One of my most financially helpful, but polarizing articles is The 1/10th Rule For Car Buying Everyone Must Follow. I wrote this post to help mostly younger folks not blow their money on the most common financial destroyer. We all know that almost all cars are guaranteed to lose value.
As a young man, I used to view my Toyota Corolla Hatchback as an asset because I didn’t know better. How could a car be a liability when I could take girls out on dates, drive to William & Mary from the DC-area to get a solid education, and take a nice midnight jaunt along the Jamestown river during final exams?
Now I view my vehicle as a liability. All I see in my garage is a large heap of metal necessary to transport my family safely. I’ve got to keep feeding it money in order for it to run – gas, new tires, maintenance, tax, tickets, accidents, and insurance. I’d much rather have the money sunk in my car producing passive income for financial freedom.
For those of you curious about what it’s like to follow the 1/10th Rule For Car Buying for the past 15 years, let me give you an honest assessment as an ex-car fanatic who has owned a dozen cars in his lifetime. The journey just might save you a lot of money and bring you more happiness in the process.
In 2009, I watched in horror as a total of 690,000 new vehicles averaging $24,000 each were sold under the Cash For Clunkers program in 2009. The government’s $4,000 rebate for trading in your car ended up hurting hundred of thousands of people’s finances instead! Your $20,000 invested in 2009 in the S&P 500 index would now be worth over $50,000 today given the stock markets are now at record highs!
After deep deliberation, I decided to pass on buying the 
