I work at Amazon as a Sr. Product Manager and my TC for 2024 is 235K. Trailing 2 years CTC - 179K, 185K. I am unmarried, 33, total net worth about 320K mixed in stocks and cash (excluding retirement account). Moved to US from India in 2021. No student loans, mortgage or liabilities, live in a rented apartment with 2400 USD per month rent. #personal finance
When are you going back?
Any of the above.
Question you need to think about is: If you were to go back to India in next 3-5 years, can you afford a luxury car there? If yes, then buy a functional cheaper car. If no, then get a better car and enjoy it till you are in US
I think there’s some very nice, easy to maintain, affordable cars easily under 40k. Toyota, Honda, Subaru, Kia, Mitsubishi, and even Nissan have some nice offerings that more expensive cars barely beat, at the cost of so much more money in all directions. (Gas, maintenance, insurance, tires, etc.)
I understand; these manufatucrers have cars in all price ranges and I wanted to know what would be a good price range to target with my financial situation
OP the price range depends on a lot of personal factors like your financial goals, budgets, risk tolerance etc. My recommendation is get a Lexus with a max budget of $50k
Why TC so low at 🍌 factory
Up to 50k
No matter what, don't buy a new car. Let someone else take that first year depreciation hit
I used to think that used cars are the best deal. But ny friend bought a new car and after two years he was able to trade in for a different model at the same price that he paid. He did this two times. So essentially he didn’t pay any money for the usage of his car for 4 years (1st Toyota and 2nd Mazda). I feel this is a better deal than buying a used car. Am i missing something here ?
Did you check that your friends’ interest rate didn’t change throughout those 4 years, every time they got a new car?
msrp <= 1/5 x your_total_savings Consider used cars. Even with inflated prices they'll be more affordable than new ones.
I used to think that used cars are the best deal. But ny friend bought a new car and after two years he was able to trade in for a different model at the same price that he paid. He did this two times. So essentially he didn’t pay any money for the usage of his car for 4 years (1st Toyota and 2nd Mazda). I feel this is a better deal than buying a used car. Am i missing something here ?
The general rule of thumb is 10% annual income on all transport. This includes fuel, insurance, and maintenance on top of the price of the car.
Shit I should be riding a Porsche not a Kia
Save for a house. Buy the cheapest reliable car.