As much as possible I try to keep politics out of this blog because for the most part I try to reach out to every audience.  I think everyone has a right to be informed financial matters, and for the most part politics have nothing to do with it.  However once in a while, something comes up that absolutely frightening.  Something that has the ability to absolutely destroy our financial freedom in this country, to destroy any hope you have of retirement.  Here is a quote from Nancy Pelosi:

When questioned about recent stock market highs she responded “Only the rich benefit from these record highs. Working Americans, welfare recipients, the unemployed and minorities are not sharing in these obscene record highs”.

“There is no question these windfall profits and income created by the Bush administration need to be taxed at 100% rate and those dollars redistributed to the poor and working class”.

And that my friends, is one of the scariest quotes I have ever seen from someone in a position of power in the United States. Social Security WILL run out before most of us retire.  In fact, it will be, by definition, bankrupt by the year 2042.  What does that leave us with?  Our Roth IRAs and 401ks.  For anyone currently under the age of 60, we are at least partially banking on our retirement savings growing in the stock market.  Even if you don’t care at all about politics, at least pay attention to this because this has the potential to ruin your retirement.  It doesn’t matter what party is trying dig into your pockets, this is something to fight back on.

 You and I, as a working americans, DO share in these record highs.   

If I were giving advice to someone, I would tell them not to buy a new car. I would also tell them not to finance a car, but instead to save up and buy a late model used car. I would also advise someone to buy a car with low insurance premiums that gets excellent gas milage. All of that said, this weekend I bought a new car with higher insurance premiums that gets average gas milage (though much better than my previous car). I also financed it through my credit union. However, it wasn’t an impulse buy, it was something I did a lot of thinking about.

There were several reasons I went the route I did:

Professionalism - my previous car was fun (A Dodge sports car) but was more akin to something a high school kid would drive than a college graduate working for a consulting firm.

Need to get rid of my previous car - I was almost up on my warranty and did not wish to pay for an extended warranty. Also private party sales of my car are very slim.

Low interest rate - I was able to secure a very low interest loan through my credit union.

Personality - The car I got is very much a reflection of my personality.

Carpe Diem - I actually deteste this saying, but for me to have a new car, this is the time.

Budget - It fits into my budget

Resale value - It is one of the highest resale value cars on the market…which was actually one of the reasons I decided to get one new instead of used. The used prices were not much lower than the new prices.

Color - As odd as this sounds, the color I wanted was only available on the ‘07 model.

Without further ado: