Can getting a Ferrari too young mess you up?

Ok, you try it for me before I get back to bay area!

 

As long as you earned it yourself, i dont see a problem

 

It's no different than getting credit. I got my first credit card at the age of 16. I'm now 22, have charged over 10,000+ dollars, and have had everything paid on a timely manner and have done so with a meager $600 a month part time job. At the age of 17, i saved up for two years to buy a mustang GT (lowly in comparison to a ferrari, but oh well), and paid $7,240 in cash for it. I've never gone to my paren't for money seeing as how they had to worry about feeding and clothing 6 other bodies.

I manage my money (what little there is) better than 90% of the adults i've known. It's all about setting your priorities, and not letting certain things get to your head.

 

Alan I will tell you about my personal experience with NW lumberjacks when I meet you in person in the upcoming weeks

However women in Dallas, mmm now we are talking

 

Dan if you want to try this out, let me know. I usually stay home on Friday nights.

 

I'm thinking of that Ray Stevens song..."don't let a stranger cut your hair"...or something like that!

Dallas is good, they dress nicer there, but they could always tell I was from Houston! When you get down we'll try some Downtown spots, along with my old honky tonks, and you can compare!

 

I think it really depends on the person, but if you're really into cars and have the financial ability to own a Ferrari then go for it.

I believe the youngest person on the board with a 360 Modenna would be KSM360 who lives around me, and he posts in Canada forum perhaps you can ask how he feels owning one at 18.

 

LoL I don't know much about music, since I don't have a tv/radio..LOL, so I will take your word for it. When I flew to NY last year, I had a stop over at DFW airport, and man there were some luscious blondes. I am not talking about the 4'11" 80lbs you see in CA that look like young boys. I am talking about 5'6" 135lbs, 36DD, big hair kind. LMAO.

Haha..ok we will compare and see where the mamasitas are better

 

i was 24 when i got my first ferrari it was a yellow 348 ts. i would like to think that i am still fairly normal now that i am 27 with a 355. dont really think getting expensive stuff at an early age will mess you up. there will always be bigger and better things out there for you to lust after. i do think getting expensive stuff without having to work for it will cause someone to become lazy and irresponsible. i am not sure if i am considered a first generation immigrant or 2nd generation but either way if i misspell or have grammer errors all you fchatters will just have to overlook it.. i came to the U.S with my mom and dad when i was 8 years old from taiwan. and yes all chinese people do own restaurants. except me. i hate restaurants. i used to have to work at my dads restaurant when i was in highschool and i remember being so embarassed when kids from my school would come to eat there and i would have to take their orders. but back to the main subject, my first car was a mercedes 190 Diesel with like 120000 some miles on it the transmission went out and my uncle helped me pay to get it fixed then i traded it in on a bmw 525, traded it in on a 300zx traded it in on a porsche 928 which was the last fancy car that i had that was worth less than 15 grand. right about now was when i started my first business (printing course packets for a local college). i sold the 928 and got my first acura nsx. then i got a rangerover then i traded the 2 in on a s600 coupe. which was when i started my 2nd business (marketing materials design and production www.insigniamarketing.com) which i did pretty well with. i bought another nsx and then another porsche 928, rangerover, soon after that i got the only car i ever made money on. a lexus sc430 i got the 2nd one that was sold in nashville. drove it for 4000 miles and sold it for 10 grand more than what i paid for it! after the sc430 i got a porsche 911. i had 6 cars at the same time. it was not for another year or so before i bought my first ferrari.
i do have to say, when i got the 355 i didnt get the same rush i remember getting when i got my first nsx. dont get me wrong i love ferraris and will probably have a couple of them. cars are kinda like sex your first time is always the most memorable although it may not always be the most desirable.

 

Ryan, I have an advantage here because I know you and your short-term work goals. So I'll go on and say that you will not have any problems.

But I thought that I'd share this with the rest of the peanut gallery...

As a CPA, you get to meet a lot of people and see a lot of things. One thing that I have seen over the years is that many professionals never learn that, with a very few minor exceptions, you cannot earn your way to financial freedom if you don't control your personal overhead.

I know lawyers who are making 7 figure income who have a lower net worth than my 80-year old mother. The problem begins during the school years. Here you are, humping your ass, eating PB&Js, while your good-time buddies are making money, buying cars and other toys.

Then you graduate into a 6 figure salary and decide to reward yourself. Hey, it's payback time! So you sign on the dotted line and borrow to buy all the toys that you have wanted for so long.

Only problem is that after taxes and whatnot, you only get roughly half that 6 figure salary. After paying for student loans, car notes, credit cards, house note, you're just another day older and deeper in debt.

Then comes the big raise into the mid-6 figure range. Hey Mama, we is rocking now. So now comes the nicer car, the club memberships, vacations, a move up home. Hey, you're worth it right? And the debt keeps growing.

Then comes the kids. Let me tell you friends and nieghbors, don't even let anyone tell you that Ferraris are expensive. They don't hold a candle to kids.

