And made a profit paying it off!

Back in 2021, one of my friends was selling his 2003, 50th anniversary edition, Torch Red Corvette Z06 (the high performance edition).

I didn’t ‘need’ this car, but I wanted it.

I wanted one since my apartment days back in 2015, where I made it a personal goal to save $25,000 so that I could afford a Used Corvette, and so u could pay for it in CASH.

The key here is, once I saved $25,000…. I no longer wanted to blow that kind of money on a car. Even worse, when I hit my next financial goal of saving $50,000 dollars, I still didn’t want to spend half of my net worth on a stupid car! So I delayed my gratification – I waited to make this purchase.

6 years later, I’m living in Germany, driving a hand me down BMW 316i (from the year 1996) that my younger brother gifted to me. And low and behold, one of his coworkers was selling his 2003 Corvette. He wanted $15,000 cash. So what did I do?

I didn’t buy it. At least not immediately. I waited another 3 months after learning it was for sale.

At the 3 month mark, I spoke to the gentleman, again, asking how much he wanted. He was firm at $15,000. No discount, no budging. He knew what he had.

And ya know what? $15,000 for a low mileage (46k miles) C5 Corvette was a good price. So, I bought it. But I didn’t use my cash reserves.

I went to my local credit union, and applied for a ‘collectible car’ loan. (This is important to note, as the credit union doesn’t normally approve loans for cars older than 10 years – but in the case of more specialty cars/ collectibles, they make exceptions). And with over a 800 credit score, they gave me a 2.75% APR, which considering the used car market and interest rates at the time, was an AMAZING opportunity. And, it left me with the ability to invest another $15,000 in the stock market instead of tying it up in a depreciating liability (i.e. a car).

Don’t get me wrong – this isn’t a ‘brag’ post or anything. What I’m trying to highlight is that with my standard, enlisted salary (which trends with median income over the years) was enough for me to continually save, year after year and pursue my financial goals but also fun goals (like buying a little red sports car).

Now to the part where I made a profit: Instead of dropping all $15,000 at one time on a car that will lose value over time – I took the $15,000 cash and dropped it into VOO stock (Vanguard S&P 500 ETF) in one of my brokerage accounts. With the performance of VOO over the past 3 years, I’m currently up $5,139.19 dollars on my initial $15,000 investment!

Remember – money is a tool. Make money work for you. Now that I’ve paid of my Corvette – I’m debt free again. I can spend more money on my art business now, or spend more on my family and our trips. When given the opportunity to spend less and make more, usually it’s good to take it!

Until next time, Michael – with Military.Cash

If you want to get social with me, follow me on Instagram @ Military.cash
( https://www.instagram.com/military.cash/ ). Peace!