Hmm, one would have to look at a few factors here. Manufacturing the car produces a lot of emissions (according to the link, about as much making the car as the gas burned during the life of the car).
I think this is enough to show that driving the old car (even if not all that efficient) is better than buying a new more efficient vehicle (unless we are comparing an old large truck, with lots of life left to a new Yaris).
Now, my car, a manual 05 Ford Focus was a pretty efficient car to drive at the time, so I think it is a no brainer if going for eco friendly.
Now admittedly, I drive this car because I want to be wealthy sooner than later. In my state, the statistics say that the average driver spends north of 9K per year (when we include things like maintenance, insurance, gas, depreciationā¦). My goal is to spend a lot less than this and invest the rest. The eco friendly thing is just a nice side effect of being frugal (and not just with cars).
I love this. Itās so important if you want to get wealthy not to waste money on unnecessary shit like expensive cars. Thereās time to do that when you have enough money to throw around. The 20 year old who invests all of his earnings into a new small car with lots of power to show off is a retard as he loses his monetary flexibility.
Oh great. Another poster coming back with thought out, intelligent replies complete with articles further proving his original point correct and all done in a respectful manner.
You could have just said STFU . Be a lot more fun for me
I am a big fan of Warren Buffet. I think the guy has a good philosophy on life. Now he spends more freely now, but is extremely frugal compared to his wealth. His main residence was purchased for 30K I think in the 1950s (worth about a million now). IIRC, he only recently started buying new cars. He seems to value living a happy life as the top priority.
Early on he saw the value of investing. He made money at age 10-12 collecting Coke bottles (still loves Coca Cola to this day), and bought gum ball machines that he profited off of, he then bought pin ball machines (this is when he was in high school), eventually he owned all of his areas pin ball machines. He paid his way through college with those. His wealth snowballed because he kept his lifestyle modest and invested the difference.
According to Wiki, he is a close second to Bill Gates in philanthropy (both have donated about 35 billion), and vows to give away 99% of his wealth, and only hand down 1% to family (which is still a ton of money).
In my own life, I could afford new cars, but a typical car payment is several hundred a month (I paid $1500 cash for it a few years ago), but then licensing is more, insurance is moreā¦ If the delta between the two choices is invested, it can turn into a lot of money over time.
Obviously, I am lucky to be in the position to choose to drive the beater cars and save, but I think there are lots of people who have good income, but basically never accumulate any wealth due to their burn rate being equal to their earnings.
Itās way more difficult to hand down know-how than money, I guess Waren knows this. The first generation has a 40% likelihood of losing the wealth inherited, the second generation a 70% chance. Also, warren knows that his joy didnāt come from his wealth but from his earning. He would take the challenge and fun from his sons.
Thatās true, also in your example warren made passive income his support system early on. Thatās smart.
Currently I only invest in stocks (and my house if that counts as an investment). I am thinking about getting into real-estate, but would only go modest (very modest) to start. I donāt necessarily think now is a great time to buy a house though.
Do you have any ideas of passive income other than stock, real-estate? Iāve thought storage units would be good (Americans buy a lot of crap), but worry about saturation of the market. I donāt think Warrenās example will work out well (pin ball).
Actually my plan right now is real-estate. It will take a few years from now. I was thinking of start-ups (maybe starting my own too but thatās also a few years down the line) especially in the pharmaceutical world as thatās where my expertise lies. Stock is good if you know what youāre doing. For just getting passive income without investing, writing a book is good (if youāre good at writing like letās say @iron_yuppie demonstrates here sometimes) or more modern making a good app that many people need, thatās a start. But for investing my financial room to fuck up is currently too small, we can have the conversation where I put my money in 2-3 years again.
Hmm, ideally the investment would be modest enough that I would not need mentorship. I could learn with something like that. I am leaning towards storage units, and would like to perhaps get something turn key with existing customers. I imagine I can only get so much under those circumstances (probably would be looking for 20 units or something).
I did just start a thread on this. My friend and I were talking about it, and it got me thinking a bit.
If youāre looking to invest in RE the first place to look is Homepath.com Itās Fannie Mae properties that have been foreclosed on. Itāll give you an idea of whatās out there and what prices are like for any given property in various states of need, from total reno to move-in ready.
I have a bias because I do stonks for a living and the returns have been mind blowing the last three quarters. But for stability you usually canāt go wrong with residential or multi family properties.
. Be a lot more fun for me
