so the best deals have yet to be had.

My philosophy is to never be upside down in a depreciating asset. If you are, and have to sell you are going to have to come up with money out of pocket to just get rid of it. My Cobra, 49 Cady, Harley, Dodge truck, off road toy and both of our daily vehicles are all paid for. I don't like bad debt.

I have been buying toys lately with cash for pennies on the dollar. Cash is king in this economy.

BTW, I am not touching my stocks. You have to ride it out at this point.

The NEW ECONOMICS! Now all we have to do is teach them to a new generation.

[SP01715]

Originally Posted by jhv48

The NEW ECONOMICS! Now all we have to do is teach them to a new generation.

Instant gratification seems to be number one now. Long term financial security is more important to me. I buy toys and have fun with them, but not at the risk of my financial future.

[mln385]

Originally Posted by SP01715

I would never use a LOC to buy a toy, but that's just me. I had a LOC that I used for my business, but it was payed off along the way as the business made money.

As was said earlier, people using HELOC's to buy toys is part of the reason we are in this mess. The only way I would use a LOC for a toy is if I knew I would pay it off it a short period of time (6 months or less) and I did not have the cash on hand if a car became available that I had to have. I think the market will keep dropping for at least a year, so the best deals have yet to be had.

My philosophy is to never be upside down in a depreciating asset. If you are, and have to sell you are going to have to come up with money out of pocket to just get rid of it. My Cobra, 49 Cady, Harley, Dodge truck, off road toy and both of our daily vehicles are all paid for. I don't like bad debt.

I have been buying toys lately with cash for pennies on the dollar. Cash is king in this economy.

BTW, I am not touching my stocks. You have to ride it out at this point.

I agree cash is king and buy stocks and mutual funds now during the down turn, it wont last forever. Just buy solid blue chip companies not the waivering banks.

I do disagree on the reason we are in this financial down turn because people bought toys with an equity loan, We are in this because the banks gave loans for houses to people who could not afford the house.

They gave them interest only mortgages so 5 years into the loan when they have to sell and the housing market has declined they still owe the original note even though the house has depreciated!

Bottom line is don't spend more than your can pay, don't live off of creditcards! Who needs 10 CC's in their wallet all with a balance!

[SP01715]

Originally Posted by mln385

I agree cash is king and buy stocks and mutual funds now during the down turn, it wont last forever. Just buy solid blue chip companies not the waivering banks.

I do disagree on the reason we are in this financial down turn because people bought toys with an equity loan, We are in this because the banks gave loans for houses to people who could not afford the house.

They gave them interest only mortgages so 5 years into the loan when they have to sell and the housing market has declined they still owe the original note even though the house has depreciated!

Bottom line is don't spend more than your can pay, don't live off of creditcards! Who needs 10 CC's in their wallet all with a balance!

True, but then these idiots took the equity out of these homes that they could not afford in the first place, and they bought boats, cars, vacations etc... Now some of these same idiots are taking these toys and are walking from the houses with their toys free and clear.

I have a vacation home in Lake Havasu and all of a sudden everyone was rolling around in 100k-500k boats a few years ago. Now none of them are out there because they can't afford to put gas in them. All of these idiots shoould lose not only their houses, but everything that was bought with the equity from them.

Those of us that were smart and did not make stupid decisions should not have to pay to bail out the idiots. My.02

[henryr]

Originally Posted by SP01715

True, but then these idiots took the equity out of these homes that they could not afford in the first place, and they bought boats, cars, vacations etc... Now some of these same idiots are taking these toys and are walking from the houses with their toys free and clear.

I have a vacation home in Lake Havasu and all of a sudden everyone was rolling around in 100k-500k boats a few years ago. Now none of them are out there because they can't afford to put gas in them. All of these idiots shoould lose not only their houses, but everything that was bought with the equity from them.

Those of us that were smart and did not make stupid decisions should not have to pay to bail out the idiots. My.02

i'm beginning to think were the idiots. i should have bought a $1M home and refi'd it all the way up taking out cash and walked away with a couple million.

then they get to keep all that cash as the gov't passed a relief act exempting them from taxes on the forgiven debt. unbelievable.

[jhv48]

Originally Posted by henryr

i'm beginning to think were the idiots. i should have bought a $1M home and refi'd it all the way up taking out cash and walked away with a couple million.

then they get to keep all that cash as the gov't passed a relief act exempting them from taxes on the forgiven debt. unbelievable.

So you're the one that caused this mess!

The equity in your home should not be considered a checking account! If it is, you are living above your means.

[Chaplain]

I didn't know these cars were toys, I thought they were therepy or a hobby like hunting, fishing etc. etc. In other words things that enhance our lives and add to our enjoyment and in return, maybe help us to live a little longer. It would be great if all had the cash to plunck down, I didn't and got tired of waiting. I mean who is going to live forever? Don't get me wrong, it wasn't done with reckless abandon. It was a well thought out financial decision. I have enough assets where if necessary I could liquidate them and pay off every cent I owe, but that wasn't what we wanted to do. In the end I'm able to exercise some restraint after all as my profile indicates I don't own a Kirkham, but sometimes a compromise will get you close enough to be satisfied.