Who you know, have to believe in what you know, for that phrase to work!

 

Edited for you.....

 

I think many of you were off the topic. I interpreted that he wanted to know what job/career people have who own exotic car. It's a mystique that everyone who owns an exotic makes tons of money . I thought the same before buying one.

So saying Porsche is a better DD is true but that what he asked . After having 3 Porsches none of them compare to a Ferrari. A flat six can not come close to the sound of a V8 or V12.

Now to answer is post, I'm a truck driver who is on mi second Ferrari. And if I would have known what I know now I would have never bought a Porsche and went straight for a Ferrari .

For the same $15-30k you spend on a Porsche you can buy a Ferrari . And older Ferraris are mechanic friendly. You buy one pay it off sell then move up. Older Ferrari cost no more to maintain then a Porsche .

Go to Ferrari chat and read. Good starter Ferrari

308 ,Mondial, 348 , 308GT4,

328 and 355 are great cars but are holding higher prices.
Mi personal first choice was a 348 and I financed it.

Many people finance the new daily driver, I financed an old car. It's all how you wanna spend you money . No one knows unless you tell them.

I did have some repair money just in case.

Hope this helps ...

 

This is the first part of the question, which is "What does it mean to be able to afford a Ferrari?"

As per DonJuan's post, $25k can get you a reasonable older 8-cylinder Ferrari. If you can do a lot of your own work, ownership expenses are not onerous. Depending on cost of living (region, children, etc), someone making under $100k should be able to manage this.

The next level: $75k can get you a decent 360 or 550. The belt services are expensive, but there are plenty of people on message boards who have tracked expenses -- an average of about $2k maintenance per year assuming nothing goes terribly wrong. A low six figure income with relatively low living costs can swing this or a couple hundred thousand a year with higher costs. Remember, in a high tax state (e.g. NY or CA, people at this income level will be paying ~45% of their income in tax).

Above that are people who are spending $150k+ for new Astons, Gallardos, 458s, whatever. These cars will have similar operating costs to the cars above but with one additional thing: the owners will get killed on depreciation. The car can lose $100k of value in a few years. People in this category should be making mid-to-high six figures to even start considering this -- it can be swung with a much lower income if one is willing to work mainly for the pleasure of driving an exotic.

The final level are people who buy Enzos, Bugatis, etc. These owners should be making a few million per year, at a bare minimum, or have significant assets (e.g. sold a company, inherited an estate, huge stock options, etc).

I will make a separate post to deal with the occupations in question.

 

If you want to know what professions are able to walk into a dealership and buy a new Ferrari or Aston, remuneration should be at least $500k (and it's arguable if that is a wise choice at that level). Professions that I know of that generally make that:

1) Investment banker (VP at a bulge bracket, MD at a boutique firm -- for sales and trading, it can vary wildly)

2) Lawyer (partner at a major firm, or operating a successful practice)

3) Physician (must be a specialist, best professions are ones that deal in cash and are optional -- a few dentists who do a ton of cosmetic work do very well, too)

4) Senior executive (SVP level at a smaller public company or VP level at a major one)

5) Top salesperson (corporate sales for a top account at a major firm)

6) Stockbroker or private banker (very rare, I believe, to get this level of pay)

7) Top athlete, musician, etc

8) Entrepreneur (need not be a company, the right small business can provide this as well)

9) Being in the right time and place with stock options (e.g. early employee at Google or Facebook)

If you're on the right career path, terrific. If you're not sure, the best way to get into position is to get a law degree or MBA from a top school. Or start your own business (with the knowledge that your odds are low).

Personally, I am an investment banker. I make exotic money but do not own one. As much as I love cars, I will not buy one until I feel I have enough savings to retire.

 

There are a lot of ways to earn a good deal of money. The professions you listed are some of them, although the people I know with real money did it other ways - usually by inventing something really innovative (e.g., the weedeater) or starting a company that went big.

But the important point is to first take care of your future: make sure you have socked away enough for retirement, etc. Then, if you can afford a Ferrari, or a Lambo, or that 45 foot sport fisherman you want, buy it.

However: I've seen people spend all they can afford on an exotic, to the extent they have little left for other things. I would not enjoy my Ferrari nearly as much if I couldn not afford to go ahead and indulge other whims and passions: We travel some, and I love classic model electric trains (I'm not sure, but I think cumulatively I spend more on those than on cars), my wife and I have some lovely art, and then there is wine -- life would not be nearly as wortwhile without good wine.

