My 60,000$ Miata

[coffee]

Actually with coming off sticker it was 19k in 1998, but I dumped 2 funds (non retirement) to buy it so I would not have a car payment. I was looking at those funds about 6 months ago and that 19k would have been 60k today. DUMB DUMB DUMB!

[disneysteve]

Suze Orman frequently does this when people are on the "Can I Afford It?" segment of her show. If they want a $5,000 whatever, she'll point out that if they invest that $5,000, at retirement it could be $50,000. Is it worth spending $50,000 for that thing they want today?

[bjl584]

I guess that you could do that with everything though and end up driving yourself crazy.

"If I didn't go on that $2500 vacation, my money would have grown to $15,000 by now."

"If I wouldn't have bought that $10,000 car, I'd have $50,000 today."

You have to live your life a little, so as long as you have your finances in order and you are saving and investing enough for retirement, then I wouldn't dwell too much on what might have been.

[disneysteve]

I guess that you could do that with everything though and end up driving yourself crazy.

"If I didn't go on that $2500 vacation, my money would have grown to $15,000 by now."

"If I wouldn't have bought that $10,000 car, I'd have $50,000 today."

You have to live your life a little, so as long as you have your finances in order and you are saving and investing enough for retirement, then I wouldn't dwell too much on what might have been.

Very true, but if you watch Suze, she'll ask that question and if the person says they still want the item, she'll proceed to see if they can afford it. The answer always involves seeing if they have an adequate EF, managing any debt well, saving enough for retirement, etc. The point isn't to deny people their wants or luxuries but just to make sure they are prioritizing well.

[coffee]

No offense intended, but I am not a fan of suzy orman. And I do agree, you have to live life; Over the past 5 yrs I have picked up the travel bug and I would give up most of my travels to have the money back (Except Turks and Caicos, that place was way way way overpriced to the point that I did very little there except hang by the pool and drink)

[JoeP]

Actually with coming off sticker it was 19k in 1998, but I dumped 2 funds (non retirement) to buy it so I would not have a car payment. I was looking at those funds about 6 months ago and that 19k would have been 60k today. DUMB DUMB DUMB!

They say hindsight is 20/20. If someone told you you'd have 60k today, it is likely you would have still pulled the trigger on the car, because you probably wanted it for a long time and spent a while dreaming about it.