What % of one's LIQUID assets should be used to purchase a Ferrari?

1% at most


That's why I only went for the 330P4, didn't want to tie too much up in the toys

 

There is no one "correct" answer to this question - everyone's situation and priorities are different from the next guy's.

 

Agree with Aaron's reply. Too many variables. Probably easiest to say that you can afford it if you can pay for it - either cash or the payment - with no adverse affect on the rest of your life. Whatever that amount equates to percentage wise is what you can use.

 

All of it. Go big, or go home.
Adds a new level of thrill to trailing throttle oversteer.

 

Not purchase, but at one point my car was more than fifty percent. Did I mention I was racing it as well.

 

I would be uncomfortable paying for a "toy" such as a Ferrari via payments: cash on the barrelhead, or forget it.

It's not transportation, its a luxurious indulgence, like a high end stereo, a ski chalet, or a Donzi.

 

0%

 

How important is it to you? The more important it is, the bigger the number.

 

Liquid assets? There are liquid assets then there are liquid assets. From the great salad oil swindle of 1963:

"one of the biggest financial swindles in American history, involving losses of some $150 million by many pillars of the business community...A dozen international trading companies were placed in the position of financing a fraud against themselves, and the warehousing subsidiary of the prestigious American Express Co. was hopelessly insolvent with staggering claims of more than $100 million against it...All of these companies had one thing in common-they loaned money against or otherwise accepted at face value innumerable slips of paper representing the assets of the Allied Crude Vegetable Oil Refining Corp., controlled by Anthony De Angelis...Allied employees were fattening up the assets by turning out warehouse receipts for oil that wasn't there at all...For more than five years Allied created fictitious commodities which could be traded on paper and pledged as security against loans. For more than five years. unwitting financiers wheeled and dealed with ever vaster amounts of nonexistent oil in an outsized version of the old Hong Kong sardine dodge. (During a famine in China, a Hong Kong merchant sold a sardine can filled with mud to another merchant, who sold it at a profit to a third merchant who sold it at a profit to a fourth. When merchant No. 5 discovered the fraud and complained, No. 4 had a comeback: "Why did you open the can?")".

BTW -

http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23441

http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=96259

 

Why does everybody here assume that exotics are paid for in cash? Why would anybody who's making 12-15% on their money NOT finance/lease it? Yes, people with money regularly make this kind of return on their investments. I paid cash for one of my cars, just once, and was then thoroughly chastised by our investment group for being an idiot (they didn't use this term, but that was their point). Of course, they were right, too.

If you have enough sitting around liquid to pick off an Enzo, you're not being very smart to begin with.

 

as OJ would say 110%

 

Because there is peace of mind with full ownership - an I hate writing checks every month.

 

all of it- do you wanna die and say I could have had a Ferrari?

 

If you're sweating out the spread between your car loan and possible investment return on the amount financed for your fun car purchase, you're spending too much on a Ferrari. Maybe you have other hard assets to sell to pay for your Ferrari, but using someone else's money isn't what I would recommend.

To the original post, I'll paraphrase Dr. William H. Sheldon who wrote this bit of wisdom regarding another field in 1949:

Do not invest more in any luxury good than you can good-humoredly afford to lose. If and when the economy falters it will be the values of precisely these sorts of goods that will fall most precipitously.

 

Ask your wife if you should post too!

 

100%--- If you are gonna go broke, you might as well go broke with a ferrari.

 

Personal comfort level. Also depends on which care your considering.

for example I would be more comfortable having money in classic than a new model.

I think most would agree $300K in a 250PF cabriolet is most likely safe, while nearly $300K in a 612 Scag, is likely to lose signif value in 5-10 years..

another example, F40 likely safe when compared to a 430 spider....

That said, most F-cars should be thought of as entertainment. how much are you willing to spend on entertainment?

 

>...Why would anybody who's making 12-15% on their money NOT >finance/lease it? Yes, people with money regularly make this kind of >return on their investments.

Hello ChuckD,

Would you mind elaborate on this? What's the source for this stat? How much is the base and how is this done? Thanks.

- Nguyen

 

This is a great point... especially if you want to work until you're 95 years old.

 

If you are liquid enough to purchase a Ferrari you don't need to ask others how much to spend.

 

Now THAT'S the RIGHT ANSWER!!!

 

Spend as much as you are comfortable with. Once you start feeling stress, then start to back off!! Also, don't forget to reserve lots of $$ for the F lifestyle!

 

RISK.

 

Learn from my mistake:

I financed my 328, and I lost everything. I based my Ferrari payments on my income, but first I lost my job, then my belts all snapped right at 29,997 miles, as I was trying to figure out where to get the $5K for a major service. Oh, it was ugly.

Now, not only do I not have a Ferrari, but my credit record is ruined, my family is gone, and my pets won't even look at me. All because I needed immediate gratification, and I wasn't willing to wait until I was 67 to finally spring for the F-Car.

Oh, wait. None of that is true. However, for an instant, my "plight" was being read with great amusement by all the "never finance a toy" naysayers. Sorry, guys.