Random Question

[cypressbog]

Originally Posted by dennislbrooks

Stay out of the 401k.

^^^^ That's your best advice. I'm not sure why you'd ask financial advice on a truck board. Talk to your wife and then make an appointment with a financial advisor.

[In The Ten Ring]

Originally Posted by Overdriven

It's harder to get any kind of loan. I put 40% down on my house, the payments worked out to be nice and easy, still had savings left over (in the bank I was getting the mortgage from no less) and the bank still scrutinized everything. My parents gave me a $5k gift, well that needs a notarized statement saying it was a gift not a loan, has to be in the form of a check not cash, because it went in my account within 3 months of applying for the loan and they checked back that far looking for stuff. I can thank all those shady underwriters making stuff up on the loan applications just to get people approved. What the movie "the big short", lots of true (and sad) facts in it about the whole mortgage crisis.

Car loans for a dealer purchased vehicle are the exception. They'll sign anybody up for one of those and just charge ridiculous interest rates, repo the car when they can't pay and resell it to someone else with a ridiculously high interest rate loan. It's subprime stuff, just like the housing market, smaller numbers for individual loans but still a big market disaster waiting to happen.

I sold cars for 10 months at a used car dealership. I've worked over 20 jobs in my life and it was one of the lowest levels of happiness I ever had "on the job." The level of greed I saw among my co-workers was astounding---it was even worse than when I sold chemicals for ZEP Inc and even that had salesmen and managers screwing each other over. My plan was to sell as many cars as I could for less, which would give the buyer a better chance of paying it off. When I made that argument to a coworker he angrily replied, "hey! As long as I get my commission, I don't care if every car is repo'ed. I'm not holding guns to their heads making them sign for the loan." Hmmm....there you go. He was right about not forcing them to sign though.......but a lot of people are stupid, a lot of children are spoiled (stupid and weak parents), and a lot of people are desperate. I saw all three.

*I also learned just why car salesmen tend to be so fat: you simply have to sit all day, staring out the window at the lot, and all there is to eat is candy, doughnuts, and cake. You can't even read a book because you aren't staring at the lot! I also learned just how few Americans have good credit. I had a doctor in my booth with such a low credit score he couldn't get a loan to buy a bicycle!

I know that the Clinton and Bush administrations were both using the bank regulatory commission to force banks to make loans to people with little to no chance of paying it back. I recall the Bush administration taking great credit for "the largest minority home ownership in history." When that failed, the Obama administration conveniently forgot about that and blamed the banks. The bottom line is, don't borrow more than you know you can pay off, no matter who says what. If you don't know how to manage your money even that well, crooks will thank you for it. Interest does add up, like Grump posted.

I know I'm in for a big final bill on my truck, which is why I am doing as much work on my own as I can (thanks to the great members on this site), and it's going to take me at least 4 years to even get it running! A frame off would be nice but that's a long ways off.

[dmjlambert]

Originally Posted by Dad's72

I'm familiar with that book. I'm fine when it comes to that. I have owned a home since I was 26, debt free other that mortgage, have savings, retirement, investments, and never touch or savings. The idea I had was to keep my liquid and to just pay slowly do the truck I want. I have never made bad financial decisions and my credit is a strong 806 so I figured why not use that to my advantage? I have a buddy who is building a truck and did something similar because he just didn't have the time to dedicate. So he outsourced have the build ands borrowed against his money.

If you have the financial means to get the job done by getting a loan and paying it off, and if you care about having this particular truck up and running, I suggest go for it. Several people are saying it's a bad financial idea, but sometimes it is not about making 100% correct financial decisions all the time. Don't over think it. If you think you could have regrets a year into the loan, you'll just have to deal with that when you come to it. I've had ups and downs with my truck, and I have paid way to much for some stuff. I've certainly got more into it than it is worth. Hell, I've spent thousands and now I have arrived at the point of having a $1500 truck. But it's running, and I enjoy it. I hope you enjoy yours. Get driving!