As ugly as they may be to some, i jumped out of my CX-5 GT and right into a CRV Touring and the seats were way more comfortable, softer leather and kinda hugged me. In fact the wife, primary driver of both, thought the same thing.
As ugly as they may be to some, i jumped out of my CX-5 GT and right into a CRV Touring and the seats were way more comfortable, softer leather and kinda hugged me. In fact the wife, primary driver of both, thought the same thing.
It's all good. If you and the wife are happy with the car that is what counts. I'm certainly not a Honda hater. I have multiple Honda generators, lawn mower and ATV. There are a few things with vehicle that wouldn't work for me but who knows what the future holds. No question they will sell a lot of them.
My retirement plans are somewhat different. Maybe you can offer me some advice on that front?
My goal is by 40-45 to own everything I touch on a daily basis. House, land, car, etc. I have 35 acres that I'm currently selling, and hoping to make about $50K profit from. If this occurs, I can put down about 30 of that (have plans for the other 20) on another piece of property with a home on it. What I want goes for around $150-190K here (Don't hate me...I know how CA can be...). That leaves me with a "mere" $120-160K financed. I should be able to knock that out in 7-12 years, depending on how aggressively I try.
At that point, I will simply funnel everything I have into CD's or something.
The other aspect of this is my father. He is a packrat. He never sells anything, and he never will. I hope he lives forever. Unfortunately, our parents do not. As sad as it makes me to contemplate it, I will probably end up heir to his 3 houses and 15-20 acres, which I will then sell after going through to take all of the things I have memories of. I strongly suspect the proceeds of that alone would be plenty for me to "retire" on.
If of course he takes my advice and sells all of it and has a helluva time, I still will have 5-10 more years of solid income going directly into investments, etc.
I am not a fan AT ALL of IRA's and that crap. I know too many people who lost everything in 2008 who are now slaving away doing the same stuff I am, except they are in their 60's. Screw that.
I have a HSA that I plan on sending money into heavily as soon as feasible.What you need to understand about saving in general and for retirement is that the duration of time you save is crucial. If you put off savings for later, your savings will be much lower at retirement. Start saving *now*. You can start with money you would have been paying for unnecessary options on your vehicle. I commend you for buying a used Touring (if I remember correctly). This makes a lot of financial sense.
That was why I bought it, and because I plan on living 15-20 miles at least 1 way from work. Hence my chagrin at its crappy mileage vs. performance matrice. The former is something I struggle with. I feel that if I get a house sooner, rather than later, I will save money (interest rates are at an all-time low, my area is exploding in population, having nearly doubled the value of the land I bought 3 years ago already). So, I put off any savings in favor of investing in a home and more land sooner than later. Your point is not lost on me though at all.
The other thing, is the classification of good debt vs. bad debt. The basic is fairly simple: APR lower than your savings GOOD, APR higher than your savings BAD. In addition, a car is a necessary tool but it is guaranteed to lose money as an investment. 'Investing' less in cars is better in the financial sense. Real-estate, in general (though you need to be careful), is a good investment.
So, typically real estate loans fall into the good category.
+1
CDs are safe but not good investment because the APR is low and because your money is locked up.
IRA, HSA give you a tax benefit, 401K, if you can.
I went through the 2008 crash too with my investments. I did not sell so I had paper losses, in fact, I continued to invest and now these are paper gains.
No Mazda is not fine, especially in the US market which is the largest car market in the world!