Financial advice

[MKParris]

Originally Posted by infamousdiz

What job pays 66 an hour with no experience?

If you are making that much you are good to go buy the car and live at home stay there as long as possible, you know its time to go when you would rather live in a dumpster then listen to your roommates getting it on.. haha. On a real note MAX OUT YOUR DEFFERED COMP OR 401K cant stress that enough.

Everyone talks of a house marriage and kids crap like that, if you don't do it now you may never get the opportunity for 20 years. there will always be something to hold you back. That's how I felt about kids, I will never be ready so now or never(I got 2 by 29 FML). pay 2k a month in daycare your car lease will never feel so bad.

Meet alot of loose woman and go to Vegas....Christ I love Vegas

I would say if you are making 130k+ you already made good decisions already spend it, enjoy. Worry about tomorrow...tomorrow

DO NOT BUY A HOME (now anyhow you don't know if you meet someone and relocate, thing is a money pit and stupid and I can argue that with anyone

And I leave quoting Thoreau, "Everything in moderation" did he say the exactly maybe not be fucker has wisdom

I have been paying myself to live for 3.5 years instead of paying some landlord...additionally all the companies I have worked for have home sale relocation assistance where they pay off your house if you are underwater.

[m630]

Troll

[infamousdiz]

Originally Posted by smithf32

What job are you making $66/hr at right out of college? Out of curiosity.

Originally Posted by C-ARchitect

+1

$66/hr ($130k+/year) sounds extremely high for a fresh college grad with little professional experience. $66K/year sounds more realistic but even then is very high.

The only professional I know of that pays that out of college is a petroleum engineer, took my wife 8 years of college to make that kind of money and experience she is an NP

Thanks for all your replies so far! I know I could have asked elsewhere regarding this, but since there are a lot m3 buyers on this forum, I figured it would be a nice place to start getting some financial advice/information before I look anywhere else more seriously. As most people have said, I will probably end up saving my money and investing - 401k, etc. for as long as I can bear and will be calculating my biweekly/monthly spending/income to see if the m3 will be a far off dream or something that I can realistically buy without having to stress about. I just wanted to see if there was anything that I was missing somewhere or if there was anything else that I should take into consideration when I calculate for these things.

Also, sorry I won't be quoting everyone since a lot of people have similar questions but I'll try to answer as many as I can.

Career wise, I'm going to graduate with a doctorates in pharmacy. (Not Harvard MBA unfortunately). I don't have too much "real" experience but I have been working in a pharmacy about 7 years now (since I was a senior in HS). So my starting hourly rate is around $66/hr not 66k/year. Plus holidays and A LOT of overtime.

I do owe my parents a lot and not just from college loans. But I had two jobs in college and my average salary in college was around $14-18 depending on the shift differential and averaged about 30+ hours during school and 40-80 hours during the summer for ~4-5 years so I was able to pay off a good amount of my college tuition but of course I had to pay for housing, going out and vacations for 6 years too so I had to borrow a little from my parents here and there. We don't have an exact $$ on how much I owe yet, but besides that, I intend to pay them back as much as possible for all the money they spent on me and support they gave me growing up.

Also, I do have a girlfriend but she's going to be staying in our college across the US for another 8 months- 1 year and not much has been decided yet about long distance. But for now, she intends to move to California(not because of me) after she graduates, either for grad school or job. We haven't talked about marriage yet, but it was just something that I felt that I should keep in mind (this is the person who decided on a future m3 over an m4 because he plans on having kids in the very VERY distant future....)

Also, I think that I'm going to live at home for the time being. I know it has a "loser" and "can't support oneself" stigma as someone pointed out before, but I haven't seen much of my family for the past 6 years and want to make up on some lost time with them and my grandmother who lives with us is getting old too so I would love to spend as much time with all of them as I can before I have to think about moving out. However, that can all change in a flash. But as of now, I intend to live with them as long as they can put up with me

Of course, my immature self is telling me that I should try to find a way to somehow get rid of the subaru within 6m-1 year time but we'll see what happens after I calculate all the in/outs, how much I can push myself to work OT before I'm drained, and see how savings come along.

