WSOP Windfall... What is a boy to do?!?!

[bigbootch]

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I think bigbootch is right, the buy vs rent debate is much more complicated than people give it credit for, mostly b/c they don't consider that paying interest and property taxes, like paying rent, is "throwing money away", and they just assume the former is fine "b/c it's a write-off" but they rarely run the #'s to see exactly how much $ the write-off saves them.

also they don't consider that leverage works both ways.

also also they don't consider that we're in the middle of the biggest housing boom since the depression.

also also also (related to above) they don't consider what they could do with their money if it wasn't in a house.

mostly it comes down to your personal situation, how important a house vs. home is and all other personal factors.

and then on top of this, there is the strategy of buying a 2 or 3 family, which is often a better investment than a 1 family.



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You and I are pretty much 100% on the same page. I would emphasize that the decision often comes down to the personal factors as you said, for example:

1. You really want to live in a 1800 sq ft 2-bedroom, and those are very difficult to find in the rental market but you can easily find one if you were to buy.

2. You are sure that you want to live in that city for the next 5+ years, and you want the guarantee that you won't have to move around.

3. Your wife insists on it.

You get the idea. As a pure dollar EV problem (ignoring the personal factors listed above), it is difficult to justify buying real estate over putting it into sp500 / bond market or something like that. But the personal factors are very important to many people.

[CharlieDontSurf]

oh yeah...forgot to say congrats.

Just have some fun..your 23..but don't blow it all hiring Van Halen to play at your birthday party

[DeezNuts]

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Just have some fun..your 23..but don't blow it all hiring Van Halen to play at your birthday party

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Buzzkill.

[mntbikr15]

JA or anyone,

The bit about hybrids being bad for the environment....leveling right?

If not, someone exlain plz.

[PITTM]

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JA or anyone,

The bit about hybrids being bad for the environment....leveling right?

If not, someone exlain plz.

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well when i was in the market a few months ago, i knew i needed wayyyy better gas mileage since my commute is like 35 miles each way. So i got a civic. I didnt get a civic hybrid because I had heard a lot about the batteries needing to be replaced/being terrible for the environment/being ridiculously expensive. Maybe he's talking about the disposal/creation of these batteries being terrible for the environment?

[wiper]

congrats!

i've always said that i don't need to win millions, just a few hundred thousand...pay of the house, put $$ away for future kids' college, and then since i'm a teacher, go on a ridiculous vacation every summer...

good problem to have!

[Slow Play Ray]

congrats man! i have nothing else to offer, other than you seem to have a good head on your shoulders and i am sure you will find something smart to do with the money.

[J.A.Sucker]

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JA or anyone,

The bit about hybrids being bad for the environment....leveling right?

If not, someone exlain plz.

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No leveling about the hybrids. Basically, PITTM's right - there is an enormous amount of energy that goes into making and properly disposing of the batteries. Batteries are horribly toxic and high-energy. This is not good. The batteries have an approximate lifetime of 100K miles. They are a fraud at this point. Of course, time may change this and one could argue that you are funding the development and improvement of battery/hybrid technology by buying them now. Then again, an efficient car or even a high-end diesel gets nearly the same mileage and most hybird owners get nowhere near the EPA MPG's quoted in real practice.

At a talk that I attended given by Nate Lewis (Caltech), probably the top electrochemist in the world and a global energy expert (adviser to many presidents), somebody asked about hybirds. He said that he wouldn't comment on the hybrids themselves (he was avoiding all political arguments in his talk, to his credit), but he would say that the additional energy required to MAKE a Prius (discounting the disposal, even), EXCEEDS THE AMOUNT OF ENERGY THAT A HUMMER H2 USES DURING 100K MILES OF DRIVING. That's pretty sick if you ask me.

[PITTM]

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he would say that the additional energy required to MAKE a Prius (discounting the disposal, even), EXCEEDS THE AMOUNT OF ENERGY THAT A HUMMER H2 USES DURING 100K MILES OF DRIVING. That's pretty sick if you ask me.

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wow. if thats true that is beyond insane.

[snowbank]

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Justin,

The max you can put in an IRA is $4,000.

Claude

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you are thinking about a Roth IRA, which is from earned income anyways.