Money Magazine Retirement Article

[73ss454]

SWR,

Nothing wrong with liking nice cars. Can't a 2 year old car be nice and still reliable?

Leasing is a rip off no matter what. Deprecation in the first 2 or 3 years of a cars life is what kill the leasing deal. Cars will deprecate
about 50 to 55% in the first 3 years. When leasing or owning a car you can still use it as a write off. There's still a large % that it's going to cost you out of your pocket.

I have no idea how your going to help sales people by teaching them to spend more.

Like I said, the vanity part still stands. Sorry if I hurt your feelings.

[ShokWaveRider]

Originally Posted by 73ss454

SWR,

Nothing wrong with liking nice cars. Can't a 2 year old car be nice and still reliable?

Leasing is a rip off no matter what. Deprecation in the first 2 or 3 years of a cars life is what kill the leasing deal. Cars will deprecate
about 50 to 55% in the first 3 years. When leasing or owning a car you can still use it as a write off. There's still a large % that it's going to cost you out of your pocket.

I have no idea how your going to help sales people by teaching them to spend more.

Like I said, the vanity part still stands. Sorry if I hurt your feelings.

I do not want to dwell on this point as we all are entitled to our own opinions, that is what is great about boards like this. You did not hurt my feelings, I simply resented the remark. It was a bit of a blinkered optinionated comment, and you know what? That is OK. But Vanity is not really the correct description. If you are a vain person then yes it would be.

In Southern California, where we were, the addage "You are what you drive" is more prevevelent (sp) than people who do not live there may realize, especially in Sales. We were members of groups that met regularly and discussed sales tactics etc. More often or not you would find 50% of the cars in the parking lots were Mercedes or Lexus or Infinity the rest were pretty much less than 3 years old. We used to Joke that they were the Sales Cars of the 1990's, that along with the Rolex watch . That said, I do not know if they bought versus leased but I still at the time preferred to lease.

There is NOTHING wrong with a 2 - 3 year old car, I never said there was. What I DID say is if you change your car every 2 - 3 years like I was doing by choice at the time, and ALL THINGS BEING EQUAL Interest rates, buying the same car NEW not used at the same price, financing the whole amount etc. Leasing is not as bad as it is made out to be. You still loose the depreciation amount if you buy, or am I missing something, does buying by some miracle reduce the depreciation? Are interest rates lower when you buy? I would argue, you can negociate preferred interest rates if you shop well when you lease (Assuming GM and Ford are not giving away their cars for 0% financing of course) But look where that tactic got GM, they loose money on every car they sell according to CNBC anyway. I personally prefer European cars and the Up market Japanese cars, probably because of my upbringing in Europe, I just think they make better looking cars, but that is another story. Bottom line is shopping well for whatever you buy.

SWR

[Martha]

SWR, I went to your website. When are you going to post your ten rules for ER?

What happens when you drop the clutch going full power in a Jetta turbo?

[73ss454]

SWR,

Sounds like a good question for the next poll.

Lease or Buy

Where's Dantein when you need him?

[unclemick]

Interlude

I like vanity - just counted 9 'Jimmy Buffet' aloha shirts I rescued from Katrina when we evacuated.

It's bright sunshine and 41 degree's while I'm waiting for arrivals to come and consume the 'bird'.

heh heh heh heh

[ShokWaveRider]

Originally Posted by Martha

SWR, I went to your website. When are you going to post your ten rules for ER?

What happens when you drop the clutch going full power in a Jetta turbo?

I will complete the section when I have written everything up. I wanted to wait till the Magazine article came out before I started.

SWR

[mathjak107]

Originally Posted by 73ss454

Leasing a car is never a good idea since the write off's are the same weather you lease or buy.* Well at least in NY.
Over a period of time leasing will cost you many times over as much as buying a 2 year old car and keeping it 8 more years.* Vanity is a bad part of this equation.

Your biggest savings according to your post is not having kids.

So you may be able to help some vane salespeople who don't want to have kids.

To each his own!

well i like new cars and to tell you the truth leasing isnt so bad..basically the lease is the depreciation you would loose anyway if you bought plus the finance charges.the problem with buying is that im finding after 4 yrs or so todays cars become very expensive to maintain and repair.when i figure what its been costing us to keep my 99 altima on the road now i could have leased a new car with full warranty and no expensive higher milage maintaince to be done..i dont even want to bring up the cost of keeping my volvo running 8 yrs...now i leased a nissan xterra and i came out way ahead..the lease is up in june and the trucks residual value has dropped so far that by not owning it im way ahead...oooh did i mention saving the sales tax on the entire car too when leasing.....

[TargaDave]

SWR,

Nice article and great picture. Doesn't surprise me about the mistakes you mention, happens all the time for just about any news print. I'm kinda surprised they didn't state the amount you retired with but mentioned the amount you feel you needed. Sorta leaves the reader guessing (typical of Money). Anyway the main theme comes across fine. Making you do business-casual on the beach; also typical of Money but they partly redeem themselves with the last line.

[ShokWaveRider]

Originally Posted by TargaDave

SWR,

Nice article and great picture. Doesn't surprise me about the mistakes you mention, happens all the time for just about any news print. I'm kinda surprised they didn't state the amount you retired with but mentioned the amount you feel you needed. Sorta leaves the reader guessing (typical of Money). Anyway the main theme comes across fine. Making you do business-casual on the beach; also typical of Money but they partly redeem themselves with the last line.

Dave:

I specifically asked them not to reveal my net worth. I did not want any potnetially jealous friends or family knowing the total. We have discussed it here many times it was about $1.4m or there abouts when we retired, it has gone up since then.