Like the first comment, I know what I SHOULD do - never buy an m3 and just buy a Prius! Thing is, I don't know if my mentality will ever find a good time to ever justify buying an m3. After loans I need a house, after a house, I'll need to pay for a marriage, after marriage, I'll have kids, their college, then my parents. When does it ever end hahaha. But the replies on this thread have definitely helped me try to convince myself to wait as long as I can bear to.

Oh well! We'll see how things go and until then, I'll just admire through this forum

EDIT 1: A lot of people are saying to buy cash.. what is the general consensus on cash vs monthly payments?

[W Cole]

Originally Posted by Tacoma

Let me get this straight... you're still in college and you've already paid off $150K of your student loan with a "little" help from your parents? How did you come up with this much money as a student, did you start up some kind of dot com company? Or maybe your parents helped more than just a little?

And then if that wasn't enough, you say you already have a job lined up after graduation earning $66/hr which translates to from $130,000 per year for 40hr week, to up to $230,000 per year if you "pick up more shifts." That's quite a first job coming right after graduation! Is your diploma a Harvard MBA? I don't think even Donald Trump's kids made that much straight out of college.

Nevertheless, if everything you say is right, then you must be some kind of genius prodigy destined to be CEO of something before 30, in which case go for the M3 now because your financial future is secured.

He's 23 so I am guessing he is graduating with some sort of advanced degree. Too young to be a doctor so maybe attorney?

FYI for students at top tier law schools it is common for summer internship pay to be a pro-rata of the starting salary. Interns can make 30-40,000 per summer. The firms do this to attract top talent. This can put quite a dent in student debt.

The median salary figures out of top tier law schools is actually higher than what OP is quoting. But $150,000 starting salaries are not unheard of in finance or other fields coming out of undergrad.

[W Cole]

Originally Posted by bloading

Thanks for all your replies so far! I know I could have asked elsewhere regarding this, but since there are a lot m3 buyers on this forum, I figured it would be a nice place to start getting some financial advice/information before I look anywhere else more seriously. As most people have said, I will probably end up saving my money and investing - 401k, etc. for as long as I can bear and will be calculating my biweekly/monthly spending/income to see if the m3 will be a far off dream or something that I can realistically buy without having to stress about. I just wanted to see if there was anything that I was missing somewhere or if there was anything else that I should take into consideration when I calculate for these things.

Also, sorry I won't be quoting everyone since a lot of people have similar questions but I'll try to answer as many as I can.

Career wise, I'm going to graduate with a doctorates in pharmacy. (Not Harvard MBA unfortunately). I don't have too much "real" experience but I have been working in a pharmacy about 7 years now (since I was a senior in HS). So my starting hourly rate is around $66/hr not 66k/year. Plus holidays and A LOT of overtime.

I do owe my parents a lot and not just from college loans. But I had two jobs in college and my average salary in college was around $14-18 depending on the shift differential and averaged about 30+ hours during school and 40-80 hours during the summer for ~4-5 years so I was able to pay off a good amount of my college tuition but of course I had to pay for housing, going out and vacations for 6 years too so I had to borrow a little from my parents here and there. We don't have an exact $$ on how much I owe yet, but besides that, I intend to pay them back as much as possible for all the money they spent on me and support they gave me growing up.

Also, I do have a girlfriend but she's going to be staying in our college across the US for another 8 months- 1 year and not much has been decided yet about long distance. But for now, she intends to move to California(not because of me) after she graduates, either for grad school or job. We haven't talked about marriage yet, but it was just something that I felt that I should keep in mind (this is the person who decided on a future m3 over an m4 because he plans on having kids in the very VERY distant future....)

Also, I think that I'm going to live at home for the time being. I know it has a "loser" and "can't support oneself" stigma as someone pointed out before, but I haven't seen much of my family for the past 6 years and want to make up on some lost time with them and my grandmother who lives with us is getting old too so I would love to spend as much time with all of them as I can before I have to think about moving out. However, that can all change in a flash. But as of now, I intend to live with them as long as they can put up with me

Of course, my immature self is telling me that I should try to find a way to somehow get rid of the subaru within 6m-1 year time but we'll see what happens after I calculate all the in/outs, how much I can push myself to work OT before I'm drained, and see how savings come along.

