Very amusing and probably not even possible, I mean even if you are making $237,000 a year at best you would be driving a hyandai sonota. I mean everyone likes to save a little for a rainy day but damn, spending 1/10th your salary on a car?? So I can be in the repair shop a couple of times a year. This guy has no clue what hes talking about, and let me guess we should be spending 3/16 of our salary on rent? And 1/64th on food? https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/04/fol...o-get-rich-says-millionaire-money-expert.html
You should probably read The Millionaire Next Door. Status symbols are a sure way to poverty. Ever wondered why the poorest people can afford the nicest things, but somehow come up short on food and rent? It means a lot more to people to look rich, rather than be rich. If you're not saving at least 20% of your gross income you are underperforming for retirement. Period. EDIT: I'd like to add that cars are the absolute worst purchase you can make of nearly any purchase I can think of. You should study your car's depreciation curve and buy it when it flat lines. The ROI on a car is worse than 0, and you're purchasing a liability that will continually drive your yearly percent return into the ground. I'd rather pick up a car for $5k, put $6k of work in it over 15 years and drive it until the government passes some regulation that says I can't.
So what's wrong with making $237,000 a year, and driving a Sonota? https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/17/dal...s-drives-26-year-old-car-he-bought-for-2.html https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/01/hedge-funds-sports-cars/512075/ Would I drive a 26 year old car? No. But I don't like to tell other people what to do with their money, and what they should be doing when they make X amount of money. And there is something about growing older (I'm 48 staring at 49) ... you just leave and lose this "desire" for more stuff. A couple of nice bikes. A couple of "nice" cars. Nothing to be noticed, and let that be that. And most of that is due to my wife. Regardless of my income ... I really only need want a few things. My work space / rig Clothes. I'm a bit of a clothes fiend (About $8,000 in Silk Ties alone) Watches ... Meh, that's about it. That and my cats. Everything else, is really because my wife wants it. Take some advice from an Ol' guy ... keep your stuff to a minimum, regardless of how much you make. Later in life .. you just care less for it. The Long View recently said this on Twitter, and I loved it: What people hate the most is materialism, but changing the form of government will not make people care for their fellow man. We have hollowed out our cultural institutions (civic organizations/families/churches) that provided these services & are searching for a replacement. Meh, the way I've always viewed it? Drive a couple of nice cars, and let that be that.
Always loved the DCU approach. Bruce Wayne's family mansion burns to the ground, and he lives in a one level with sub-level with a bedroom, kitchen area, office ... and that's about it ...
With car sales around 17 million a year and probably about 1/3 of people knowing the financial loss of a new car once its driven off the lot, you would think that maybe people would consider a used car, but that's not the case. I think it's about reliability and the fact that no matter what driving is very expensive whether it's a new car or a used car. Average cost of driving a car is about $500-$700 a month.
Then your deal hunting skill sucks lol. Last year I bot a Jetta 2010 with 150k miles for $3600. Yes I am your millionaire next door. And by the way. Forget jap cars. They have no soul lol.
I have a truck made in 1987. I've put around $7k of work in it over 5 years and outside of regular maintenance I've never had a problem. Part availability is great, it has no computer in it so I don't have to worry about $5000 ECU replacements, and the model is coming back so I expect to be able to flip it for more than it's worth in 2-3 years if I want to. I expect to turn the odo over at 1 million miles as long as I maintain it. It might not be the prettiest car (it's not a rust bucket, and it's actually nice looking but dated) but I don't really care. I save so much money driving it, I'll be the last one laughing from my paid off house and all of my free capital to invest. If there's one thing a modern car (2010 onward) screams, it isn't "reliability".
This reminds me of Jeff Bezos driving an Accord long after he became an billionaire. I'm not sure there's a one size fits all approach to how much you should spend on transportation or housing, but living within your means & avoiding unnecessary debt is always smart.