Financial Question...

I know this is completely off topic but feel me out, ok so when I turned 18, about 6 months ago I inherited quite a bit of money. The first thing I did was went out and bought an 07 335i coupe. and about a month later bought an 01 Infiniti QX4 as a winter car the bmw was 39k the QX4 was 10k, both paid in full. After this i've spent a little less than 1/4 of the inheritance on these two cars, while the rest of the money basically sits in the stock market. So heres my ordeal, The newness of the BMW has worn off, I still am in love with the car but I can't help but thinking maybe I should just keep the Infiniti, sell the BMW for around 33k (18k miles) and put the 33k back in the stock market and let it grow for a while since the stock market seems to be looking up. I'm trying to figure out if I should do this as I'd be taking like a 6k loss. I'm an actvive member on here, just created an alternate profile for privacy purposes, thanks for reading ALL of this and please help with advice, im just really confused! thanks...

[coh4777]

If you don't need the 3, then sell it and invest. That is really the more prudent thing to do. Given that you are only 18, you really don't need two cars anyway and if the "fun" car is not really doing it for you anymore than do what is better for you in the long term. I wouldn't think too much about the 6k you will lose on the sale. That is a sunk cost at this point and you can only look forward. Every day you keep the bimmer, you lose even more value. If you invest in the market, invest prudently. Do your research and invest for the long haul.

[jopa489]

Well, there's no right answer. Without knowing your entire financial situation, it's tough to offer any real advice. Personally, I'd look at the bigger picture. Letting that nice sum of money grow will pay off later in your life - for a house, even nicer cars, student loans, etc. Don't even worry about the $6k "loss" you'll take on the car. That's not bad (considering you used it and enjoyed it), and is negligible in the long run.

The QX4 is a decent ride, and will presumably last you the next few years. Let that be your college car, nobody has respect for nice cars on college campuses anyway. When you're done with college and have a solid job, then you can see how you want to proceed.

I'm not discouraging or discounting the "need" for a BMW at your age. If you love the car, keep it. If you like it, but feel you can do without it for a little while then sell it, take the money and invest it with the other cash. I'm guessing you might be leaning towards the latter if you're making this post.

BTW, you're a smart kid for even considering the option - whichever way you end up deciding. Kudos to you for thinking things over and trying to plan for the future.

[EDK99]

You should be putting you money into real estate since it has dropped so much in the last year or 2 instead of a depreciating asset like a car. Keep the 10k Infiniti sell the BMW and buy some rental units paid in full and have a monthly income from them free and clear minus taxes and insurance.

At least you bought used cars because other wise you would really be taking a bath on the BMW if bought new.

[F32Fleet]

I'm in my late 30's. Stick the money money market account or a CD and forget about it. The stock market is poised to loose ~1,000 points or more because the fundamentals aren't there. Don't drop the $$ in real estate since you have no idea where you'll be in 2,3,5,10 years. Besides using this money for two cars already tells me you're not ready to own property. Use the money for college if not already.

[kyleb350]

If you invested the 33K you'd get from selling it and make a ~18% profit from investing, you'd cover that loss from the car. In this market, that seems doable if you invest in the right place, but you can still lose it.

Like EK said, though, real estate is blowin up!

[hhkim]

lol at asking a web forum for financial advice. maybe you should hire a financial advisor for your inheritance.

[stooken]

$50k on both cars = a little less than 1/4 of what you inherited so about $200k that you got.

even if you stick that in a 2% savings account, you'd still walk out with an extra ~$330 a month to play around with. imagine the possibilities with other types of savings/investments.

[persian54]

if you want to be risky, you can make a lot of money in financial stocks

If it wasn't for Citi (C), Bank of America (BAC), Wells Fargo (WFC), and Chase (JPM), I would have never been able to buy my e93

C is still low and very playable

the rest are a bit high but doable if you're more careful.

I'm personally a really big fan of QID and UYG :P

Regarding real estate, it's great money in the future but you need to not only know what and where you are investing, but you need to be careful (just like any other investment)

Sell the BMW if you don't need it, invest, and then buy another BMW later (or whatever you want)

[persian54]

Originally Posted by stooken

$50k on both cars = a little less than 1/4 of what you inherited so about $200k that you got.

even if you stick that in a 2% savings account, you'd still walk out with an extra ~$330 a month to play around with. imagine the possibilities with other types of savings/investments.

Where can I get 2% return on a savings account in this economy??

Last I checked, my CitiGold only pays me like 1.5%....

Where my BofA pays 1.14 and my Chase pays .05....

[ideliver]

Originally Posted by hhkim

lol at asking a web forum for financial advice. maybe you should hire a financial advisor for your inheritance.

yeah cause they are so good too...the average invenstment account is down since 2000...

[persian54]

Originally Posted by ideliver

yeah cause they are so good too...the average invenstment account is down since 2000...

Last time I listened to my 'advisor' I lost 50%... I had to work 6 months doing excessive research and risk taking to get it back...