Like the first comment, I know what I SHOULD do - never buy an m3 and just buy a Prius! Thing is, I don't know if my mentality will ever find a good time to ever justify buying an m3. After loans I need a house, after a house, I'll need to pay for a marriage, after marriage, I'll have kids, their college, then my parents. When does it ever end hahaha. But the replies on this thread have definitely helped me try to convince myself to wait as long as I can bear to.

Oh well! We'll see how things go and until then, I'll just admire through this forum

EDIT 1: A lot of people are saying to buy cash.. what is the general consensus on cash vs monthly payments?

Wait 2-3 months for job stability and then buy the M3. Personally I would buy one used (exactly what I did out of college) and I now own a home in Newport Coast at age 26 with no help from the family.

The car has had 0 affect on my ability to accomplish future financial goals. I bought it used and got a good deal. My cost of ownership over the past 4 years is probably similar to a base 3 series.

I would get the largest loan on it possible. 72 month car loans are at 1.6% or so from Air Force CU. Free money.

[upstatedoc]

I don't know any pharmacist around here that drives an M3 and that's guys that have been doing it for 20+ years. You're extremely lucky that you have 150k of your 200k loan debt gone. Why not show the parents a little gratitude? Oh, and does Lyrica have any street value?

[fecurtis]

Originally Posted by bloading

So I just wanted to ask some financial advice from some of the older/more experienced fellows on this forum. I'm a 23 college student who is expecting to graduate this coming May. Buying an m3 has always been my dream and I am hoping to get one sometime in the future. However, I have a little bit of loans.

I paid off ~150k (with a little help from my parents) and have about 50k left to go. When I graduate, I'll be making ~$66/hr full time but hopefully pick up more shifts ~50-70 hrs/week while I'm still young and capable of this. I'm not sure what this equates to after tax deductions and everything else but I'm hoping to pay off my loans as fast as possible but would buying a fully loaded m3 while trying to pay my loans off be a bad financial move for my future? I wouldn't have much other payments to worry about besides my loans and paying my parents back (interest free ofc) and will be living with them for a bit to save some money. I'll probably only use my money for paying everyone back and my m3 payment plus going out every now and then and the rest will go to my savings. Or should save my money for things that are bound to be a problem soon (a house, marriage, investing, etc)? This may be a stupid question with responses along the lines of "just do what you want" but I'd rather not make a rash decision and end up regretting it later on (probably won't regret it while driving it tho).

Oh, I'm also leasing a subaru impreza (POS) for $160/month and still have two years left on it.. I don't know what to do about that either haha..

TL;DR :: 23 years old graduating this year needing financial advice from wise folks. $66/hr ~50-70hr/week. 50k in loans + $160/month for my current lease. Bad idea to buy an m3 sometime this year?

Don't buy it. The M3 has been my dream car since I was 16. I'm 30 now and in a 335i, once my lease is up, assuming nothing crazy happens, an M3 should be easily affordable and you won't be car poor. I know people who didn't know the difference between being able to buy something and being able to afford something and they did not have a good time.

You've got your life ahead of you, and when you do finally get that M3, you'll have the comfort knowing you'll be able to actually do other stuff too without it breaking your bank account and that sense of accomplishment and getting your dream car will be all the more sweet.

[Xiaoxi]

Originally Posted by bloading

EDIT 1: A lot of people are saying to buy cash.. what is the general consensus on cash vs monthly payments?

In your position I don't agree on buying cash, and I find that sentiment condescending. They seem to forget that a good percentage of the US population can't afford to buy straight cash, even for a used econobox. What...should those people just not have a car and rely on piss poor US transportation which only further hinder their ability to get to their menial paying jobs?

Anyways I digress... Having an autoloan and making reliable payments is a good way to build credit--useful at age 23.

I am 25 now and paid off my student loans within 2 years. Student loans carry downright theft amount of interests. They also use creative accounting to squeeze more money out of you. At 50k, you're going to paying a lot of extra money to the government. Pay it off as soon as possible. Just dump all of your near future income into it. It is a scam.

Then....you can buy your M3 if you'd like.

