Guest Mike Posted October 31, 2006 Share Posted October 31, 2006 Right on, Grumpy!!! Live a little/invest a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsommer Posted October 31, 2006 Share Posted October 31, 2006 In other words, I would not sink $15K into any car unless your investments and emergency fund are in order.BUT... it's YOUR money and you can put it ALL into your car if you choose Investments and emergency fund in check! $15K in a play toy car is quite a bit I'll admit that so is $25K which I had wrapped up in my FFR Cobra (sold). After selling the snake to acquire the Scarab it dawned on me that the Cobra was not a good investment (although it appreciated 10% in 16 months but after paying insurance and buying little things for it I figure I broke even, and had all that fun with the car, I don't keep receipts Yeah have fun but save for tomorrow. A penny saved is a penny earned. I like the 401K's because you don't have immediate access to any of it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mike Posted October 31, 2006 Share Posted October 31, 2006 DSOMMER... Well then, sink that cash into your Z, by all means!! I'm doing the very same thing and having a tough time remaining relatively frugal (sane) about it:wink: Keep us updated as to your progress... post some pics!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsommer Posted October 31, 2006 Share Posted October 31, 2006 Twin 10 month old boys are keeping me from working on cars for now. That and a 400K house that won't sell arrrrg! But for some reason I'm thinking about an EFI system, ZG flairs, Watanabe wheels and a paint job. While I'm at it, the Sparco seats I bought last year but haven't installed are a bit small for me so might need to go a different direction with that idea and I want to hook up the N02 bottle and, and, and, it's only money right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mike Posted October 31, 2006 Share Posted October 31, 2006 Yep, it's only money. We should feel fortunate that we can afford to play like this. Too many people can't. I'm just average income-wise, but I've been fairly frugal and I continue to invest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoov100 Posted October 31, 2006 Share Posted October 31, 2006 take the cash, seal it up and hide it.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrFancypants Posted October 31, 2006 Share Posted October 31, 2006 vashonz... Why are you only investing only 5 percent into TSP? It takes more than that just to achieve max funds matching (instant profit)... A lot of good advice in this thread, with varying degrees of risk. I quoted the single best advice of all. You absolutely have to maximize your 401K matching or youre effectively lowering your salary. Im not sure what your maximum rate is (typically 3-4% if you invest 6% of your paycheck, for us civilians) but you need to make sure youre using it. It's definitely a good idea to invest beyond the initial 6%, but it's idiocy to invest less - Greg - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mike Posted October 31, 2006 Share Posted October 31, 2006 hoov100... That's a thought but he'd effectively be losing money that way... inflation. EXAMPLE: My parents bought their first house in 1952... 1400 sq ft in a decent neighborhood... for $5k. Buy a similar house in the same town today and you'll be spending about $100K. In other words, today's dollar is worth approximately 1/20 of what it was worth in 1952 (SWAG). So... $20K hidden under a mattress today will effectively be worth about $1K in 50 years. Your savings MUST be invested and these investments must FAR exceed inflation to make anything of it for future security. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mike Posted October 31, 2006 Share Posted October 31, 2006 MrFancypants... AGREED!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsommer Posted November 1, 2006 Share Posted November 1, 2006 I'm probably average income too but received a sum of money and invested it when the market was at...7K (gulp, don't wanna go back there!) I've been using the gains off of it to live on and support my family (we have the twins via invetro fertilization $$$) So I figure it's money WELL spent. I could have built a few nice cars for what these little shavers cost me out of pocket, but that doesn't matter. I have my family now and soooo proud of them, twin boys, ah the joys. Probably need to pick up one more Z so they can fiddle with it when they get older and catch the bug. Uhoh I hear the wife racking the shotgun, better duck haha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mike Posted November 1, 2006 Share Posted November 1, 2006 Yeah, you could buy another Z so they can both work on their own later. I guarantee they'll fight nearly as much over who got which one as opposed to who gets the only one though:wink: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
240zV8 Posted November 1, 2006 Share Posted November 1, 2006 I should probably start looking into investments, i just put my money into my savings account. Mike, if you were 22, and had about 8k in your savings account, what would you do to make the best of that situation? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shuyun Posted November 1, 2006 Share Posted November 1, 2006 I am 28 and new to my engineering gov job. I have a couple words for all the 18-20 year olds: Dave Ramsey He has a lot of good ideas but I think he is just a little to cash is king but he has very good advice about getting started investing. My $0.02 I match my gov 5% and am paying off all my debt over the next year when I plan to move up to 20% between gov and Roth IRAs. This will be accomplished by moving from gs7 to gs9 pay scale in Sept. where I will put all increase into retirement. The next year I will move form gs9 to gs11 and will put all that additional into a house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mike Posted November 2, 2006 Share Posted November 2, 2006 Keep $2K available for emergencies (EMERGENCIES) and spread the rest over three good mutual funds. Let the interest compound... watch it but leave it alone. I should probably start looking into investments, i just put my money into my savings account. Mike, if you were 22, and had about 8k in your savings account, what would you do to make the best of that situation? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mike Posted November 2, 2006 Share Posted November 2, 2006 Yes, ol' Dave Ramsey has it right. I've been living that way for more than 20 years. I HATE debt. I am 28 and new to my engineering gov job. I have a couple words for all the 18-20 year olds: Dave Ramsey He has a lot of good ideas but I think he is just a little to cash is king but he has very good advice about getting started investing. My $0.02 I match my gov 5% and am paying off all my debt over the next year when I plan to move up to 20% between gov and Roth IRAs. This will be accomplished by moving from gs7 to gs9 pay scale in Sept. where I will put all increase into retirement. The next year I will move form gs9 to gs11 and will put all that additional into a house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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