Should you upgrade your car … or simply keep the one that you have … you know, the old rust-bucket that gets you from A to B but not in any sort of style?
It DEPENDS!
Is the vehicle a TOOL OF TRADE? Is it an ESSENTIAL requirement for your business (e.g. if you are tradesman, you need clean/reliable/fuel-efficient transport)?
Or, is it simply a mode of transport for you and your family (in which case you have MANY transport options to choose from: new v. second-hand vehicles of all shapes and sizes; public transport; etc.)?
If it is simply ‘transport’ then by hanging on to your old ‘rust bucket’ (within reason), you have made a GREAT choice!
Why?
A car is NOT an asset, it’s clearly a liability … as Robert Kiyosaki says in Rich Dad, Poor Dad, the definition of an:
ASSET is simply something that puts money INTO your pocket, and a
LIABILITY is something that takes money OUT of your pocket.
The ‘rule of thumb’ is that you should INVEST (into real long-term ASSETS) 75% of your Net Worth: a max. of 20% into your house, and the remaining 5% into your ‘stuff’ …
… once you pay for a new(er) car, it doesn’t leave a lot left for other ‘stuff’, does it?
I think this is good advice. I have a 1994 for Honda Accord with 140k on it and looks horrible but still runs well. I plan on keeping the vehicle until it dies. My friends think I am nuts. They are always asking me when I am going to get a new car. I think so much of there reasoning is just for appearances…most people I know think old car=unsuccessful person, new car=successful person, boy how wrong of an assumption that could be!
Friends = working very hard to support a lifestyle they cannot afford
JEM = sitting on a beach sipping a Pina Colada 🙂
VERY good things come to those who wait … good luck Jem, and stay the course!