How did you come to afford your raptor?

[911 Crazy]

Been a police officer for 13 years, and wife is a special education teacher at one of the top districts in the area. I’ve always spent way too much money on cars and modding cars (Shelby, boss, M3, SRT Jeep) but now that I have 2 kids I needed something everyone could fit in. So we got her a new explorer and I bought an 18 raptor. We also purchased a travel trailer this year and we are absolutely loving it.

Thank you for your service! OSU 83'

 

[BroncoAZ]

Regardless of how we made our money, it’s hard to drop $70k into a truck, which will only decrease in value (though probably much better than many other vehicles).

I bought my 19’ Raptor at age 30, and kinda feel like it’s a terrible financial decision at this point in my life, especially since this is vehicle #5 for me... :-/ Most of my colleagues are talking about how much extra they are putting into their 401K’s and driving the cheapest POS they can find. They definitely look down on my spending habits. Wonder who is making the wisest decision...

As long as you’re putting a responsible amount into retirement you should be fine, I started slow at age 30 and built it up to 18% into a Roth 401K now. My wife is doing 10% in a traditional IRA. At 44 we’re not in bad shape retirement wise but I wish I’d started hitting it hard at 24 as I could probably retire 10 years sooner than my current forecast. I figured on paying off all my school and other debt before really starting the retirement accounts.

Saving money is a good idea, squirreling it away and never having fun in your life, is not recommended!

Agreed. I’ve been working too much and playing very little for the past 14 years. The best laid retirement plans could be thwarted by cancer or a fatal accident, I realized this when a family friend got sick this year. I’m buying the Raptor to do something that I’ll enjoy now just in case something happens and I can’t enjoy it later.

 

[GCATX]

Agreed. I’ve been working too much and playing very little for the past 14 years. The best laid retirement plans could be thwarted by cancer or a fatal accident, I realized this when a family friend got sick this year. I’m buying the Raptor to do something that I’ll enjoy now just in case something happens and I can’t enjoy it later.

I spent most of my money on expensive cars and loose women, the rest I just wasted.
I agree with your sentiment.

 

[Badgertits]

As long as you’re putting a responsible amount into retirement you should be fine, I started slow at age 30 and built it up to 18% into a Roth 401K now. My wife is doing 10% in a traditional IRA. At 44 we’re not in bad shape retirement wise but I wish I’d started hitting it hard at 24 as I could probably retire 10 years sooner than my current forecast. I figured on paying off all my school and other debt before really starting the retirement accounts.



Agreed. I’ve been working too much and playing very little for the past 14 years. The best laid retirement plans could be thwarted by cancer or a fatal accident, I realized this when a family friend got sick this year. I’m buying the Raptor to do something that I’ll enjoy now just in case something happens and I can’t enjoy it later.

All good points....main reason I bought my vette initially....yeah I particularly liked the Z06, but truth be told I Liked A lot of other stuff in that price range when I bought it 9 years ago....one of the big reasons I got it was my dad LOVED vettes & camaros....had some camaros but never swung a vette, got a Harley fat boy dresser @ early retirement but cancer took him young- a big reason I got my vette was in memory of my dad & has served as a constant reminder, YOLO ;-)

 

[Frank N]

30 years ago drinking a beer on the beach with my dad, he told me why I needed to finish college and work with my brain and not my back and go a different path than he did....RIP Dad

 

[Small Town Raptor]

24 years as a helicopter pilot and still going. A 7 month tour in West Africa helped out with the down payment......

 

[Pittbug]

I was born in the UK and came to the US in 2000 to co-found a travel startup, then sold it a couple of years later. Been doing online marketing since then and am now at the point where buying a $75k truck is doable.

 

[MDD]

Wife and I have made decent income especially in the last 10 years, no kids, pay ourselves first with retirement savings and on track to retire by 55 if all works out. If not then 59.5. I figure the rest we can spend, though like others here its hard to drop $60-70k on something that loses half its value in 5 years. But I grew up liking cars...its my curse (not a terrible one except the $). Had a couple Mustang 5.0 in younger days, college and real life then since 2005: Subaru WRX STI, Jeep GC SRT8, VW Touareg TDI, Mustang GT350 (still have it) now the Raptor and the wife's Jeep GC Hemi.

 

[pastorwug]

"All the money in the world can't buy your way into Heaven and it can't buy your way out of Hell - Evel Knievel

Well, at least that old crazy guy was right on part of this quote

 

[pastorwug]

My answer - Dave Ramsey, Financial Peace University (google it)- destroying your debt snowball, destroying your credit cards, saving money like crazy, and then living like no one else.