Getting a Loan to Buy a Firearm?

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The best piece of economic advice ever given to me was by a college professor who stated: "If it appreciates, buy it. If it depreciates, lease it."
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True, but that still doesn't shed light on the question of "if the answer is to buy, whether to buy outright after having saved, or go into debt in order to buy" - you never ever EVER do the latter for luxuries. Even for necessities, it should be avoided like the plague except for buying a house/real estate (and even then limited to 15 years max, IMO), and maybe a credit card for dire emergencies, like the fridge going out or bailing a kid out of jail. Notice going to college is not on the list of exceptions, nor is getting a car.
 
Even for necessities, it should be avoided like the plague except for buying a house/real estate (and even then limited to 15 years max, IMO), and maybe a credit card for dire emergencies, like the fridge going out or bailing a kid out of jail. Notice going to college is not on the list of exceptions, nor is getting a car.
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I'll disagree. Not too many have the cash to pay today's college bills. Some can run over $100K per year; price a new truck? $60K for some models.
If you have investments or cash flow that are better than their loan rates, it is much wiser to use their money while preserving your cash. Whether guns, art, cars, or something else, weighing the time value of your money versus theirs is paramount.
 
I would look at it the other way. The only people who should go to a $100K college or buy a $60K truck are those who do have the cash in hand. Both are frivolous expenses. There are plenty of good, affordable colleges and used trucks out there.

Those that say they can afford the loan for a luxury item haven't shown it. Otherwise, they would have just saved up the money to begin with.
 
Tucker, that Lee reloader kit is pretty good. Best prices seem to be on Ebay by about 5%. I bought one kit and a separate press, set up one die in each, don't have to swap out dies now. Totally speeds up the process, especially if a buddy is visiting.
 
You only live once.

Borrow and buy it brother. Enjoy your life. Money and debts and stuff will come and go as you get older. Don't get wrapped around the axle on a meager $10,000. At some point in your life, $10,000 will be relatively trivial.

I do caveat this by saying don't take debt lightly, and borrow only for a few categories:

1) Necessities. House and car. (Buying is generally better than leasing/renting, but renting has it's purpose too).

2) Unique or rare buying opportunities. Items that will appreciate in value. The .50 will go up in value, not down. Sometimes an amazing opportunity presents itself. Snap it up. Pay later.

3) Emergencies - medical, automobile, etc.

4) Items you want now, which may not be available later. The .50 falls in that category. It could end up on the ban list in the future. It would then triple in value and be unattainable.
 
I would look at it the other way. The only people who should go to a $100K college or buy a $60K truck are those who do have the cash in hand. Both are frivolous expenses. There are plenty of good, affordable colleges and used trucks out there.

Those that say they can afford the loan for a luxury item haven't shown it. Otherwise, they would have just saved up the money to begin with.
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Not really. College is frivolous? Wow. Considering college grads make WAY more over their work lives, this is just not true. Own your own business and need something to perform the work? That truck might mean being able to make that a reality. If I can invest the cash and make 8%, while borrowing for something at 1.9%, why would I deplete my cash? Especially if I have an income coming in that allows that to happen?
 
If you buy a car for $10,000 on payments, what will it be worth in 5 years?
If you buy the Barrett for $10,000, what will it be worth in 5 years?

If it's something you really want and you can afford it then do what you want. If you wait until you get married, you will not get it until your kids graduate college.

However, do not get another car until this is paid off. Consider this as a car loan and don't stretch too far.
 
Even better, resolve to buy only used cars from now on. Very good cars can be had for a third of the cost of a new one. You will save $100,000 over the course of your life, money that can be spent on other things.
 
I'll disagree. Not too many have the cash to pay today's college bills. Some can run over $100K per year;
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Exactly. College is a horrible horrible (non-) investment for most people; most end up slaves to student loans. I guess I might change that to "if engineering major or pre-med and very smart", then debt is reasonable... any other major, no way. Way too many people are going to college, and it's hurting them, and hurting the general economy. We need far fewer going to college. College is a giant ripoff for most people - a scam perpetrated by a sick collusion between the US Dept of Ed, private student loan companies, and greedy colleges who want that gov't tuition money badly. It is indeed frivolous for most people. The stat that college grads make more over a lifetime is misleading bunk because it fails to isolate other more basic or central causal factors for both (if one is generally ambitious and smart with well-off parents, one is more likely to both attend college AND to do well financially over a lifetime). If you were to isolate and regression-analyze the causal factors, I would bet, that in the last 20 years, college alone hurts people more than it helps people on average - that when isolated as a causal factor, people make less over a lifetime, or if they make more over a lifetime, they don't make *enough* more to cover the student loan payments and then come out ahead, so that college is a net loss - a net bad investment/decision.

price a new truck? $60K for some models.
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Exactly, and if you ain't got it, you shouldn't buy it.

I'll modify a bit - I'd say, financing a vehicle should be the rare exception, but not verboten. It should only be done in dire emergencies, where you have no money and can't get to work without it. And financed no more than 18 months or 2 years, tops. Or maybe 3 years if a diesel. Working with budgeting & personal finance matters is part of my job.... have a little experience here. Seen a lot of different situations.
 
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unlicensed dremel said:
I'll modify a bit - I'd say, financing a vehicle should be the rare exception, but not verboten. It should only be done in dire emergencies, where you have no money and can't get to work without it. And financed no more than 18 months or 2 years, tops. Or maybe 3 years if a diesel. Working with budgeting & personal finance matters is part of my job.... have a little experience here. Seen a lot of different situations.
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Maybe you ought to get yourself a little of that college education.

If my money is currently making 5%, and I can finance a vehicle at 0% for 60 months, why shouldn't I keep my money in the 5% mutual fund instead of giving it to the car company?

My experience over the last half century or so has been that using "other people's money" when it's cheaper than your own works out very well.
 
There has been frequent mention here of how credit is necessary for emergencies. That's only true if one fails to plan for emergencies. That's what an "Emergency Fund" is for.

Please, everyone think about getting off the credit/loan treadmill. The freedom you will experience is worth it.

The second amendment is about freedom. If you owe money, you are not yet free.
 
However, do not get another car until this is paid off. Consider this as a car loan and don't stretch too far.
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That's the plan, I've asked other people about this and somebody asked me why I wasn't buying a boat or something I could have fun on; to which I replied because I can have plenty of fun with a Barrett and BOAT just stands for bust out another thousand. The only thing I can think of that would potentially hold it's value better would be $10 worth of gold, and it won't likely appreciate in value enough to cover the interest.
 
There has been frequent mention here of how credit is necessary for emergencies. That's only true if one fails to plan for emergencies. That's what an "Emergency Fund" is for.

Please, everyone think about getting off the credit/loan treadmill. The freedom you will experience is worth it.

The second amendment is about freedom. If you owe money, you are not yet free.
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If you do not have the cash flow, then getting in over your head is dangerous. However, if you have the cash flow, and you can preserve your cash which is making more than what they want to charge you, NOT playing the time value of money game is more foolish. Sitting on cash under the mattress or in a zero interest checking account is ludicrous if it can be invested in something making more than the interest rate you'll be charged.
 
OK - we are now discussing general financial wisdom. I'm sure there is a forum called Debtors Prison to continue the discussion.

As all points have been made, I'm calling this.

Good discussion, folks.
 
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