Loaded 4BWs don't make sense to me

[Jim2000]

I just got a letter from State Farm that my rates are increasing another 26%.

Clean driving record, no accidents in over 10 years of coverage. I went and got a quote from USAA instead.

Me too. I switched from State Farm to USAA recently.

 

[rubberduck]

Me too. I switched from State Farm to USAA recently.

I have been with USAA for longer than the age of some of the drivers here and a driving record so clean the queen would eat off it. My rates have still gone up 25% if the past two years. What I have learned is having money makes for a much more difficult life than being poor. More management, more decisions, more stress.

 

[Jim2000]

I have been with USAA for longer than the age of some of the drivers here and a driving record so clean the queen would eat off it. My rates have still gone up 25% if the past two years. What I have learned is having money makes for a much more difficult life than being poor. More management, more decisions, more stress.

I wonder if the insurance companies give a you a very low first year rate and then jack up the prices in the next few years. That wouldn't support any customer loyalty.

 

[shbox]

I wonder if the insurance companies give a you a very low first year rate and then jack up the prices in the next few years. That wouldn't support any customer loyalty.

That is a very common tactic. It's been done to me and others I have talked to. Changed company at next renewal.

 

[DCV]

They have to pay for all those damm commercials with Flo and Jamie,, the Gekko, the pedo looking guy with the emu, the caveman and the airtime to play them…telling us how cheap their rates are….

 

[dinkman]

What I have learned is having money makes for a much more difficult life than being poor. More management, more decisions, more stress.

never thought about it like that but so true

 

[Super Saloon]

I have been with USAA for longer than the age of some of the drivers here and a driving record so clean the queen would eat off it. My rates have still gone up 25% if the past two years. What I have learned is having money makes for a much more difficult life than being poor. More management, more decisions, more stress.

never thought about it like that but so true

Guys come on. Maybe more financial management is one thing that is true but the rest is BS. What is the alternative here? Imagine actually being poor and not having a car to get from point a to point b. No money for an Uber or taxi. If you could afford the bus, you still have to coordinate scheduling and figure out how to get to the bus station. Is this really easier than shopping insurance rates?

Imagine not knowing where your next meal is coming from. Imagine being homeless and trying to find somewhere warm to sleep. These people still have to make decisions and have stress, probably much more difficult decisions and more stress than Blackwing owners on average.

I have not been poor but I am fortunate enough now to be in a considerably different financial position than I was 10 years ago when I still lived with my parents because I couldn’t even afford rent on a 1 bedroom apartment. I still had to make financial decisions and they were harder than the financial decisions I have to make now.

Just sharing some perspective, count your blessings.

 

[rubberduck]

Guys come on. Maybe more financial management is one thing that is true but the rest is BS. What is the alternative here? Imagine actually being poor and not having a car to get from point a to point b. No money for an Uber or taxi. If you could afford the bus, you still have to coordinate scheduling and figure out how to get to the bus station. Is this really easier than shopping insurance rates?

Imagine not knowing where your next meal is coming from. Imagine being homeless and trying to find somewhere warm to sleep. These people still have to make decisions and have stress, probably much more difficult decisions and more stress than Blackwing owners on average.

I have not been poor but I am fortunate enough now to be in a considerably different financial position than I was 10 years ago when I still lived with my parents because I couldn’t even afford rent on a 1 bedroom apartment. I still had to make financial decisions and they were harder than the financial decisions I have to make now.

Just sharing some perspective, count your blessings.

Glad you made it out of the basement and into a Blackwing. I wasn't talking about no-income, rather low-income. I do know people in that category and they choose to work very little, have a junker car, a small apartment, but amazingly they have far more free time and travel quite a bit. They are quite resourceful. The social services system is setup to supply many affordable perks.

I take it you are not 5 to 10 years away from retirement and depending on what you do now you may have a different perspective when you get there. My only advice is save as much money as you can every paycheck while still enjoying the benefits of the income. It's a delicate balance. I would have liked to retire before 65, but the expenses are just too great. Combine that will idiots in charge that have no idea what they are doing and hell bent on ruining the economy. Forget about car insurance, how about $2500 a month for health insurance for someone that retires early. Now that same person, with low-income you pay a fraction of that. Just ranting a little.

