Well that’s what you get for living in California 
. In the rest of the country we aren’t surprised when our lights go on.
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This is an intensely personal question. There is no objective justification for a fast and fun car. The enjoyment one gets from a sports car is purely intrinsic. You have to consider the marginal utility of the dollars spent versus what else you would do with them.
My wife and I could afford a X7 and A6 but we drive a MDX and Accord because for us the marginal utility isn’t worth it. We would rather be able to retire a few years earlier and take an extra vacation or two (VA car taxes are why there is such a high tradeoff).
After talking about the personal nature of this decision, here is my advice. If you don’t care about badging, look at the higher trims/upengined models of non luxury cars or wait for the luxury car brand that decides to have a lease blow out like BMW did this spring.
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4 series should be ripe for the picking in 12-15mos.
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$400/mo to college fund will go a long way while still driving a good car.
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I’m fully aware that is very personal and I appreciate you reiterating that! I don’t think my wife and I are in a unique situation but a good one - both very good paying jobs, built our dream home a few years ago so nothing needed on the home front, no kids (now or ever), no college funds, etc.
My lease is up in June of 2020… maybe the timing will be perfect.
I did…the weird part is that the more $ i made the more conscious i was about how much is was paying for my cars. Went from over $1k/mo to $350/mo net for both cars. I ratter piss money away on a vacation than spending on performance or expensive cars.
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For people who can afford it, going on vacation isn’t pissing money away. There are objective mental health benefits of vacation.
Haven’t seen any studies on mental health benefits from having 300 HP or Napa leather in my ride.
The worst thing one can do for physical and mental health is spend more on cars and fund these cars by living in a cheaper house further from work. If at all possible, sacrificing vehicle cost for reduced commute is the best decision anyone could make.
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It would not surprise me if i would read one where it proves it helps with testosterone levels increase, maybe self confidence booster? Woman can pretend they are not impressed by expensive cars…but i’m not sold on it.
I don’t live in the part of the state having power issues, but the only place in the US I could imagine living after CA is back in DC/NoVA. I spend half my time elsewhere in the US, and I don’t mind traveling, but California is worth any aggravation and all the taxes I pay (as much as I paid in Ohio, and far less car tax than VA).
Why? I can’t think of anything worth paying 13.3% income tax. I will stick with the 0% I pay in Florida.
I disagree vehemently. I can’t wait to get out of this state.
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I’m happy to pay the crazy taxes we do in SoCal to enjoy (and provide for my fellow Californians) things like mandatory sick pay, maternity leave that actually makes it possible to have a kid and not lose half your year’s income.
Not to mention consumer protections–lease one or two cars with a capped $85 doc fee and you just covered a chunk of the delta created by our high taxes.
Then let’s not leave out quality of life stuff–I like having nice weather all year, having the options of mountains 2 hours one way and the beach 20 minutes the other. Having the option to visit places like LA (which I despise as a city, but cool stuff passes through there and happens there).
Oh yeah, there’s the opportunity my daughter’s going to enjoy being around multicultural situations since literally preschool–so she’s seen more diversity in her 4 years than I did in my first 35.
And then there’s my industry, which is crazy rife with opportunities from LA to SD and everywhere in between.
Would I move here to wait tables or work in a warehouse? Probably not, it’s expensive for that.
But yeah, high taxes.
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To each his own buddy. That’s what makes our country so awesome. Each state can do what they want and I can choose to live in Florida and you can choose to live in California.
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just curious, where in Florida do you live? I’ve been to Florida many times and as soon as I wonder off the tourist path, it looked like 3rd world country to me. The latest was 2009 in Orlando.
Most of Orlando is a dump once you leave Disney grounds. I live in Coral Springs south Florida around 20 miles west of Boca. And don’t get me wrong California outside of the cities is gorgeous. I love Big Sur, Pacific coast highway, Yosemite. I could go on. I just prefer to visit. I feel the same way about New York City. Nice to visit don’t want to live there.
Definitely with you there on NYC, and I lived there for 15 years 
Everyone at work can’t wait to retire in the South because of “no taxes”. Funny thing is our pension is not even taxable in NY.
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Oh are you a millionaire? Otherwise you’re 1% too high
More avocados for me. And agree with everything @anon92897398 said
How I feel about Florida and NYC too: I spend half my time in NY/NJ now and I never mind visiting but I’m never moving back here. I have a WDW AP but I only visit between October and March.
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Priorities are personal. Some people are willing to eat Meow Mix in retirement so they can drive an Oldsmobuick SEX9000 now.
Make list of all of your financial goals and obligations and assign a reasonable monthly dollar amount to comfortably cover each, and then put them in priority order.
That should help put your automotive needs and desires into perspective and help you choose an appropriate dollar amount. Maximize what you can get with that.
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I often wonder if people do this crap intentionally or they just don’t know that tax rate is progressive and unless you are rich you won’t pay it at 13%.
"For single and married/registered domestic partners filing separately:
- 1 percent on the first $8,544 of taxable income
- 2 percent on taxable income between $8,545 and $20,255
- 4 percent on taxable income between $20,256 and $31,969
- 6 percent on taxable income between $31,970 and $44,377
- 8 percent on taxable income between $44,378 and $56,085
- 9.3 percent on taxable income between $56,086 and $286,492
- 10.3 percent on taxable income between $286,493 and $343,788
- 11.3 percent on taxable income between $343,789 and $572,980
- 12.3 percent on taxable income of $572,981 and above
A 1 percent surcharge, the mental health services tax, is collected on taxable incomes of $1 million or more, making California’s highest marginal rate 13.3 percent."
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Now let’s play “What’s your CA marginal tax rate?”
I’ll start. 9.3% < My tax rate < 12.3%
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