He might agree to it but I am pretty sure he never pays his fines.

Do your calculations take the big increase in escrow that you’ll have when you aren’t owner-occupied anymore into account? Property taxes and insurance will both increase a lot.

Yes it’s nowhere near that simple. But as someone that has analyzed a lot of real estate investment deals I can tell you that the cash-on-cash return for this one would make me pass on it.

Take the rent, subtract 7% vacancy, non-homestead property taxes, non-owner-occupied insurance for the home, 10% for property management, a few thousand a year for maintenance and repairs, another few thousand a year for CapEx, a couple hundred bucks for an umbrella policy, etc, etc and I suspect most people would decide the money is better in an index fund without the risk of a nightmare tenant that could mean months with no rent, a couple thousand to get them evicted, and then a $10-20k turn.

And the whole time you’re renting it you’re depreciating it and running the clock out on the capital gains exemption.

I get that a sub 3% mortgage is gold. But the remaining balance is less than $100k. I’d be sad to pay that off but I wouldn’t shoot myself in the foot to keep it.

If you think you can count on 7% price appreciation you should keep it forever. But I don’t think you can.

I have ten units.

If you sell you net about $200k tax free. Invest that in VTI or VTSAX or whatever and get the 10% lifetime average return from the markets and that’s $20k/yr. That crushes any cash flow after expenses you can hope to get renting it out and without the risks and hassles that come with landlording.

I own rental properties and like real estate investing but this isn’t a deal I’d take.

Not a super satisfying “thud” close but the hinges themselves on the Lotus Elise/Exige are a big, chonkey curved piece of aluminum and they’re awesome to look at when you open the door.

Make a budget. Decide what your SWR is and stick to it.

Sure. But it doesn't have much to do with FIRE. Only your investable net worth (The money you have out there making you money) factors into your FIRE calculations.

Is that $75-80k her actual gross income or her Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) or similar? What does one of her normal pay stubs show as her gross pay?

I went to college in NW Ohio and we made somewhat frequent trips up to Windsor. I was crossing the border in the small hours one night and the border patrol guy asked me what my citizenship was and I said, "American." He gruffly barked that we were all Americans and made me say "US" before waving us through.

For years I wondered if I'd been boorish and egotistical and my lack of world experience and perspective had shown. And then I got older, paid closer attention to what was going on around me, watched world news, traveled a bit, etc. and saw that just about everyone would call me "American" and that that dude was just trying to amuse himself or be an asshole or something.

Yeah this article is superficial trash.

Also, the stock image of dude happily multitasking on a private jet doesn't mesh well with the top bracket having a median net worth of $609k and being described as old people!

I worked for Rich. I think you'd find that he was much less dismissive of the benefits of a big pile of dollars when he wasn't giving a speech.

Backpacking. I’d never even been camping until I was nearly 40 and then it was all about having every possible amenity at the camp site. Then someone mentioned a backpacking trip they were planning and I got myself invited, researched and bought tons of gear, went, and had an amazing experience. Now I am always trying to rope people into another trip.

If you don't want to go the salon route try slathering a bunch of cheap lotion on your fingertips and spending a day working in nitrile gloves. That seems to clean up the deep-set grease in my cuticles.

Admittedly not much but when your salary is ~$15k/yr that $30/mo for doing nothing feels pretty OK.

It was also a security blanket. Having that cash in savings gave me some cushion if I had any sort of emergency (I was owner-occupying a very inexpensive duplex at the time so a major repair was always a possibility).

I bought the car in 2002 and had it until 2004. The interest on my savings was probably ~1.5% back then.

I used to manage them all myself and I did the majority of the work on them (and would hire a handyman or contractors when I needed to). I hired a property manager a few years ago when balancing the rentals, my two jobs, twin toddlers, and projects on my personal residence were stretching me too thin.

Now when something breaks the maintenance manager will email me a description of what is going on and a rundown of the repair options and the costs. I try to error toward the 'better' options.

Just yesterday I approved replacing a dishwasher in one unit and an oven in another and I asked them to get a nicer dishwasher than what they were recommending because I'd rather spend a tiny bit more for a higher quality appliance.

I respond to maintenance and repair requests immediately and I fix things "right" instead of applying Band-Aids on top of Band-Aids.

Otherwise it's just a matter of laying out clear expectations on both sides, honoring my commitments, and treating them like human beings. I also limit rent increases for existing tenants that I want to keep.

What contingencies do you have? Inspection, financing, etc? You can exercise any of them.

You won the lottery. Hoover up whatever severance they offered and then apply for unemployment.

Investing on margin increases your buying power and is a great idea as long as your returns are higher than the interest charged. But it becomes a house of cards if the market drops and you're suddenly left without your money but the meter is still running on those loans.

In other words it's risky and lots of people have been financially ruined because they took the risk of investing borrowed money.

I had a car payment that was >$1k/mo over twenty years ago while I was in graduate school making ~$15k/yr. And it wasn't a terrible decision. I bought a new Miata and was planning to pay cash but they offered 0% financing for 24 months. It made sense to leave that money in savings collecting interest.

That's the point I'm trying to make above. The amount of the payment doesn't really matter (as long as you can afford to pay it). People should focus on the actual cost of the car they're buying and then of the interest on the loan that they're taking.

If he has a warranty then what does it cover? He needs to read the paperwork to see if he has any recourse.

I assume it was "as-is, where-is with no warranty?"

If so, he's not going to have any great options. He still owes the balance of the loan. He should take it to a couple of independent shops to get quotes to repair it so he at least has a running/driving car again.