SP 500
Sunday, December 20, 2015
Car Fund Update!
I made a partial car payment of $240 to my “Drive Free Cars” (DFC) Fund for December. The total value of my DFC Fund is now $2,895. I posted some car options in the $3000 dollar range below.
SP 500
SP 500
Sunday, December 6, 2015
Car Fund Update!
I made a partial car payment of $240 to my “Drive Free Cars” (DFC) Fund for December. The total value of my DFC Fund is now $2,741. I posted some car options in the $2750 dollar range below.
SP500
SP500
Saturday, November 28, 2015
Car Fund Update!
I made a partial car payment of $240 to my “Drive Free Cars” (DFC) Fund for November. The total value of my DFC Fund is now $$2,496. I posted some car options in the $2500 dollar range below.
SP500
Saturday, November 14, 2015
Car Fund Update!
I made a partial car payment of $240 to my “Drive Free Cars”
(DFC) Fund for November. The total value
of my DFC Fund is now $2,174. I posted
some car options in the $2250 dollar range below.
SP500
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
My "Drive Free Cars" Fund Update!
I made a partial car payment of $240 to my “Drive Free Cars” (DFC) Fund for October. The total value of my DFC Fund is now $2,040.35. I posted some car options in the $2000 dollar range below.
Note: the SP500 is coming back up.
Note: the SP500 is coming back up.
Thursday, October 8, 2015
My "Drive Free Cars" Fund Update!
I made a partial car payment of $240 to my “Drive Free Cars”
(DFC) Fund for October. The total value
of my DFC Fund is now $1,820.71. I
posted some car options in the $1800 dollar range below.
Note: the SP500 is coming back up.
Monday, September 21, 2015
Sunday, September 20, 2015
My "Drive Free Cars" Fund Update!
I made a partial car payment to my “Drive Free Cars” Fund
for Sept in the amount of $ 240.00. The
total value of my Car-Fund is now $ 1,533.69.
I believe a reliable car is now in the funds range. I posted some options below.
The S&P is still down.
Monday, September 7, 2015
My "Drive Free Cars" Fund Update!
I made a partial car payment to my Car-Fund for Sept in the amount of $ 240.00. The total value of my Car-Fund is now $ 1,267.81. I doubt that I have many options for a reliable vehicle for around $1.3k. I posted some vehicle options in this range below.
SP 500 (still on sale)
SP 500 (still on sale)
Friday, August 21, 2015
My "Drive Free Cars" Fund Update!
I made a partial car payment to my Car-Fund for August in the amount of $ 240.00.
The total value of my Car-Fund is now $ 1,048.36. I doubt that I have many options for a reliable vehicle for around $1k. May be a motorcycle. I posted some vehicle options in this range below.
After reading the descriptions of these cars, most are mechanic-specials. It appears the stock market is falling (see the S&P figure below), so that means I can grab some good on-sale ETFs this week.
The below table is a snapshot of the ETFs I am currently invested in. Some pay dividends, which I might set up to a do a dividend reinvest option.
An interesting article at Dave Ramsey site discusses what cars the wealthy drive. Would a millionaire choose a Ferrari or Ford?
The total value of my Car-Fund is now $ 1,048.36. I doubt that I have many options for a reliable vehicle for around $1k. May be a motorcycle. I posted some vehicle options in this range below.
After reading the descriptions of these cars, most are mechanic-specials. It appears the stock market is falling (see the S&P figure below), so that means I can grab some good on-sale ETFs this week.
The below table is a snapshot of the ETFs I am currently invested in. Some pay dividends, which I might set up to a do a dividend reinvest option.
| Symbol | Current Value | Quantity |
| IDV ISHARES INTERNATIONAL DIVIDEND ETF | $58.80 | 2 |
| IJR ISHARES CORE S&P SMALL-CAP ETF | $111.22 | 1 |
| IJT ISHARES S&P SMALLCAP GROWTH ETF | $250.70 | 2 |
| ILF ISHARES LATIN AMERICA 40 ETF | $71.73 | 3 |
| ONEQ FIDELITY NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX TRACKING STOCK | $185.63 | 1 |
| PFF ISHARES US PREFERRED STOCK ETF | $117.03 | 3 |
| PICK ISHARES MSCI GLOBAL METALS & MINING PRODUCERS ETF | $10.55 | 1 |
| Total Invested in Funds | $805.66 |
An interesting article at Dave Ramsey site discusses what cars the wealthy drive. Would a millionaire choose a Ferrari or Ford?
Also, I think the S&P 500 might be on-sale.
Wednesday, August 12, 2015
Average Joe's 15 Years on the “Drive Free Cars” Plan
A Story
about Average Joe's car decisions.
In Dec. 1999, average Joe went to the local car dealer and test-drove
several cars. Joe was very impressed
with the ‘new’ Chrysler Town & Country.
The dealer offered to finance the new Town & Country, priced at $30k,
for ONLY $456 per month for the next 6 years.
However, Joe decided not to follow the recent hype of
leasing/financing a car and, instead, bought a ‘used’ 1996 Chrysler Town &
Country with 35k miles for $16K in cash.
Joe decided that he would replace this Town & Country vehicle
in about 5-6 years when the odometer hit 100k miles. So he began to invest $500 per month, or $6,000
per year, into a mutual fund -VFIAX.
How did it work out for Joe?