Fast forward a few years, and you're knocking down $1.5m. Unfortunately, you're spending $2M. And the road goes on forever.

Finally, the day comes when you realize that you hate your job, but guess what? You owe your soul to the company store.

What's the moral? Always keep your personal overhead as low as possible. This doesn't mean that you can't buy a Ferrari. But you might want to wait before ordering that Enzo.

Dr "I ain't got no stinkin overhead" Tax

 

I have a good friend that exploits this. He takes good care of his employees, he pays them significantly better that they could make elsewhere. After a few years their lifestyles have expanded to use all available income. They better like their jobs because they cannot leave. He calls it "The Golden Handcuffs"

 

I have achived many of my dreams already, at the ripe old age of 23. (though not yet a F-car owner. I have 2 years, I promised myself one by the time I am 25!) I have many more to go of course, just getting started infact!

I achived them myself, through hard work and never beliving I had any limits on what I could achive, and fully living that belief. It works. Human beings can do such wonderful things when they remove illogical artificial statements like "I can't" from the vocabulary.

I don't any of it has 'messed me up', rather I am spured on to continue living to my potential each and every day, to streatch the limits of what human beings can acomplish, and to explore this world and those in it with arms, heart and mind wide open.


As a final note, just the fact that you started this thread, and are asking yourself this question, tells me you'll be just fine

 

Dr. Tax, right on. That is very, very true.

BTW, on the subject of buying a Ferrari or something for my kids, I will never do it. When I have kids, I am not going to buy them fancy cars, houses, etc. The only thing that I am going to give them, carte blanche, is an education. I'll pay for wherever they want to go and whatever degrees they want to get.

Having a Ferrari at a young age should really come from early financial success and it should be balanced with the appropriate net worth and hard assets and savings in the bank. A Ferrari is just a toy, it's not a real asset.

 

And after seeing that picture of you and your wife together, I just have to say congrats, she is beautiful.

 

Wow...lots of rich kids on this board who have been given Ferraris in their early twenties. Must be nice to have a Bank of Mom and Dad in some ways, but the truth is that these people are missing out.
If you have worked for your Ferrari then I think that you will realize the true cost of the car and the effort required to procure one. You will enjoy the car as it represents not only all things Ferrari but your accumulation of service towards society and years of struggle.
I think that there is some pride in this. I could afford an F-car right now on the payment plan, something like a 2001/02 360. But I don't want one yet. I don't want one because it isn't appropriate right now - I haven't earned it, so I would feel like a flashy poser. Although I would truly enjoy the car, setting myself up financially for the future is a greater priority.

 

Where do you get that? Most of us in our twenties with F-cars bought them through our own work.

I do agree with most of what you say, otherwise, though. I can only speak for myself here but if you don't have enough money in hard assets like property and investments, then getting an F car is pretty stupid. I am sure that there are many people here who feel the same way as I do and have most of their money hidden and the Ferrari that they drive is worth such a small percentage of the their net worth.

 

Bank of Mom and Dad stopped after my freshman year in college. Do the math, I was on my own for 4 years when I bought my first.

BTW, I was only given one car my entire life, a 1986 Toyota Camry and only during my senior year in HS. When I bought my own first car, I gave this back to them (for my sister to destroy).

 

I bought my first Ferrari at 25 and I did it all on my own. I agree with others here that what is most important is how you buy it and not when. I remember wanting a 328 so badly as a kid that I couldn't sleep. At the time I would have done anything to get one. I didn't care whether I had earned it or not (I was really young). After many years of hard work and education, I finally made the dream come true and I am happy that I can say that I EARNED IT! I'm sure it feels great to say that no matter how old you are.

 

Concur in entirety. But then, are you surprised? Ryan - sorry I have been meaning to call for a few days, but you sleep too damn early!

--Dan

 

Life is uncertain. Eat dessert first.

And may I quote the venerable Ferris Bueller, in his remarks on the joys of driving a Ferrari?

"If you have the means, I highly recommend it. It's sooooo choice."





Seriously, life was meant to be enjoyed. If you have the means, that being the key - don't live beyond your means, and keep your financial priorities straight - if you have the means, enjoy life.

I've been driving my VW for 282,000 miles and will be driving it for at least another 30,000 miles realistically before I can afford to get my F-car. But my wife supports me in my pursuit of having one, because she values my desire to have fun. And after 300,000 miles of driving a VW, I think I'll have earned it.

 

Slight correction (it's my favorite movie of all time):

"I love driving it. It is so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up."

I used that line yesterday, in fact. Alas, it wasn't about a Cal Spider, tho

 

I got my 308QV when I was 25 & It didnt mess me up. Dont worry, Be Happy. Ignore all the nasty envious people.

Now this on the other hand would mess you up at any age

 

Nice yacht! Yours?

 

I wish, it belongs to a Microsoft Exec I believe

 

I do like the underwater projection lights!! Might have to work those into my ongoing transom replacement!!!

Probably good for fishin'!