Hacker News Reader

Comment by metaphor | Hacker News Reader

> Yes interest rates are low right now, but does it make sense to buy a depreciating asset and increase your monthly interest costs at this point in time?

At what point do you suspect the "vast majority of Americans"--who apparently can't afford to purchase a 10yo used car outright--start genuinely contemplating the financial impact of asset depreciation and overbearing interest in a strategic manner before signing a purchase agreement...you know, the one with all those legal words for lawyers and such? Call me impractical but...$1,201 just chillin' in the bank, yo!

View on HN

In boom times, it’s probably true that people can develop irrational exuberance e.g., taking out a big mortgage because hey, housing prices are going up everywhere. When things are good, maybe you don’t budget so precisely. I know I don’t!

But when ~20% of working age Americans are living off unemployment benefits, and millions more who work in industries like restaurants, hospitality, and travel facing the possibility that they will likely never have a job to go back to, my guess is that you’d have to be pretty well off (or very optimistic) to take on an additional $100/month car payment, not to mention adding a car to your insurance policy etc. :)

I don't know man...I mean $1,201 is lot of presidents just waiting to be put to work! That's like downpayment on a practically new set of wheels and enough herb to last until facebook says the unemployment website is fixed. Might not have another global panedemic like this ever again, and as the old saying goes: you miss 100% of the shots you don't take. Opportunity's callin' my name!

Jokes aside, people who live life along this asymptotic approach are real, where the only conditional that registers is, "the current number in my bank account is still bigger than the number on this bill...which is completely optional 'cause repo ain't gonna find me this time, ha!"

You're getting downvoted, but it's actually quite staggering how many people live this way, even when they really can't afford to. A UPS warehouse worker I know just bought a $60k car because he got a "really sweet deal", even though the monthly loan payment is significantly higher than his rent.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com