i will be making 108k a year with a sign on bonus of 14k starting this coming year and need a car . i dont have a kids or student loans , i do have around 5k in credit card debt that i can easily pay off . can i realisticly afford a 42k car or should i just buy a 5k car and have no car payment ? i predict my rent will be 2k a month.
Could you afford it? Sure. Should you buy it? Probably not, would reduce the amount you can save by a lot. Insurance is also expensive.
It all depends on what you want.. are you okay having 20% of your salaries goes to monthly EMI or lease payment ? If yes, then yes else No
Absolutely not with that low TC. Spend time leetcoding instead and jump ship and maybe consider it once you hit $200k+
But this is my first job out of college , this is my first ship 😛 . Doesn’t change that fact that I probably can’t afford it ! Lol
That's fine, wait two years. But live within your means. Don't need to flex until you can comfortably do so with an established savings account
Bad idea. Use that bonus to pay off your debt.
Yeah true . Def should start maxing our my 401k and Roth IRA
No. That’s a terrible idea. 108k means ~ 50k in the pocket if you put some towards 401k etc. 50k = ~4K/mo in hand. 2k rent, you have 2k disposable income. Don’t waste it on a car. pay your CC debt first. Buy a CPO or used car for 10-15k that is reliable and looks snazzy. Also have a car debt - it’s fine if your interest rate is <2.5%. Even if you can pay off that money all in cash, don’t do it. This is good and you can park that cheap money somewhere else and you will still make more than 2.5%
Thanks for the breakdown ! It seems like a great idea until you realize how much taxes get taken away and money you should put into retirement.
Same base as you last year. I bought a performance version, with a loan of 27k. No problem for me. Insurance is around 150/mo. and loan is trivial. You can probably loan more if you don’t have any savings like I did.
I got a performance model 3 on a similar salary with a loan of 40k. I already had 70k saved up at the time but decided to get a loan instead because I think my money will do better in investments. My loan is 3.49% APR on 72 month term, comes out to around $645/month. My auto insurance is also $150/month. I feel that my job is somewhat secure and if I were to ever lose it I could easily keep up on payments. Since OP just got his current job, I think he should wait a bit first before he commits to a loan, especially considering he has 5k in CC debt. He probably wouldn't be able to get good terms at the moment.
$800 per month just to have that ugly car in your driveway?
Get it used
Most used Tesla’s are around 42k. Maybe when they get down to 35k.
Ask yourself why you want the Tesla. Are you environmental conscious? Or You just want the fancy toy?
Honestly , both .
Really appreciate the comments , sometimes you crunch the numbers and deviate from reality until you get slapped in the face with the truth . I could probably afford it but why live paycheck to paycheck for a Tesla 😬
I get the whole car thing. I almost bought a used GTR, then realized what a waste of money it would be paying for maintenance and the most expensive auto insurance policy on a vehicle.
I’m actually thinking of getting a 2005 350z ! But yeah it would be a waste if it all goes to maintenance and gas . What car would you get if you were in my position ?
Considering that a Tesla costs almost 50% of your TC, what do you think?