 

I think the list above is fairly accurate as to professions, with numbers 2 and 7 being most popular due to personalities generally associated with those professions and number 9 the most likely to be able to drop $200k+ for a car and not even feel it.

Regardless, you have to set financial goals that include an exotic but are not solely focused on it. For me that shakes out as:

- being able to pay cash to get the car that I really want
- only doing it after paying off my house completely, and
- being able to do it in a way where I won't care if I total it.

The last one is important to me because I take my cars straight to the track. Exotics won't fit golf clubs and won't navigate the potholes in downtown so street driving does not interest me. My SUV handles that just fine. I buy cars to stand on the brakes from 150mph going into a turn and not worry about sliding into a wall because the car is just a toy not a financial "investment" that I have to babysit.

Taking out a giant payment on a car that you cannot really afford (hence the loan) just leads to a life of always trying to increase your income. That's for suckers. Where you want to be is in a position where you are not even worried about income.

 

I would disagree on a loan meaning you can afford it. Many people take a loan for many reason. a 0% loan is a no brainer, use someone elses money as a example.

to control spending/overspending is very much on point ...I feel the ones who buy exotics as an investment very much off base.

these car do not appreciate so why not drive ...

 

I have to respectfully disagree, that older Ferraris cost no more to maintain than Porsches. I could agree that they are as reliable as Porsches if taken care of properly, but they are much more costly to maintain, due to how they are put together making it difficult to reach areas that require servicing every couple of years.

The 3 Porsches I had, cost about $200-$300 to change fluids on, & didn't need belt & tensioner changes every 3 years at $10k+ like the older Ferraris you listed like the 308 & 328 require. It isn't the parts that are pricey, it's the labor to install them. Having to remove the engine to perform otherwise routine service, is what gets the costs up. Porsches don't require this, therefore are much less expensive to maintain.

You may not have had to do any of the major services on the older Ferraris you've had yet, but they are the reason Ferrari had a reputation for being expensive to maintain for many years. The modern Ferraris are not as difficult to work on, and cost much less to maintain as a result. An annual full fluid change is still around $2000 to have done on a modern Ferrari, while a Porsche is a few hundred, so Porsches still cost much less to maintain by comparison.

 

How about IT Consulting? That's what I do, but I don't see anything in the IT career path on your list. IT is one of the best paying industries out there.

What are your thoughts on the IT career path?

I agree with you. I have loans on most of my cars. I pay less interest on the loans than I make on my stock investments. My credit isn't great since my divorce and the expenses involved, so I pay upwards of 5% interest. I was at 14% interest on my stock investments the last time I checked. Even with taxes, I'm making money. Paying attention to things like this is critical in being able to afford nice toys like this. Every dollar counts.

I'd definitely agree. The 911 is the benchmark for reliability in luxury sports cars. Nothing else even comes close.

 

I am 26... I own a 2010 Ferrari California, which I ordered custom. It is my second exotic. I never came from money, but I always had a strong drive to perform. I started working at 18 in the financial industry. I took lots of risk, and I have failed about 7 times. The past 3 years, I have been a successful trader / hedge fund manager. I manage around $10mm in assets, produce 20%+ per year since 2007 (including through the chaos), and I have been able to attain much.

It is all about perseverance, and doing what you love. My mother was disabled when I was 2, and I always took care of her... that's what drove me to perform.. it's within us all.

-Anthony
vigilantcapitalmgmt.com

 

IMO, IT is ok as long as it fits the catagories listed. If you sell IT, are an exec in an IT firm, or own a small IT business yourself, there is top earner potential. If by "IT" you mean your an engineer working for others, you'll need to rise pretty far and be managing instead of engineering unless you have patients in your name to have IT be of significant income. Obviously there are exceptions to this generalization, but most of my sales people make significantly more than my engineers.

And I agree with General Lee. Not sure where the idea came from that earlier ferraris are cheaper to maintain than newer ones. the 360 and newer are significantly cheaper to maintain than the previous couple generations. And the older you get, you quickly start to run into part availability issues...

 

So you manage $10M and can afford a California? On this side of the business, we only make 1% of AUM.

 

I get 2/20, but I also put up 61% this year Net.... that'll do it.

 

lots of interesting perspectives in this thread