Why You Should Skip That New Car In Your 20s

When you are in your 20s – early 20s if you skip college and go right to work – or maybe your mid to late 20s if you finish school before taking on that first full-time job – you are most likely going to find yourself earning more money than you ever have before in your life. While this salary will pale in comparison to the money you will most likely be making in your 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, etc., this new windfall in your bank account is very likely to get you thinking about buying a shiny, brand new car.

If you’re like me, you drove a few clunkers through high school and college, and the prospect of trading that money sitting in your account and that money coming in from those future paychecks for a new car is going to be a very powerful temptation.

But, while it seems like a pretty harmless financial choice because you’re young and have all those years of working ahead of you, opting for a brand new car at this point in your financial life can greatly affect the amount of money you can save and the dividends and investment gains you can earn over the course of the rest of your life.

If you insist on upgrading to a new vehicle, at least go with a pre-owned car because it will save you a lot of money up front and you won’t get hit that hard with depreciation – at least not as hard as if you buy a new car. But if you already have a car, and it’s not leaving you stranded by the side of the road once a month, it might make the most financial sense to keep the car you already own.

According to a study by the National Institute on Retirement Security, some 45% of working-age households have no assets in a retirement account, and those that do have an average balance of $40,000. The average price of a new car, according to USA Today is $33,560. How many of those households with no balance or below average balance in their retirement account have a brand new car that is costing tens of thousands of dollars? Take into consideration that most car purchases are financed, which adds financing fees on top of the price of the car, and consider the value of a new car drops 20% in the first year and by more than 50% by the fifth year, and you can clearly see how saving the money you would spend on a brand new car is clearly the better financial decision.

It is important to remember that your desire for that shiny, brand new car will definitely subside once you’re knee-deep in five years’ worth of car payments and an inflated interest rate. Plus, keep in mind that if you can pull together just $16,000 in five years (that’s $266.67 per month), and invest that money, even at a return of 7%, you would have $120,000 in 30 years. And 30 years from now, you most likely still won’t have that shiny new car you were just dying to get in your 20s.

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