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Owning a first car in hong kong

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  1. #41

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    Who cares... get it! Why's money a problem when you are making 20k and buying a 400k car? Who cares if you live at home with your parents. If you are renting too then I seriously doubt you can afford the car. No matter. As long as the exhaust spits fire I'm all for it!


  2. #42

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    Quote Originally Posted by Golem:
    Spoken like and old fart who has lost touch with youth. While I do think that it's frivolous and a very poor life choice to be a poser with a sports car in HK, I also hate the idea of penny pinching in your twenties in order to have money later. There's one thing I learned early in life is not to put your eggs in one basket. In this case, the hope that you will be 30, 40, 50 or whatever... Life can change or be over in a flash and you'll never be young again. Trying to recapture it when you're in mid life can be somewhat pathetic and there are things that are very unlikely to happen in mid life like high level athletic performance. I didn't invest, save money nor focus on a career in my twenties, living like there was no tomorrow, competing internationally and always told myself I'd rather work when I'm 60 and 70 or have to live poorly then miss out on the best years of my life. I don't criticize those that chose a more traditional safer path, whatever works but there are different ways to live life. I certainly have no regrets and would do it exactly the same way. That being said, I was convinced by many not to buy the motorcycle I wanted when I was 16 and that most likely saved my life. I crashed a few cars speeding which would have possibly been much more damaging on two wheels. Anyway, the young should make their own mistakes and decisions and take the advice of old farts(me included) with a grain of salt.
    There is a happy medium. I didn't spend 400000k on a car when I was young and earning a pittance. However, I still had fun, owned and crashed a few nice cars. I also worked hard, saved money, was sensible and now at 57 am working part time, holidaying, travelling, own a couple of cars that I use on track when in the UK, and looking at retiring completely in a year or so.

    By all means live partly for now, but if you spend it all when you are young and live to be old, active and healthy, what are you going to do then.

    To be honest, being in my late 50's is turning out to be the best bit of my life!

  3. #43
    Quote Originally Posted by Pauljoecoe:
    There is a happy medium. I didn't spend 400000k on a car when I was young and earning a pittance. However, I still had fun, owned and crashed a few nice cars. I also worked hard, saved money, was sensible and now at 57 am working part time, holidaying, travelling, own a couple of cars that I use on track when in the UK, and looking at retiring completely in a year or so.

    By all means live partly for now, but if you spend it all when you are young and live to be old, active and healthy, what are you going to do then.

    To be honest, being in my late 50's is turning out to be the best bit of my life!
    This.

  4. #44

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    HP is hire purchase?

    Is it numerically possible to have an income of 20k and buy, park and operate a 400k car and still have enough money for stuff like... food and clothing?

    I have no idea how the arrangements for hire purchase work.

    imparanoic likes this.

  5. #45

    Interesting thread. I’m a reasonably financially prudent guy in my early thirties but my one weakness is for cars.

    HK puts me in the tricky (happy?) position of being able to afford the kind of car I dreamed about as a kid while simultaneously having no use for one whatsoever.

    I’m not at the level of buying a new lambo but it takes a hell of a lot of willpower for me not to drop 700 or 800k on a Gallardo or F430. Then again I don’t really want to spend another 5 years working which is the opportunity cost of doing that at this stage of my life.


  6. #46

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    Quote Originally Posted by Pauljoecoe:
    There is a happy medium. I didn't spend 400000k on a car when I was young and earning a pittance. However, I still had fun, owned and crashed a few nice cars. I also worked hard, saved money, was sensible and now at 57 am working part time, holidaying, travelling, own a couple of cars that I use on track when in the UK, and looking at retiring completely in a year or so.

    By all means live partly for now, but if you spend it all when you are young and live to be old, active and healthy, what are you going to do then.

    To be honest, being in my late 50's is turning out to be the best bit of my life!
    If you're late 50s is the best bit of your life then you and I value very different things then again if sitting in a car doing laps turns your crank then we are indeed very different. The only thing in my opinion that is better at that age is having more money. I can probably do 60% of what I was able to in my 20s and I'm fitter than 90% of people my age. BTW, I mentioned the 20s and not necessarily the other decades. I lived like there was no tomorrow in my 20s and spent it all but caught up in my 30s and managed to start winding down the work in my late 40s again with the calculation of doing stuff that I like while I'm still capable. If I run out of money at 75 or 80 then so be it, I can check out then since I'm not all that enthusiastic about stretching it out and being a vegetable. I have no intention of leaving a lot to the younger generation nor do I want to be a burden.