I have to meditate (and medicate) much more now than I did when I was younger in order to keep things on track and lower stress.

 

[coffee_time]

Guys come on. Maybe more financial management is one thing that is true but the rest is BS. What is the alternative here? Imagine actually being poor and not having a car to get from point a to point b. No money for an Uber or taxi. If you could afford the bus, you still have to coordinate scheduling and figure out how to get to the bus station. Is this really easier than shopping insurance rates?

Imagine not knowing where your next meal is coming from. Imagine being homeless and trying to find somewhere warm to sleep. These people still have to make decisions and have stress, probably much more difficult decisions and more stress than Blackwing owners on average.

I have not been poor but I am fortunate enough now to be in a considerably different financial position than I was 10 years ago when I still lived with my parents because I couldn’t even afford rent on a 1 bedroom apartment. I still had to make financial decisions and they were harder than the financial decisions I have to make now.

Just sharing some perspective, count your blessings.

Yeah seriously I never thought I'd ever read 'it's harder to be rich than poor' and not have it followed up with an explanation that it was a joke. Supremely out of touch with reality.

 

[rubberduck]

Yeah seriously I never thought I'd ever read 'it's harder to be rich than poor' and not have it followed up with an explanation that it was a joke. Supremely out of touch with reality.

How to you know, when is the last time you've been unwealthy? It's only more work if one buys things. I'm not rich enough to have assistants manage all my assets and belongings.

 

[coffee_time]

How to you know, when is the last time you've been unwealthy? It's only more work if one buys things. I'm not rich enough to have assistants manage all my assets and belongings.

Bro, you said having to manage money is worse than being poor.

Neither you nor me are one medical bill away from being homeless. But literal millions are. Neither you nor me are one car repair away from being homeless. But literal millions are.

Do I need to go on? The idea that MANAGING YOUR WEALTH is harder than being poor is absolute INSANITY.

 

[Jim2000]

Bro, you said having to manage money is worse than being poor.

Neither you nor me are one medical bill away from being homeless. But literal millions are. Neither you nor me are one car repair away from being homeless. But literal millions are.

Do I need to go on? The idea that MANAGING YOUR WEALTH is harder than being poor is absolute INSANITY.

Actually managing your assets does take a lot of time, but I would rather manage what I have as compared to being poor. We all should be grateful that we are able to own these fine machines.

 

[coffee_time]

Actually managing your assets does take a lot of time, but I would rather manage what I have as compared to being poor. We all should be grateful that we are able to own these fine machines.

Absolutely! Managing and saving takes time. It isn't hard. Living paycheck to paycheck and wondering if you have enough left over to feed your family? THAT IS HARD. But he didn't say it takes time, he said it "makes life more difficult than being poor."

 

[Jim2000]

I can't even imagine having to look your kids in their faces and saying that's all the food we have and watching them go to bed hungry. It's a tough road being poor. If the schools would require a finance class for all students, then some if not a lot of the poverty could be prevented. It is invaluable for young minds to understand finances. I still can't believe how many adults make very foolish financial decisions and don't think about the negative impact of their decisions. Never charge anything on a credit card that can't be paid off at the end of the billing cycle.

 

[HoustonCuse]

I can't even imagine having to look your kids in their faces and saying that's all the food we have and watching them go to bed hungry. It's a tough road being poor. If the schools would require a finance class for all students, then some if not a lot of the poverty could be prevented. It is invaluable for young minds to understand finances. I still can't believe how many adults make very foolish financial decisions and don't think about the negative impact of their decisions. Never charge anything on a credit card that can't be paid off at the end of the billing cycle.

All true but in fairness, this is a luxury/performance car forum. It’s a literal monument to poor financial decision making!

 

[MookdocOE]

All true but in fairness, this is a luxury/performance car forum. It’s a literal monument to poor financial decision making!

