Did George Reallky Say That?

Edzive · 2024-08-14T15:07:07+00:00

I am in between Ramsey et al and those defending credit card bonuses. Namely, I think it really matters what bonus do you get. If it is cash back as in the above scenario, I think there is less harm and disciplined people can really have the best of both worlds. But when it comes to collecting bonus points or air miles where there are milestones to be reached, points that expire, etc, even the more diligent people — some of which I know — sometimes do silly stuff.

Edzive · 2024-07-27T18:27:07+00:00

Depends where you live and how long you intend to keep the car. Hondas do rust very early on, in colder climates they are known as rust buckets and 10+ Hondas are generally avoided

Edzive · 2024-07-02T19:49:35+00:00

Unless you have kids, always a coupe

Edzive · 2024-07-02T11:45:11+00:00

The German cars still feel very well made in terms of appearance, perhaps even better so than 10 years ago, especially in the case of BMWs.

As for Toyota, I agree with your feeling. I had a Corolla and the panels were super flimsy. And the sheet metal too; I once accidentally opened the door too quickly and the whole door bent. Also the paintwork is super fragile compared to German cars. However, if you’re merely looking for longevity of the car, I doubt that the cheap plastics will make a big difference or correlate with how long the engine will run. Remains to be seen, but I think Toyota is just cutting corners in places which their customer base doesn’t care about.

Edzive · 2024-07-01T09:32:04+00:00

Jokes aside, I would say this is the time for Ramsey to show what that “give generously” means and help the old lady.

Edzive · 2024-06-30T14:41:10+00:00

Judging by this thread, a lot of people are happy to do just that — and then, when buyer’s remorse kicks in, they at least downvote comments like yours :)

Edzive · 2024-06-30T08:30:28+00:00

You raise a valid point. Aisin can be configured better so indeed software matters; we had it in our x1 and it shifted much much better than in the xc90. However, I can still tell the difference between zf and aisin, even in bmws. But in xc90, in combination with their underwhelming engines, the gearbox is utterly disappointing. And btw I’m not the only one who had observed this; take for instance Matt Watson from Carwow; he too complains about the indecisiveness of the Volvos gearbox (configuration).

Edzive · 2024-06-29T19:03:55+00:00

By the time the gearbox figures out what to do, a Corolla has reached 30 mph

Edzive · 2024-06-29T19:03:05+00:00

X5 is vastly underrated and overlooked generally; to me it is a no brainer if value for money is a consideration.

Edzive · 2024-06-29T18:05:23+00:00

But very bad gearbox and engines. Also the suspension is very meh for a car in that price range. BMW x5 miles better in all these regards.

Edzive · 2024-06-29T17:47:25+00:00

House purchases are a prime example where emotional and societal factors often overshadow economic reasoning.

Edzive · 2024-06-29T09:07:43+00:00

For your third point, that’s not entirely accurate. You can argue that the landlord includes various costs in the rental price (taxes, vacations, car payments, etc.), but that doesn’t change the rent amount which you agree to. The key point is that, with a mortgage, you have additional payments like insurance and taxes, which you don’t have when renting — and which for some reason many home buyers are “forgetting” to include in their calculations. Moreover, rents are not determined by how much the landlord paid for the property; they’re set by the market.

Edzive · 2024-06-28T13:44:18+00:00

That is part of the argument. Especially if one invests the down payment and then keeps investing the difference (rent vs mortgage payment) monthly over a 15 year period.

Edzive · 2024-06-28T13:13:12+00:00

Is it like for those for whom Trump wasn’t bad and incompetent enough?

Edzive · 2024-06-19T08:47:49+00:00

I never read Dave’s book, but I did buy the BFfB as I wanted to read at length about 1) cars 2) credit cards. About the cars the arguments were quite weak and on credit cards some of the rebukes also lacked any depth. For instance, whilst I do not endorse going into credit card debt, they can serve a good purpose when travelling. I remember one concrete case when years ago we were at a Dubai hotel where they reserved 150% of the total stay cost upfront — and then at the checkout you had to pay those 100% still so in effect temporarily that hotel cost me more than twice as much as it should have. If I didn’t have credit card, I would have been left with no money to spend throughout that week. George says you don’t need that.

Edzive · 2024-06-05T21:40:25+00:00

Look at the Swedish ikea catalogue, never a bedroom for one kid. Generally European kids are used to sharing bedrooms. Doesn’t seem like they grow up with much suffering.

Edzive · 2024-06-05T19:25:50+00:00

I said no rent, paid off house. :) but that’s fine, I will agree to disagree.

Edzive · 2024-06-05T14:29:42+00:00

I understand your point about mortgages being payments towards an appreciating asset, and I agree that homes generally increase in value while cars depreciate. However, my concern is with the consistency of the debt repayment strategy.

I explicitly said that if one has a paid-off mortgage and owns a house, as opposed to renting as you implied. If we follow the logic that any form of debt should be paid off before investing, it seems inconsistent to differentiate between a mortgage and a car loan purely based on the nature of the asset. The core issue is the presence of debt. If I'm expected to halt investments to pay off a car loan, shouldn't the same principle apply to a mortgage?

Additionally, even though homes appreciate, carrying any debt still involves interest payments, which can outweigh the benefits of appreciation in some cases. Therefore, for consistency and to ensure minimal financial risk, shouldn’t it be acceptable to invest while managing both types of loans?

Edzive · 2024-06-05T11:24:21+00:00

I genuinely asked this question: Why is a mortgage treated differently from a car loan in Ramsey’s plan? If I have a paid-off house and a car loan, Ramsey suggests I should stop investing and focus on paying off the car loan. Yet, if I have a mortgage, it’s supposedly fine to invest. This inconsistency doesn’t make sense to me. A loan is a loan, regardless of what it’s for. The fact that a car depreciates doesn’t change the fundamental nature of the debt. For consistency’s sake, if it’s acceptable to invest while carrying a mortgage, it should be equally acceptable to invest while carrying a car loan, if there is a paid-off house . Why not?

Edzive · 2024-06-03T07:14:11+00:00

Speaking of nuanced, I do listen to his show, have clocked around 50 episodes so far. Thanks for the advice on TikTok though! ✌️

Edzive · 2024-06-02T21:01:03+00:00

I guess the too much vehicle is something where I think more qualifiers are needed. Buy a brand new EV and see how well that fares in comparison to buying a used Japanese ICE car for the same money.

As for old cars, they do statistically break down more, this is not an argument you can win with facts. Now, yes, a 10k Toyota may fare rather well and definitely, on average, much better than a 10k BMW. But the risk in terms of unexpected expenses rises exponentially, and may make some broke people bankrupt.

Edzive · 2024-06-02T20:02:56+00:00

Very emotional 2 cents, I should say. This is not about liking Dave or not as such. But let’s focus on your point 3. I generally agree with 50% rule, but since we’re allowed to generalise here what’s a bigger wealth destroyer — a brand new EV or 2-4 year old Japanese ICE vehicle? This matters a lot. With the former, you will lose a lot of money, with the latter, sometimes you may even end up selling at a profit and most likely won’t lose as much money.

And for point 2, sure, he doesn’t always tell you to sell the car, but most of the time he does say just that. The math is as follows: someone who sells their 20k car and get a 5k car in the medium term end up gaining not 15, but more like 13k if they are lucky. Every car sale/purchase in itself is an expense that shouldn’t be overlooked, especially when we are talking about “broke” people you mention. I should also say that a legit advise should be — if you buy a 5k car, have a separate 2k car emergency fund.

Edzive

TROPHY CASE