    As I said, I do think that spending money on cars particularly in HK is juvenile and I would never do that but the idea of old farts telling the young generation that they should work to the bone, start investing in their 20s and save money is so boring and conservative, it makes me want to hurl. I'd rather show them those people that bought cheap vans and refurbished them to live, work and travel in them while going skiing, cycling, climbing, kayaking, surfing, hiking all over continents living on a pittance. If they want to live a safe conservative life with a desk job and try to retire early, that's fine. Plenty of people doing that. I just think it's good to show other options and let them make their decisions and live with their mistakes. So many particularly here push their kids to try to finish school and start working as fast as possible. Me, take gap years, a few of them, universities will always be there. Make mistakes, break your face, go broke, eat dirt. That's how you learn and become a better person and hopefully it motivates you for the next chapter. Never met or heard of anyone on their death bed that said: "I wish I worked more and saved more money".
    Edwardstorm likes this.

  7. #47

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    Quote Originally Posted by Golem:
    If you're late 50s is the best bit of your life then you and I value very different things then again if sitting in a car doing laps turns your crank then we are indeed very different. The only thing in my opinion that is better at that age is having more money. I can probably do 60% of what I was able to in my 20s and I'm fitter than 90% of people my age. BTW, I mentioned the 20s and not necessarily the other decades. I lived like there was no tomorrow in my 20s and spent it all but caught up in my 30s and managed to start winding down the work in my late 40s again with the calculation of doing stuff that I like while I'm still capable. If I run out of money at 75 or 80 then so be it, I can check out then since I'm not all that enthusiastic about stretching it out and being a vegetable. I have no intention of leaving a lot to the younger generation nor do I want to be a burden.

    As I said, I do think that spending money on cars particularly in HK is juvenile and I would never do that but the idea of old farts telling the young generation that they should work to the bone, start investing in their 20s and save money is so boring and conservative, it makes me want to hurl. I'd rather show them those people that bought cheap vans and refurbished them to live, work and travel in them while going skiing, cycling, climbing, kayaking, surfing, hiking all over continents living on a pittance. If they want to live a safe conservative life with a desk job and try to retire early, that's fine. Plenty of people doing that. I just think it's good to show other options and let them make their decisions and live with their mistakes. So many particularly here push their kids to try to finish school and start working as fast as possible. Me, take gap years, a few of them, universities will always be there. Make mistakes, break your face, go broke, eat dirt. That's how you learn and become a better person and hopefully it motivates you for the next chapter. Never met or heard of anyone on their death bed that said: "I wish I worked more and saved more money".
    Of course we are different people. Everyone is and it’s pointless trying to suggest otherwise. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t have a dull life of just work in my 20’s - 50’s. I think it was a balance of hard work, family, perusing hobbies and interests. I think life should be a crescendo. Don’t want to be in my 70’s and end up looking back and thinking life was better when I was younger. (Good health permitting)

    To achieve that to a certain extent you need money. Should life come to a n earlier end at least my kids can benefit so it isn’t wasted. Although I have told them not to expect anything as I may well spend it all!

    So back to the OP and on topic. It just seems a little extreme to spend 400k on a flash car, particularly in HK and if you are only earning 20K and if you do you may well end up regretting it later. However, we don’t know the OP’s situation. He may have rich generous parents and the income is not really a concern.

  8. #48

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    What is fun and exciting for one and boring for others is relative. My point is that even though I think the decision to buy a flash and expensive car is silly, I would not try to deter him from his choice. I prefer that someone sees different opinions and points of view, makes his choice and live and learn(or not). I don't pretend to know what is better, I think choices are different and what may be a mistake for one, isn't for another. I find two things amusing. Old farts that think their generation is better than the next and those who think they know better about what young people should do. I have always thought the world belongs to the young and the older generation should just get out of the way.


  9. #49

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    Quote Originally Posted by Golem:
    I have always thought the world belongs to the young and the older generation should just get out of the way.
    How old are you? What is old? What a load of rubbish!
    TheBrit and traineeinvestor like this.

  10. #50

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    Quote Originally Posted by Pauljoecoe:
    How old are you? What is old? What a load of rubbish!
    I do suspect something is not aligning in the universe. Or someone is trolling a little bit too much or is off their meds.

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