$200k before or after tax?

 

The Thread is on "owning" a Porsche. He did say "a brand new GTS and trade it every 6mos for a newer one.........."


Of course I understand that "owning" can be used subjectively to mean "driving" a Pcar.

 

Not if you own a decent upper-Ish class property in a any of the world class cities. But with a condo that costed the OP 150k, imo he can afford one np... I mean if he wanted to he could own the title to his condo in 1.5-2 years ... And from them on he pretty much has no real bills.

 

Bingo.

 

Agreed $200K is not even close. If you have a family, a house, don't cheat on taxes, putting some money away for retirement and schooling, etc you would need at least double that to "afford" 1 new 911 GTS IMO. The one caveat is that "afford" means different things to different people - some are much more comfortable spending a disproportionate amount of their income on a car or they are single with no other obligations etc.

 

Agreed $200k is not enough for a new 911 GTS...unless you're single and don't mind blowing all of your money on your car. I can barely afford a second-hand 997 C2S, but I have a significant other and a dog.

 

What?

A $200k salary is not enough to afford a 911 GTS? $16,667K per month (before taxes) is not enough?

Surely you're not serious. You can easily afford a GTS on that salary.

 

Again, you could afford it if you were single and don't mind spending a lot of your money on a car. Here's an example for the case of the single guy:

Before Tax: $17k
After Tax = $10k after taxes (state dependent of course)
Rent = ($2000)
Living = ($2000)
Other Bills = ($1500)
Remaining = $4500

Sure you could spend the rest on a car and save whatever you have left, but this isn't a smart financial move. And...if you have to support a significant other or an entire family, you can kiss any cash leftover bye bye

 

Another way to look at it is a new GTS is $150k (I'm assuming our glamour boy/girl couldn't possibly make due with no options on his mode of transport so they loaded her up and let's not forget the sales tax and transaction costs) is pushing $250k at the marginal income tax rate of someone earning $200k annually. (Income taxes may differ depending on your locale but my point holds regardless). Anybody willing to spend more than a year's salary on one car may make a good salary but is not, and never will be "rich". The original thread is "how rich do you have to be?". No rich people I know spend money this way cause if they did they don't stay rich for long! Rich people get rich by putting their money into appreciating assets not depreciating assets. So the final answer is... $200k annual salary is not enough for a financially prudent individual (aka rich or working towards rich) to justify a GTS.

 

spoken like thomas j stanley!

 

Pay yourself first, then buy what makes sense with what is left over. With a gross of $200K, I'd be looking at a clean used 997S for < $65K, and plan on keeping it for 4 or more years.

 

You should own a Porsche for reasons other than being rich Driving experience?

 

Holy crap, I love living in NC. Your numbers are more than double what I need. I got my first 911 when I was making less than $40k/yr.

Like was said earlier, it all depends on your priorities.

 

I live in the expensive Bay Area but I don't see myself spending that much on living expense either. Like you said, it all depends on personal priorities.

Some people can't live without $60 monthly TV bill or dining out every weekend. But that's just not me; I started saving for a Porsche since I graduated school, and I'm doing fine owning a Porsche with way less than $200k in Bay Area.

 

I haven't owned a Porsche, but it seems to me that if the car is out of warranty, you should be able to cover a $15k repair. That's all there is to it, if you can do that, you'll be fine. If not, I'd recommend careful consideration.