It sure is! Everybody has vices, hobbies bad habits etc. I think we all know this "hobby" is a losing money proposition.

 

[rubberduck]

All true but in fairness, this is a luxury/performance car forum. It’s a literal monument to poor financial decision making!

True, but as far as bad financial decisions go this one is more fun than most.

 

[Jim2000]

Buying a car is not a bad financial decision. Financing a car at exorbitant rates is a bad financial decision in most cases. In the cars that we bought this year, we paid 4% on the car loan and kept the money in our checking account earning a whopping 6% interest. Even after taxes, we are money ahead. I remember having a car loan at 2% in December of 2022 and my liquid cash was earning over 5%. The credit union allowed us to borrow more money than the car was worth. Why would a credit union do this?

 

[rubberduck]

Buying a car is not a bad financial decision. Financing a car at exorbitant rates is a bad financial decision in most cases. In the cars that we bought this year, we paid 4% on the car loan and kept the money in our checking account earning a whopping 6% interest. Even after taxes, we are money ahead. I remember having a car loan at 2% in December of 2022 and my liquid cash was earning over 5%. The credit union allowed us to borrow more money than the car was worth. Why would a credit union do this?

Depends on a person’s financial situation and goals which only that person can judge. I’m not rolling down the street throwing C-notes out the window. But I do make a comfortable income as I suspect a majority here do.

Would my finances be better if I bought a car for 1/3 the price of my 5BW and instead bought Nvidia, Amazon, and Microsoft stock? Of course. But, that’s the wrong question. The real question when making any financial decision is whether it’s consistent with short and long term goals. IMO there is no point in working hard and hoarding money only to die a multi-millionaire. Spend some, invest some, strike a balance.

 

[BimmerFan]

This thread has gone off-course and has the horrible potential of getting political - but so far you guys have behaved. Kudos on that.

I have two thoughts related to earlier comments, if I may share.

First, I work in the insurance industry, so I have a bit of insight. Insurers in the USA have been losing money on homeowner's insurance for many years now. That's why you're seeing some companies simply pull out of markets like Florida and (I think) California, because it's impossible to do business there. Every state is different, each have different laws and regulations, and of course some places like Florida tend to have more storm claims which make it difficult unless you have very high rates. During the pandemic when no one was driving to work, or anywhere, auto insurance claims went into the toilet and so most companies actually cut rates and gave rebates. After that, inventory shortages caused used car values to increase, more people driving, driving faster and having worse crashes, parts shortages, labor inflation, rental car shortages and stupid EVs all conspired to drastically increase repair costs and insurance claims payouts, and so most companies are scrambling now to catch up. Now, the ridiculous amount of advertising that some of them do, that annoys me greatly on many levels (mostly because I hate the Liberty ads) but that's another topic entirely.

The other thought relates to the poor versus rich argument. I'm not (in my mind) rich, but I do very well and I was poor back in the day as a student, living on my own, although I never had to go without food, I did struggle to get by. I prefer the former, even with the stress of minimizing my capital gains taxes and maintaining my Cadillac. LOL

But Monday I had to go to the Chevy dealer to get a new fob programmed for the Corvette (see this thread about that car) and I was dumbfounded at the cost. Most of my BMWs and of course the BW have been under warranty, so I can't remember the last time I went to a dealer for a non-warranty repair (I go to independent shops if I need something done that I can't do). The fob retail was $325 and they charged me an hour of labor @ $185 to program the car to accept it. I got the fob at wholesale (long story) but still it cost me over $420 for the work. I sat there wondering, how do people with "normal" average paychecks, perhaps with kids, how do they afford this kind of stuff? How in the world do the younger folks making say $45K a year pay rent, car loans, food, medical and car repairs? My youngest makes about that much, he never finished college, he and his girlfriend both work full-time but he has no health insurance, and only because they both have (older) paid-off cars can they make ends meet. They rent a tiny house, drive Hondas and don't take vacations. His insurance plan is from Mutual of Mom.

I live in a big house, drive a Cadillac and take nice vacations. I prefer that.