Cars Broken Into at College

My daughter uses one of our cars at college.  She parks in a secure garage by her apartment.  Unfortunately, due to freezing the temperatures, the gate at the entrance has been kept open. Yesterday, she received an email that some cars were broken into the previous night.   The perpetrators smashed the passenger side windows to get into the car.

She was worried and  called me as she was going to inspect her car.  The car is fully insured against vandalism, but it's still takes time and effort to work with insurance companies and get the car repaired.  Maybe a week of losing use of the car and she needed for a trip home soon.

Fortunately, her car was not damaged, probably because she does not leave anything of value in view on the seats.  Just bags from take out food runs.   Also, the vehicle is 22 years old and most break ins were on newer vehicles.

She was lucky.  Some of the other residents at the apartment were not.  Unfortunately, the video surveillance cameras did not get good pictures of the perpretators.

For more on Crossing Generations, check back every Thursday for a new segment.

This is not financial nor anti theft advice advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Why Chrysler and GM are Doomed to Fail

Why Government Can't Run a Business by John Steele Gordon in The Wall Street Journal offers a great op-ed on why a government owned business is doomed to fail. History has shown that governments are ineffective at running a business. The reason for failure? Simply, government is run by politicians and politicians make political decisions, not economic ones, which are required to be successful in a business.

The Chrysler and GM bankruptcies and reorganizations already demonstrated that political reasons, instead of economic (and perhaps rule of law) reasons were the basis for many of the decisions. I can't see any other reason for the government giving so much to the labor unions and so little the debt holders, who have priority in a typical bankruptcy proceeding.

Previously, I didn't have much hope for Chrysler and GM surviving, given that the companies were failing during relatively good economic times. Now that the government has significant ownership in both companies, I expect Chrysler and GM will become zombie companies, run by political priorities, e.g. producing green cars no one wants to buy, and a drain on the taxpayer's money.

For more on New Beginnings, check back every Sunday for a new segment.

This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2009 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Some Money Rules of Thumb I Use

MSN.com recently published 16 favorite money rules of thumb by Liz Pulliam Weston. While rules are thumb (e.g. rule of 72s) are not as precise as doing the detailed analysis, they are often easy to remember and easy to use, especially when doing a quick assessment. Here were the ones from the article that I personally use:

1. Retirement, Part I: "Save 10% for basics, 15% for comfort, 20% to escape." While the numbers may vary for different individuals, I think this a a great starting point. After getting started, one can do the more detailed analysis and make refinements. However, I do know that 0% won't cut it. For our goal of retiring early, we have been saving over 20% of my gross salary.



2. Retirement, Part II: "Retirement money is for retirement; until then, keep your mitts off it." Fully agree. I would add don't think of borrowing as an acceptable way to use retirement money for very good needs (e.g. education or first home).



3. Student loans: "Your total borrowing shouldn't exceed what you expect to make your first year out of school." My student loans equaled 40% of my starting salary and I recall feeling that amount of debt was burdensome. I couldn't imagine starting with student loans equal to my starting salary. However, I guess that is the nature of higher educational costs today.



4. Cars, Part I: "Buy used and drive it for at least 10 years." I prefer keeping a car even longer, if mechanically possible. Also, I don't mind buying new if I keep it for at least 10 years. However, I tend to buy basic models (example base truck models) or brands that hold value (e.g. Toyota) when buying new.



5. Mortgages, Part I. "If you can't afford to buy the house using a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, you can't afford the house." Fully agree. I've written about this before in Avoiding an Expensive Mortgage Mistake.

For more on The Practice of Personal Finance, check back every Wednesday for a new segment.

Photo Credit: morgueFile.com, Grtguru

This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2007 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Why I Pay Cash For A Car

One of the personal finance practices I use is to pay cash for my cars. After a house, a car is generally the largest single expenditure that is made. Thus, a car is also the largest opportunity for me to reduce spending. Paying cash causes me to spend less when buying a car. (For more coverage on the cost of cars and the impact on personal finances, see recent articles in MSN.com and Yahoo! Finance.)

However, it is often easier to spend more, versus less, when buying a car. One reason is that the cost can be spread out over 4 to 6 years of monthly payments. At a loan rate of 7%, the cost of an extra $1000 is between $17.05 per month (for a 6 year loan) to $23.95 per month (for a 4 year loan). It's easy to justify a premium stereo for "only" $17 to $24 a month. That's barely the cost a meal. The salesman knows that, the finance manager knows that, and the buyer knows that. Before long, one is paying about $200 more per month to get a car that cost $8000 more.

For me, the solution is to get the comparison back to the real numbers. That's where paying cash for a car helps. It puts the decision on the real money difference, not the monthly difference. It's not $24 a month more for a premium stereo, it's $1000. For $24, I barely think about it. For $1000, I think hard about it and pass. Paying cash causes me to ask the question, "Do I really need that?" when considering car options.

So how can one save enough to buy a car? It's easy if one is already making a car payment. The secret to keep the car several years after it is paid off AND keep making "car payments" to one's savings account. Thus, after 5 to 6 years, there is enough money to purchase the next car with cash.

Here's an example of how it can work. After paying off the car loan in three years, I continued to make "car payments" to myself. Because I kept the car for 10 years, I made $232 "car payments" to a savings account for 7 years, resulting in over $19,000 saved. That money was used as a cash payment for our next car.

For more on The Practice of Personal Finance, check back every Wednesday for a new segment.

Photo Credit: morgueFile.com, Daniel T. Yara

This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2007 Achievement , LLC