SWR

[MRGALT2U]

Originally Posted by ShokWaveRider

Dave:

I specifically asked them not to reveal my net worth. I did not want any potnetially jealous friends or family knowing the total. We have discussed it here many times it was about $1.4m or there abouts when we retired, it has gone up since then.

SWR

Nobody wants to hear my story (certainly not y'all who have heard it
quite often enough) . I have thought that if it did get published in
some format, I would have to leave out some details also. Not necxessarily because of
potential jealousy, but because it just isn't credible to many people.

JG

[Zorba]

SWR,
Yes, nice article. It covered the basic steps that you took be FI and RE.

And don't be too hard on the writer for leaving out some things. After all, its the editor that has the red pen and
makes the final decision on what appears in the article. I do wonder what the average Money reader will make
of your (over-stated) salary at 35. Will they conclude that FIRE is out of reach for them? Lets see what the
Letters next month will bring.

(And thanks for the cruisng part of your web site. A good source of day dreaming photos).

Zorba, high and dry.

[haha]

I think we should have a poll- who is the most self absorbed individual who visits this board?

The winner will get a plaque featuring a photo-shopped sepia tone portrait and a hagiographic recounting of his former greatness.

Ha

[MRGALT2U]

Originally Posted by HaHa

I think we should have a poll- who is the most self absorbed individual who visits this board?

The winner will get a plaque featuring a photo-shopped sepia tone portrait and a hagiographic recounting of his former greatness.

Ha

You must be joking. You don't need a poll for this. Send me a PM
and I will tell you where to ship it.

JG

[youbet]

SWR:

I read the article in Money last week and immediately thought of this board.* Neat surprise today to check in and find out that, indeed, the article was about a contributor! Congratulations on successfully executing your plan.

Yesterday, while enjoying Thanksgiving day with my son and his family, I mentioned the article to him and especially your difficult decision not to have children.* At that moment I was prone on the living room floor with grandchildren Liam and Molly crawling over me.* Brendan, the newborn, was being held by DW on the couch.*

My ER took me ten years longer to get to than yours, but at 58 I still consider it early.* And, in hindsight, we could have pulled the plug a few years ago except that I was a neverous fretter about it.* So I hope readers don't walk away from the article thinking that not having children is mandatory for ER.* It isn't.* Sure, being childless can level out a few of the bumps along the way.* But having a family, at least in my case, has been tremendously rewarding.* The application of the same principles of LBYM, stringent saving, wise investing, etc., can still get you to the land of FIRE.* Simultaneous successful dual careers, family and ER can happen.

youbet

[ESRBob]

SWR-
Loved seeing the article and wondered what it was like to have to dress up in your fancy duds and then have them take you to the beach. :P

Any article like this goes through a wringer and as Zorba says, it is usually the editor who has never met you who is busy spinning the story to match readers' preconceived notions so nobody gets stretched too far from what they already believe. In fairness, they also help keep us from rambling on about stuff that not too many people are really interested in. (That's why we have Internet Forums!)

btw, if you live in St Augustine, do you know of a beach south of you named after Gamble Rogers? He's a cousin of mine who died trying to save a drowning guy there some years back. He was a professional storyteller with a lot of skits poking fun at gool ole boy crackers and Florida counterculturists and had quite a following in north Florida at one point. May be worth tracking down one of the CD's as long as you live in that part of the world.

[ShokWaveRider]

Originally Posted by ESRBob

btw, if you live in St Augustine, do you know of a beach south of you named after Gamble Rogers? He's a cousin of mine who died trying to save a drowning guy there some years back. He was a professional storyteller with a lot of skits poking fun at gool ole boy crackers and Florida counterculturists and had quite a following in north Florida at one point. May be worth tracking down one of the CD's as long as you live in that part of the world.

Hi, It is actually not named after Gamble Rogers, there is a memorial there. It is Flagler Beach about half way between Daytona and St. Augustine, just south of Palm Coast.

Here is some information on it.

Gamble Rogers Memorial State Recreation Area is at at Flagler Beach
Nestled between the Atlantic Ocean and the Intracoastal Waterway, this windswept park is named for Florida folk singer Gamble Rogers and railroad entrepreneur Henry Flagler. The beach is the most popular feature at this park, where visitors enjoy swimming, sunbathing, or beachcombing. The daily low tide is an ideal time to observe shore birds feeding in tidal ponds; summer months bring sea turtles who lay their eggs in the golden-brown sand. On the Intracoastal Waterway side of the park, picnic pavilions provide a shady place to enjoy a meal. A nature trail winds through a shady coastal forest of scrub oaks and saw palmetto. Boaters and canoeists can launch from a boat ramp on the Intracoastal Waterway. The park's full-facility campground overlooks the Atlantic Ocean and is just a short walk along a boardwalk from the beach. Located in Flagler Beach off Highway A1A.

SWR

[ESRBob]

Originally Posted by ShokWaveRider

Hi, It is actually not named after Gamble Rogers, there is a memorial there. It is Flagler Beach about half way between Daytona and St. Augustine, just south of Palm Coast.

Shok-
Thx for the info -- we'll try to get down there one day. In the annals of Florida history, Flagler will always be more important than an old guitar pickin' cracker! The skits are funny, though, if you've had enough jack daniels...

[ShokWaveRider]

For those who did not get the Magazine, I posted the article on my web site with the corrections.

Go here, then click on the link for the "Money Magazine Article Dec. 2005" link.

http://www.impconcepts.com/retirebefore50.htm

SWR

[justin]

I can't read the text in the jpg image you posted. It seems like the resolution is too low.