I sometimes wonder is I'm living in a different time line than other people.
> The CPI is up over 35% for used cars and trucks as reported by the BLS, versus new vehicles, which are up 12.5% [0]
That is, if you had wanted to by a new or used car last year and followed this advice you would have had to save an additional 12.5-35% to be able to purchase the car in following year.
Please let me know where from 2021 to 2022 I could reasonably planned to have put my money and saw gains north of 10% let alone 30%?
If you had saved for your car while I took out a loan not only would I have had started receiving value from that car a year earlier than you, I also would have saved money in the long run since most interest rates have been lower than inflation. In fact I could sell that car to you (or someone like you) now that you've finally saved up enough paying off my loan, getting to drive the car for a year, and likely still making more cash despite the depreciation of the car. Even if I had the cash on hand it would have been better to put that cash towards some non-depreciating asset or improvement.
If there are low interest loans for anything you need, especially in a time of high inflation, it almost always makes more sense to finance it then pay full cash.
Having more and more of consumer spending being credit based is a well known problem in our current economic environment but it's hardly the result of a moral failing as you paint it.
> The CPI is up over 35% for used cars and trucks as reported by the BLS, versus new vehicles, which are up 12.5% [0]
That is, if you had wanted to by a new or used car last year and followed this advice you would have had to save an additional 12.5-35% to be able to purchase the car in following year.
Please let me know where from 2021 to 2022 I could reasonably planned to have put my money and saw gains north of 10% let alone 30%?
If you had saved for your car while I took out a loan not only would I have had started receiving value from that car a year earlier than you, I also would have saved money in the long run since most interest rates have been lower than inflation. In fact I could sell that car to you (or someone like you) now that you've finally saved up enough paying off my loan, getting to drive the car for a year, and likely still making more cash despite the depreciation of the car. Even if I had the cash on hand it would have been better to put that cash towards some non-depreciating asset or improvement.
If there are low interest loans for anything you need, especially in a time of high inflation, it almost always makes more sense to finance it then pay full cash.
Having more and more of consumer spending being credit based is a well known problem in our current economic environment but it's hardly the result of a moral failing as you paint it.
0. https://www.bankrate.com/insurance/car/inflation-and-rising-...