The Rich Get Richer

[lovcom]

In 2007 I purchased a new Toyota Yaris, out the door for $12,800. When I bought this, I was buying 300,000 miles of transportation. Just oil changes every 7,500 up to 100,000 miles, then flush tranny, new spark plugs, and a few other things, then just oil changes for another 100,000 miles. So the cost of ownership is perhaps the lowest of nearly any car that seats 5 adults.

When I paid cash for my little car, the salesman asked me my annual salary, and when I told him, he suggest I sho up the street at their Lexus dealership and "get a car commiserate with your salary and socio-economic standing. I told him I did that when I bought the bottom of the line Toyota Yaris. He didn't understand...lol

I hate to see folks replacing their cars every few years, or when they buy the wrong car...like I swear 99% of pick up owners never need to haul anything, or if they do just a few times a year, yet they pay big bucks for those huge vehicles, having V8 gas thirsty engines too. Or worse, those folks that are into flash and what others think and spend huge bucks for $50,000+ luxury cars....all doing massive damage to their financial futures and options.

[KTP]

Hmmm, we must be in the 1% group then since our Toyota Tundra pickup truck was used to haul our sailboat 22 times this past year. Sometimes you have to buy the right vehicle for the job, even if it is a bit of a gas guzzler. We drive a small car for commute and everyday stuff though.

Imagine how much extra you would spend on transmission repairs if you tried to pull a 3500 pound boat with a Yaris!

LOL

[Snodog]

In 2007 I purchased a new Toyota Yaris, out the door for $12,800. When I bought this, I was buying 300,000 miles of transportation. Just oil changes every 7,500 up to 100,000 miles, then flush tranny, new spark plugs, and a few other things, then just oil changes for another 100,000 miles. So the cost of ownership is perhaps the lowest of nearly any car that seats 5 adults.

My wife just bought the same car and same year too. It is the 4 door sedan model with 30k miles on it. I'm surprised at the amount of room it has. Its a small car outside but a big car inside. Don't know if it will last 300k but the 37 mpg sure is nice.

When I paid cash for my little car, the salesman asked me my annual salary, and when I told him, he suggest I sho up the street at their Lexus dealership and "get a car commiserate with your salary and socio-economic standing.

Socio-economic standing blah blah blah. What an idiot. I guess the LBYM philosophy confuses some people.

[lovcom]

Hmmm, we must be in the 1% group then since our Toyota Tundra pickup truck was used to haul our sailboat 22 times this past year. Sometimes you have to buy the right vehicle for the job, even if it is a bit of a gas guzzler. We drive a small car for commute and everyday stuff though.

Imagine how much extra you would spend on transmission repairs if you tried to pull a 3500 pound boat with a Yaris!

LOL

You're the exception and not the rule. My issue is with those "boys" that get the loaded F-150 with huge tires and spinner rims, V8 and hual nothing...they do it for fashion reasons....sad.

[lovcom]

My wife just bought the same car and same year too. It is the 4 door sedan model with 30k miles on it. I'm surprised at the amount of room it has. Its a small car outside but a big car inside. Don't know if it will last 300k but the 37 mpg sure is nice.



Socio-economic standing blah blah blah. What an idiot. I guess the LBYM philosophy confuses some people.

Yea, he looked at me with a very concerned look on his face and said "it's sad to see you don't think you deserve the best..". I didn't know whether to laugh at his stupidity, or to get mad for being "insulted"....I laughed.

[Mjenn]

the rich know what to do with every dollar something that the poor do not. if a rich man has $100 to spare, he will probably by a good stock or something but a poor person will spend it because he wouldnt know what to do with it. it all comes down to financial education

Wow, in my experience the rich don't always know what to do with every dollar, but they certainly pay a lot of people a lot of money to take care of it for them (hence why Madoff was able to make mincemeat of so many). Many of the very wealthy kids I went to school with (ie. you would recognize their last names) didn't break 1000 on he SATs, but I'm pretty sure they won't be managing their own money. And last I ran into them at our reunion they were still uberrich.

[sammythesm]

Lets not forget how "leveraged" plays into "rich".

A lot of people in our economy may seem wealthy (aka they have a lot of capital and credit to go acquire things) but in TODAY's economy, the only people who are truly rich are the ones with cash savings and security.

In the economy of yesteryear, people felt "rich" by leveraging every asset they had (their homes, retirements, etc) to get richer.

Unless they are a very successful business person, the people you probably think of as "rich" are only just highly leveraged.

[segmond]

the rich get richer, cuz the poor only dreams of getting rich and not going out and doing something about it.

[lovcom]

Wow, in my experience the rich don't always know what to do with every dollar, but they certainly pay a lot of people a lot of money to take care of it for them (hence why Madoff was able to make mincemeat of so many). Many of the very wealthy kids I went to school with (ie. you would recognize their last names) didn't break 1000 on he SATs, but I'm pretty sure they won't be managing their own money. And last I ran into them at our reunion they were still uberrich.

Actually, most rich people handle their own money themselves. They may well have accountants, CPA's and lawyers, but at the end of the day, they do the deciding, they move the money around, they pull the triggers.

Madoff and others are the exception and not the rule.

[LILYJINKS]

Salespeople Just Have To Be Shady For Some Reason I Never Met One Who I Thought Had My Interest At Heart Always Their Payday

[snafu]

Yea, he looked at me with a very concerned look on his face and said "it's sad to see you don't think you deserve the best..". I didn't know whether to laugh at his stupidity, or to get mad for being "insulted"....I laughed.

I would translate the salesman's comment to mean...if you buy the expensive Acura your salesmen gets a 'finder/referral' fee, the Accura salesman gets a stiffer commission, if they can up-sell add-ons there's more money for their pockets, more points for the dealership etc. just business, playing the 'you're worth it' card

[saving peter]

as long as you learn to save , and not live beyond your means , and never make the mistake of being greedy ====== money is but a tool nothing more or less , never fall in love with your tools , but what you can do with them

I agree with the above completely.

[sgfinancialfreedom]

The salesman is just thinking about his commissions that he earns.

[lucmas]

I always hear people at work say this. As if it is an excuse or justification as to their own personal financial situation. It’s like "Oh well, what can I do. The rich get richer."

The gap between the rich and poor continues to widen. Why is this?