Business
You think you’ve got it all figured out. You read the title of this video #1 Wealth Killer and you think you know exactly what this video will be about. Plus I’m at Starbucks ordering …..a Latte. For those that don’t know New York Times best seller David Bach talked about the Latte Factor in his bestseller The Automatic Millionaire. What the Latte Factor is, he would look at people’s spending, and identify things we spent money on each day. The basic deal is that you could take that money that you spend on little things each day and invest it instead. But, that is not the #1 Wealth Killer. I’m not gonna argue with David Bach, there is no question that we waste money on so many stupid things. Things like lattes, eating out, Uber rides, the lists goes on and on. But there is one thing, one payment that trumps ALL of this. This is not a little expense, it is a huge expense that so many of us are doing. I’m even going to go as far as to say - It is your fault. ? So many of you have commented that you have to have this. ?? It is your car payment. ?? You all justify that with the ‘I need reliable transportation’ - do you really need a brand new car to get to your job? No. ? It is reported that 107 million Americans have auto loan debt (about 43% of the adult population). Maybe you are one of those that think if you can afford the payment, is that really such a big deal? Well about 6 million people are 90 days late on their car payment. ? Do you see why I am getting wound up about this? Ok, so let’s talk about the numbers...we are talking $1.1 Trillion in auto debt. The average monthly payment is $523/month with an average loan length of 67 months. How about a crazy idea….for those of you that think you need a car payment, does it have to be $500/month? What if you invested that $500 instead, or even got a lower priced car for $300-$400 and invested the remainder of that $500? ? So is there a rule of thumb that you can follow to see if you are on the right track? Yes. I created the car payment wealth-killer formula. Just so you can’t tell me I didn’t make it simple enough to understand, I have used some of my children’s toys to explain this formula. If your car payment is greater than your monthly savings, then you are destined to be broke for life. (Yes #brokeforlife) Chances are if you are watching this, you are one of the 43% of the population that is spending more on a car than you are saving. If you know someone, family, friend, or co-worker that is on pace to buy a new car - share this video with them so they don’t fall victim to this.