[Mr Tonka]

Originally Posted by bloading

Thanks for all your replies so far! I know I could have asked elsewhere regarding this, but since there are a lot m3 buyers on this forum, I figured it would be a nice place to start getting some financial advice/information before I look anywhere else more seriously. As most people have said, I will probably end up saving my money and investing - 401k, etc. for as long as I can bear and will be calculating my biweekly/monthly spending/income to see if the m3 will be a far off dream or something that I can realistically buy without having to stress about. I just wanted to see if there was anything that I was missing somewhere or if there was anything else that I should take into consideration when I calculate for these things.

Also, sorry I won't be quoting everyone since a lot of people have similar questions but I'll try to answer as many as I can.

Career wise, I'm going to graduate with a doctorates in pharmacy. (Not Harvard MBA unfortunately). I don't have too much "real" experience but I have been working in a pharmacy about 7 years now (since I was a senior in HS). So my starting hourly rate is around $66/hr not 66k/year. Plus holidays and A LOT of overtime.

I do owe my parents a lot and not just from college loans. But I had two jobs in college and my average salary in college was around $14-18 depending on the shift differential and averaged about 30+ hours during school and 40-80 hours during the summer for ~4-5 years so I was able to pay off a good amount of my college tuition but of course I had to pay for housing, going out and vacations for 6 years too so I had to borrow a little from my parents here and there. We don't have an exact $$ on how much I owe yet, but besides that, I intend to pay them back as much as possible for all the money they spent on me and support they gave me growing up.

Also, I do have a girlfriend but she's going to be staying in our college across the US for another 8 months- 1 year and not much has been decided yet about long distance. But for now, she intends to move to California(not because of me) after she graduates, either for grad school or job. We haven't talked about marriage yet, but it was just something that I felt that I should keep in mind (this is the person who decided on a future m3 over an m4 because he plans on having kids in the very VERY distant future....)

Also, I think that I'm going to live at home for the time being. I know it has a "loser" and "can't support oneself" stigma as someone pointed out before, but I haven't seen much of my family for the past 6 years and want to make up on some lost time with them and my grandmother who lives with us is getting old too so I would love to spend as much time with all of them as I can before I have to think about moving out. However, that can all change in a flash. But as of now, I intend to live with them as long as they can put up with me

Of course, my immature self is telling me that I should try to find a way to somehow get rid of the subaru within 6m-1 year time but we'll see what happens after I calculate all the in/outs, how much I can push myself to work OT before I'm drained, and see how savings come along.

Like the first comment, I know what I SHOULD do - never buy an m3 and just buy a Prius! Thing is, I don't know if my mentality will ever find a good time to ever justify buying an m3. After loans I need a house, after a house, I'll need to pay for a marriage, after marriage, I'll have kids, their college, then my parents. When does it ever end hahaha. But the replies on this thread have definitely helped me try to convince myself to wait as long as I can bear to.

Oh well! We'll see how things go and until then, I'll just admire through this forum

EDIT 1: A lot of people are saying to buy cash.. what is the general consensus on cash vs monthly payments?

I've never paid cash for a vehicle and don't really intend on doing so until interest rates get stupid.

What others may be implying is that if you *can't* pay cash for it, then you can't afford it. i didn't read everyone's replies but if you have a pot to piss in, paying cash doesn't make sense until you have so much money it's overflowing the bank vault or interest rates get stupid high.

I'll share a little antidote with you about my 2009 E92M3. I told my sales guy to call me when BMW financial had a promotion going for about 1% financing. He called me back in 1 month said he had a slot open for an order and a financing offer of $0 down and .09% financing for 60 months. You can bet your ass i signed that paperwork that day. I spent a total of $1800 in interest for that car. If i would have taken $70k out of my investments to buy that car cash i would have lost about $50k in returns over those 5 years.

So even if it were 3% you're still only paying $75 per month as a premium to be able to finance. Now the sales side of me breaks it down like that because it's easier to sell $75 month opposed to $4500 in interest. But even at 3% it still makes good sense to finance as much as possible rather than pull from money that's already working for you.