Well the market was falling in 2001 – 2002, but Joe looked
at this depressed market as ‘On-Sale’. The
Market rebounded, and after 5 years, Joe was ready to sell the Town &
Country and replace it with something ‘newer.’ Joe opened his ‘drive-free cars’ fund's statement
to find a balance of $37K (he had invested $30k and his money had earned $7k in
interest.) See Table Below.
|
Joe decided not to kill his golden goose (the principle),
and took out only the interest earned on the principal. After selling his Town & Country for $11k,
he set out with $18k to buy a used 2002 Lincoln LS. After purchasing the LS, Joe had $30k
remaining in the ‘drive-free cars’ fund.
Joe
continued to contribute $500 per month to this account, and then planned to upgrade from
the LS in five years.
After 5 years of driving the LS, Joe again decided to look
at his ‘drive-free cars’ fund. He opened the account to find $67k in the fund (he had invested $60k and his money had earned $8k in
interest.) See Table Below.
|
After 5 years of driving the BMW, Joe again decided to look
at his ‘drive-free cars’ fund. He opened
to find $174k in the fund (he had invested $90k and his money had earned $84k
in interest.) See Table Below.
|
Joe again decided not to kill his golden goose, and took out only the interest earned on the principal. After selling his BMW for $18k, he set out with his $102k to buy a used 2012 Aston Martin DB9 Volante.
Sources
and other reading
Friday, August 7, 2015
My "Drive Free Cars" Fund Update!
Invested a partial car payment for August - $ 240.00
Total Value of Fund - $ 846.72
I think the main thesis of the video is the investing part, take the normal car payment the average person pays, but instead of paying the finance company pay yourself the same payment in a mutual fund that gives you a return. Then, once the fund reaches 20K use only the return to buy your future car for 14k - 18k every five years, assuming market average return of 12 %.
Some Comments Others have made - "Can't Sell a Used Car for what you paid for it"
Regarding the used car, I think Dave also has a point – a cheap car loses VERY little in value compared to a newer car. I have been fortunate to make more than what I have paid in at least three cars –
However, this is likely atypical. I believe on average that a car owner cannot get back 100% for what he/she paid. But, I believe the depreciation is so little, e.g. a few hundred dollars for a used car. So, Dave was correct, so call it approximately zero.
If you have a problem with the numbers, you can always change the math, say you paid $6K for a used car, you could likely sell it for $5K in one year.
The cool thing about the video is using the law of compound interest to pay for cars – that is the drive free part. Hopefully, I can document that in my little unheard of blog – to see how well I do.
Motivating videos -
Total Value of Fund - $ 846.72
I think the main thesis of the video is the investing part, take the normal car payment the average person pays, but instead of paying the finance company pay yourself the same payment in a mutual fund that gives you a return. Then, once the fund reaches 20K use only the return to buy your future car for 14k - 18k every five years, assuming market average return of 12 %.
Some Comments Others have made - "Can't Sell a Used Car for what you paid for it"
Regarding the used car, I think Dave also has a point – a cheap car loses VERY little in value compared to a newer car. I have been fortunate to make more than what I have paid in at least three cars –
- 2001 Sebring - paid $3,500 in 2004 got 6,000 in 2009: it was stolen & totaled
- 2006 RX-8 - paid $12K in 2009 got $14k in 2011: the market for used car in 2010 was bad and the prices were low, and I got KBB for it when I got rid of it.
- 1996 Town & Country Mini-Van - paid $200 in 2008 and sold it for $1k in 2015 - drove it for many happy years!
However, this is likely atypical. I believe on average that a car owner cannot get back 100% for what he/she paid. But, I believe the depreciation is so little, e.g. a few hundred dollars for a used car. So, Dave was correct, so call it approximately zero.
If you have a problem with the numbers, you can always change the math, say you paid $6K for a used car, you could likely sell it for $5K in one year.
The cool thing about the video is using the law of compound interest to pay for cars – that is the drive free part. Hopefully, I can document that in my little unheard of blog – to see how well I do.
Motivating videos -
Thursday, July 30, 2015
Drive Free Experiment – No Car Payment Ever Again!
Goal: Implement a pseudo Dave Ramsey experiment. See my caveat below.
The Why: I am a huge Dave Ramsey fan, and I would like to track how will I approach the sample given in the video. This one decision could, and will, change my life.
The Why: I am a huge Dave Ramsey fan, and I would like to track how will I approach the sample given in the video. This one decision could, and will, change my life.
The How: I will invest $480 per month (typically car payment
amount)
Beginning balance - $613.30 (a little over one month)
I will be investing in ETFs or Index Funds (I do not have
enough cash in the account for mutual funds).
Hypothesis – Money
will grow, and double every 7-8 years. I
hope to hit the 100k in 10 years, 470k in 20 years, and 30 years $1.6M.
Caveat: I know Dave does not recommend ETFs, but I will not
be actively trading these funds. I will implement a Buy and Hold plan.
FUND NAME
|
Amount
|
Shares
|
|
CASH
|
$127.73
|
127.73
|
|
IDV - ISHARES INTERNATIONAL
DIVIDEND ETF
|
$63.82
|
2
|
|
IJR- ISHARES CORE S&P
SMALL-CAP ETF
|
$116.30
|
1
|
|
IJT - ISHARES S&P SMALLCAP
GROWTH ETF
|
$263.02
|
2
|
|
ILF- ISHARES LATIN AMERICA 40
ETF
|
$79.89
|
3
|
|
PFF - ISHARES US PREFERRED
STOCK ETF
|
$78.85
|
2
|
|
Total
|
$613.30
|
Source - Craigslist
It worked for Will
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