Mikeyfitz

I do the same as above. Live in the moment, money doesn't come with you when you're dead.

RidgeRunner0207

If you don't spend it on yourself, your kids will spend it for you, on themselves !!!

I work really hard to get what I have and to keep/enjoy it.

It will be a cold day in hell that I don't enjoy it while I can.

When I was growing up we vacationed with another family, went to Cape Cod, Misquamicut in RI, anyway he, John, had a great job, wealthy parents who did well and left him well off, his wife had a good job and well off parents who left her well off when they passed.

John had enjoyed life, not to what he could afford to enjoy it, but he enjoyed it to the point he was "OK" with, at 50 he dropped dead from Stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer, spent his last days as a skeleton of the man he was.

He never got to where he wanted to be, because he didn't get a chance to get there.

Two years ago a classmate from HS, avid motorsports guy, well off, lots of money hits a tree in Maine on his sled.......he checked out at 46, guy had it all, cut short.

You guys with wives that you have to answer to, not in my house, if your cool with it well its your marriage and I feel bad for you.

Remember, one chance at that brass ring, when its within reach ya better grab it.

blackvetterzo6

This kinda of sums it up pretty well. If there's one thing we can't get back, it's TIME.You better enjoy everyday you can, because tomorrow is never guaranteed. That's exactly why I blew off work today to play GOLF.
Money can always be made, and saving it all for future sometimes adds up to working your *** off for nothing.
Good health to everyone

MTPZ06

Buying it for enjoyment or for an investment? If the latter, the F430 is the better buy and hold investment. Stick with what you have.

If the ZR1 is for enjoyment, there are plenty of good deals to be had...just don't count on it to exceed its original MSRP anytime soon, if ever.

RidgeRunner0207

Inflation Calculator

$4,240 of 1967 dollars would be worth: $30,503.60 in 2015

$4,240 of 2015 dollars would be worth $589.36 in 1967

So tell me again why they won't exceed what they cost new in the future ???

MTPZ06

Read again...I never said "they wont". I said don't count on it any time soon, if ever. I guess I need to clarify my view on "if ever" for the immortal CF members. I however, have a lifespan that I'm cognizant of...so when I said "if ever", I'm speaking to someone's lifespan. Historical data used to speculate future returns is crystal ball gazing. Yes, inflation occurs...the concept isn't new to me. But I'm commenting on purchasing a ZR1 to buy and hold as an investment. If inflation is the only driving force in determining its future worth as an investment purchase...I'm out.

RidgeRunner0207

The joy of driving one outweighs any diminishing value.

You cannot put a price on driving one......I plan on living another 35-40 years..........I think I will get my moneys worth.

MTPZ06

MTPZ06

Sickening, isn't it? An old neighbor of mine had a 1960's Ferrari back in the 1990's...said he paid something like $50K for it, owned if for a few years and flipped it for ~$65K. He was ecstatic about that rate of return...until he thinks about the fact that car cant be touched for under $500K today.

Gary '09 C6

what always comes to mind is that many of us in the 60's/70's could have bought one of any number of "classic muscle cars"
new for around $125/mo. But I (and suspect many others) didn't have the $125, let alone the then insurance cost...the pristine
examples now command extraordinary dollars (to me).

RidgeRunner0207

OFF TOPIC:

I am 47 Years old, my father phoned me tonight to let me know one of our business partners from a business we sold in 2006 in which myself, my father and one other gentlemen were 1/3 owners each, his son had a minor outpatient back surgery 4 days ago, he was home and resting, had his follow up, no problems.

His wife found him dead in the bed today, he went to lay down to rest, he never woke up, preliminary cause of death, heart attack, dead at age 50.

I know some of you sit on a fence waiting.........your choice.......I want to smell the roses.

Love every day God gives you, appreciate things that you have and go after those you want.

Life is shorter than you think !!!

The guy was 50 years old and no previous medical conditions.

WTF

ylo73z

My wife goes with me driving in the zr1 when ever we can , she didn't even bat a eye when I dropped 20k on it modding it last month , then I laid the latest news that we still have another 10k to go to reach my 900whp goal . She didn't even think about it when she said ok ! ...guys who have old ladies that don't let them have fun or hate going fast in the car . Well
I feel bad for you . It's a awesome feeling have your wife cheer you on while you race a modded Porche on the freeway . .

z06vettewannabe

Man I hate hearing this stuff. It's happened too many times. I'm also 47 and just got done with my yearly physical. No problems, but it seems like the heart issues sometimes hits you with no indications. You just never know. This story certainly puts things in perspective. I definitely smell the roses and don't wait on things I want to do. Sorry to hear about your former business partner.

RidgeRunner0207

Thanks.......I learned from personal experience that every day is a gift, too many unknowns in the world, every day you wake up breathing is a good day.

