Perfectlap, any investment that has a potential yeild to outpace an interest charge on a car loan will also have a risk factor and the "savvy" investor could lose much of that cash!
By the way, I paid $35k cash for one of my cars, and I am the first person over 30 you now know that does not worry about money. I don't make a lot, and neither does my wife, but we have no debt and that's why we don't worry about money. And just to set the record straight, I absolutely hate tuna fish! Our debt-free lifestyle allows us to eat and fine restaurants, fly to Australia and dive the Great Barrier Reef, yada yada yada. I'm not bragging, just trying to tell you that not paying all that interest really piles up the savings account for the one who saves versus spends, even when you have a modest annual income. I do spend though... I'm on this forum as a Porsche owner
Every single one of my friends who finance their cars, and finance new ones too frequently and make rotten choices in cars too
never have an extra dime to save and invest ask me how on earth they can become financially secure like my wife and me.
...they hate my answer, which you can easily guess! Get out of debt and stay that way forever.
If you are one of those very rare people in this world who is an excellent saver of money AND a prudent and wise investor, you go right ahead and beat the interest on a car loan with investments versus paying cash. I admire you more than you will ever know.
I must admit publically and humbly on this forum that I am not this kind of person and do not know of any, although they must be out there somewhere! As I stated before, most every person I know lives beyond their means and one sizeable hiccup in their finances (blown engine, AC unit dies at the house, a root canal and crown, etc) and they're screaming "bankrupcy, foreclosure or reposession!" Do they find a way out? Sure! Just take out a loan or charge it on a credit card. The hole just got deeper.
Sounds like your situation is different from your posts... could you pay off your loans with your investments if necessary today? Hope so.
I feel like I'm wearing out my welcome on this topic and seriously hijacked this thread so I won't prattle on any longer. I'm just really sad for my friends because they have credit-spent themselves into a life of slavery to banks and will have little to nothing in retirement, and some have already found themselves in bankruptcy court