You however seem to have no money working for you right now. But if your projections are correct, you'll be earning about $160k before taxes. If i were you, i'd keep your current car through it's lease term. Use that time to put away a good lump of cash. No matter what scenario anyone here or anywhere gives you, time is the largest factor for investing and the sooner you do it, the sooner you win. Assuming we don't have some economic collapse that brings MadMax into reality. (which likely won't happen) When that lease is up, you'll have cash working for you, and you can freely buy an M3-4 and enjoy it.

If you can't wait, look into buying a CPO M3. Good price, great 100k mile CPO warranty, still have maintenance covered if it's still under standard warranty.

[Mr Tonka]

Originally Posted by Xiaoxi

In your position I don't agree on buying cash, and I find that sentiment condescending. They seem to forget that a good percentage of the US population can't afford to buy straight cash, even for a used econobox. What...should those people just not have a car and rely on piss poor US transportation which only further hinder their ability to get to their menial paying jobs?

Anyways I digress... Having an autoloan and making reliable payments is a good way to build credit--useful at age 23.

I am 25 now and paid off my student loans within 2 years. Student loans carry downright theft amount of interests. They also use creative accounting to squeeze more money out of you. At 50k, you're going to paying a lot of extra money to the government. Pay it off as soon as possible. Just dump all of your near future income into it. It is a scam.

Then....you can buy your M3 if you'd like.

^^ Very good point i forgot about.

Most people think that student loans are tax deductible and they are, to a point. Once you reach a certain income, you won't be allowed to deduct the interest from your school loans.

With the income you claim is coming to you, paying that student debt would be priority #1.

[Mr Tonka]

Originally Posted by W Cole

Wait 2-3 months for job stability and then buy the M3. Personally I would buy one used (exactly what I did out of college) and I now own a home in Newport Coast at age 26 with no help from the family.

The car has had 0 affect on my ability to accomplish future financial goals. I bought it used and got a good deal. My cost of ownership over the past 4 years is probably similar to a base 3 series.

I would get the largest loan on it possible. 72 month car loans are at 1.6% or so from Air Force CU. Free money.

^^ Did the same thing. Got out, got a job, bought a 95 M3 with 25k miles on it. Sold it at 87k miles and bought a new Land Rover Discovery II. (needed a filler until the E46M3 came out.) Bought a 2001 M3, leased a 2006 M3 and then bought the E92 M3. Seemed like a reasonable course of action for me. And i was only making about $70k out of school back in 1996.

[SunnyD]

Honestly, save up and buy a house, then save and invest your money. When the time comes, you can reward yourself with an M3 or whatever else you want.

[MrPrena]

Even if you have cash to purchase a vehicle, it might be good to just save cash and reinvest it for higher return than 4-5% APR on car loan.

If you can do 8-9%+ return, get a 4-5% loan on vehicle.
If you cannot do 8-9% return, just buy the car with cash.

Originally Posted by bloading

Thanks for all your replies so far! I know I could have asked elsewhere regarding this, but since there are a lot m3 buyers on this forum, I figured it would be a nice place to start getting some financial advice/information before I look anywhere else more seriously. As most people have said, I will probably end up saving my money and investing - 401k, etc. for as long as I can bear and will be calculating my biweekly/monthly spending/income to see if the m3 will be a far off dream or something that I can realistically buy without having to stress about. I just wanted to see if there was anything that I was missing somewhere or if there was anything else that I should take into consideration when I calculate for these things.

Also, sorry I won't be quoting everyone since a lot of people have similar questions but I'll try to answer as many as I can.

Career wise, I'm going to graduate with a doctorates in pharmacy. (Not Harvard MBA unfortunately). I don't have too much "real" experience but I have been working in a pharmacy about 7 years now (since I was a senior in HS). So my starting hourly rate is around $66/hr not 66k/year. Plus holidays and A LOT of overtime.

I do owe my parents a lot and not just from college loans. But I had two jobs in college and my average salary in college was around $14-18 depending on the shift differential and averaged about 30+ hours during school and 40-80 hours during the summer for ~4-5 years so I was able to pay off a good amount of my college tuition but of course I had to pay for housing, going out and vacations for 6 years too so I had to borrow a little from my parents here and there. We don't have an exact $$ on how much I owe yet, but besides that, I intend to pay them back as much as possible for all the money they spent on me and support they gave me growing up.

