GrandpaKip wrote:
delwhjr wrote:
spoon059 wrote:
wing_zealot wrote:
Last RV I bought I financed for 12 years at 4.2%. Over the same 12 years the money that I would have used to pay cash earned just shy of 7.6%. So tell me again how "Someone, anyone financing 5.4% for 12 years is making a bad move". I suggest you might stay away from giving financial advice, your not very good at it.
Well stated and thanks for proving my point in another way.
Technically speaking, putting that much money into a depreciating asset is a bad financial move. Hopefully nobody here considers a recreational vehicle a financial investment. I spent the money on my camper knowing full well that it was a more expensive way to travel and that I would likely never recoup the money I spent. We bought our camper so that our children would have the same adventures that I was fortunate enough to have growing up.
Camping allows me to take my wife and kids and pets to Florida for 2 weeks in the winter, the beach every summer, the lake several times a year, the mountains in the fall, occasional trips to cities like St. Augustine, Charleston, Savannah, NYC, etc. These are all adventures that we wouldn't otherwise take.
The money, while it is a lot for me, is inconsequential compared to the experiences that it allows my family to enjoy. I am very fortunate that I expect to pay my camper off within 4 years. Others aren't so lucky. If I had to chose between paying a lower monthly payment over a longer period of time or foregoing these trips with my family... I would likely chose a 12 year loan too. My family is worth it to me.
X2
My son and his wife are doing the same. The TV is financed and so is the camper. They are teachers and take their 3 children on summer long trips, as well as shorter trips during school breaks. If they had followed some of the "advice" given here, they would not have the great experiences of traveling.
As an aside, my daughter in law is a CPA and teaches accounting and finance in college. She has real credentials.
Off the box now.
Not true at all.
There IS another way.
It is called BUYING USED.
Sadly, too many people put themselves into a huge financial bind because they must have the newest, latest, greatest, biggest, most expensive RVs.
I am not ashamed that I own a 33 yr old TT, bought it for $700 10 yrs ago, took almost 2 yrs to gut and rebuild it and $4K in materials. Paid cash for the entire rebuild, not one penny of borrowed money.
I realize that not everyone has the talent to do what I did, but there is no reason why someone could not find away to buy a lower cost USED RV and not have to fork out large amounts of interest.
ANY REAL "Accountant" worth their "salt" would have a heart attack over financing a depreciating asset for long terms like 12yrs. Interest you pay in to a bank is your money lost forever and essentially eats into your buying power.
I am not saying that loans are bad, it is more of an issue of OVERPAYING ON DEBT.
Many folks come and look at these forums and never post will look at posts like yours and may feel the ONLY way to get what they want is to dig a BIGGER financial hole in the ground they will never recover from. THAT should bother you..
Sometimes it is better to COMPROMISE upfront and the compromise may be buying a used RV with not as much of your wish list. In most cases it won't be you LAST purchase, seems like folks tend to trade/sell their first RVs after they figure out what they like or dislike.. This tends to create those bad situations of rolling an existing loan into another in order to finance the next RV (IE UPSIDE DOWN ON THE LOAN).