Also, I do have a girlfriend but she's going to be staying in our college across the US for another 8 months- 1 year and not much has been decided yet about long distance. But for now, she intends to move to California(not because of me) after she graduates, either for grad school or job. We haven't talked about marriage yet, but it was just something that I felt that I should keep in mind (this is the person who decided on a future m3 over an m4 because he plans on having kids in the very VERY distant future....)

Also, I think that I'm going to live at home for the time being. I know it has a "loser" and "can't support oneself" stigma as someone pointed out before, but I haven't seen much of my family for the past 6 years and want to make up on some lost time with them and my grandmother who lives with us is getting old too so I would love to spend as much time with all of them as I can before I have to think about moving out. However, that can all change in a flash. But as of now, I intend to live with them as long as they can put up with me

Of course, my immature self is telling me that I should try to find a way to somehow get rid of the subaru within 6m-1 year time but we'll see what happens after I calculate all the in/outs, how much I can push myself to work OT before I'm drained, and see how savings come along.

Like the first comment, I know what I SHOULD do - never buy an m3 and just buy a Prius! Thing is, I don't know if my mentality will ever find a good time to ever justify buying an m3. After loans I need a house, after a house, I'll need to pay for a marriage, after marriage, I'll have kids, their college, then my parents. When does it ever end hahaha. But the replies on this thread have definitely helped me try to convince myself to wait as long as I can bear to.

Oh well! We'll see how things go and until then, I'll just admire through this forum

EDIT 1: A lot of people are saying to buy cash.. what is the general consensus on cash vs monthly payments?

[rjd598]

jesus i'm still having a hard time believing you make $66/hr. i actually don't believe it lol but regardless i would say pay off all your debts first while simultaneously creating a nice portfolio for yourself. with the money you claim to be making you can have a very early retirement or you could be able to start your own business at much a younger age. best of luck

[Woodengun]

Living in the SF bay area/silicon valley - $100k+ salary is very common for people in hi tech job in their 20's. It is a very volatile industry tho....seen some of them go from living large to near homeless within a month or two when hi tech goes on a down cycle because they spend every penny as soon as they get paid.

My SIL is a pharmacist and is paid hourly. Seems to be common for that profession. You have certainly entered a lucrative and stable profession. Parse out your funds as you see fit.

[Fahrvergnügen]

Originally Posted by Woodengun

Living in the SF bay area/silicon valley - $100k+ salary is very common for people in hi tech job in their 20's. It is a very volatile industry tho....seen some of them go from living large to near homeless within a month or two when hi tech goes on a down cycle because they spend every penny as soon as they get paid.

My SIL is a pharmacist and is paid hourly. Seems to be common for that profession. You have certainly entered a lucrative and stable profession. Parse out your funds as you see fit.

Probably true for people in their 20s like you said, but $100k right out of school is extremely rare unless a very special skill set is at hand. Not saying it doesn't happen but it makes for a weak argument.

[Douche]

Don't know why every thread has to turn into a fight now...

But, while we're at it and somebody already mentioned indirectly that I was being condescending, I have to say that condescending is comparing a toy (which the M3 is) to people who struggle to make payments on a Ford Fiesta to have means of getting to work. So now because people finance their own transportation, you too should board in a 1500 monthly payment for an M3 that will take you 5 years to pay off.
The analogy is so dumb that if everybody believed that, the road would be filled with M3s and the likes (until prices had gone way up, of course).
Play around, live a little, you have now to live too (don't just think of the future), but this salary does not get you an M3 right off the bat, have the cash to pay for it and then finance.

[Nkc]

I love these I just graduated with a shit load of debt, should I get an m3 threads. Tends to bring the entire community together.

[Xiaoxi]

[Xiaoxi]

M235i here. Does this mean I am only moderately insecure??

[Douche]

Originally Posted by Xiaoxi

M235i here. Does this mean I am only moderately insecure??

Being that the 235 is the equivalent of the 335, I'd say you're heavily insecure (taking from what you see of 335 insecure discussions in this forum).

But if he's talking about M cars, than that's a bit further apart.