LS3 Machine

Ok....I gotta chime in here. The best return on investment is in mutual funds. On average they double in value every 7-10 years. Cars RARELY go up in value, and by the time they do, most of us will be pushing daisies. Buy cars for fun, but mutual funds and MAYBE real estate for investment. Cars as an investment is fools gold.

RidgeRunner0207

I guess fools gold is making the miners at Mecum and Barrett Jackson poorer by the minute ?

I guess after 2008 if you didn't buy into real estate at foreclosure prices and bought in before the "correction" you will make money on real estate ?

If you factor interest and carrying costs on any property, if it does not appreciate faster than the costs of ownership with paydowns of principle and with taking necessary write off's its a loser.

The days of your parents and mine buying a starter home and selling to move to a bigger home and selling again to take equity and retire is gone for most people in most markets.

The Casino they call Wall Street is rigged by computers, traders and bankers all gaming you and me and everyone else.

Do people make money in investing in real estate and on the wall street Casino, yeah a small percentage do.

But I lost $400K in real Estate when the market corrected, my stock portfolio like everyone else took a hit.

We can disagree, home flippers who buy distressed home for cash and put little into them to rehab them in hot markets make money.

Traders that are well connected or get inside info and don't get caught make money.

Most of the rest of us "Get Lucky"

MGPete90

I work in finance (yeah one of "those guys that the media and Hillary hate") and I am a ZR1 owner as of last month. Here is my $0.02...

Your personal home is an expense
The market is generally overpriced right now (both private and public)
Owner's equity is the best way to get rich slowly and surely
Savings accounts actually lose money each year (inflation>interest)
You can only reduce your expenses so much, but you can always make more money

But...none of that matters here or in the grand scheme of things.

The car is purely for intrinsic value! Get the ZR1, and try not to smile too hard when you shift from the top of 3rd into 4th on a nice stretch of concrete. I have wanted a corvette since I was 16 and have specifically wanted a ZR1 since I was 22. Between taking my wife out on date nights, cruising with my son on a Saturday morning ride to have chats, and seeing my dad giggle like a kid as I pull 150+ coming out of 4th on an unnamed Mexican freeway is absolutely priceless.

C5Dobie

Most of what you're saying has elements of truth, however common knowledge accepts & history has proven that the "casino stock market" consistently provides a hefty ROI when looked @ from a weighted basis bird's eye view - the S&P 500 is around 13-14% gain historically since inception & somewhere in the 10% range over the last decade. W/ generic balanced ETF's available for purchase by the everyday investor, if you watch your cost basis & consistently "buy low" relative to that when you have extra $$$ to put into it, you will do OK long term.

In regards to real estate - location location location. Generally speaking, there are some areas of the country/world where a blind half retarded monkey couldn't go wrong if we're talking medium to "long" term real estate holdings (10-20 years in my mind). I live in the greater Boston area for instance, & aside from very specific exceptions you pretty much can't lose on real estate here, historically speaking.

As far as the ZR1 - again, like others have said - YOLO! It's a sick ride, more than likely if you live long enough it will appreciate, but who cares I'd buy it to enjoy it

RidgeRunner0207

CT ( my birth state ) is horrible for real estate in general - and just about everything else, weather included, that is why I left, unless you are in the gold coast, traders shorting and going long, IPO's rigged for the benefit of the few at the expense of the many. ( FAKEBOOK being a recent one )

I had a series 63 and 67 license 20+ years ago when I lived in CT, I know the old buy low, hold it, ect.....rule of 72, compound interest.

It still is a rigged game, no matter what anyone tell you, people make interest and modest gains, insiders make a killing, always have, skimming fractions with computers is the new norm.

You would have to hold all the proper stocks in order to get the gains you quoted, unless you are Warren Buffet you are not going to pick all the winners and none of the losers.

I got caught in the mess of the easy money, no money down market, all the life's losers that got adjustable rate mortgages and the idiots in DC who allowed it and the greedy agents and brokers getting less than credit worthy people bought on easy money for fat commissions. Ruined the market and transferred $trillions from the middle class to the 1% when they ( the 1%'ers ) came back in and bought real estate for pennies on the dollar, this is why home ownership is at an all time low and investors hold rentals that actually make money because many people are once again out of the home ownership market.

Now the same thing is going on again, people are way overpaying in hot markets, who will eventually see no gain or a loss when it hits the fan again.

But hey we can talk about it all day long, its a casino, the house wins more often than they lose, if things were not the way they are because of interference in the free market economics by bail-outs and deals a lot of what still has not corrected itself would be corrected.

That is why I don't give two ******'s anymore about a lot of things.

I live in the moment, I live for today, if I make it until tomorrow I will worry about it when I get there, and that is just how I look at life now, call me cynical, call me anything you want.

Keith.Joslyn

Funny I should find this tread at this point in my life. 4 years ago, at age 48, I had open heart surgery with a triple bypass. I had no warning, no signs, no indicators and yet BANG - there it was. So . . . here I am looking to enjoy some of my hard work. I have a 99 C5 base convertible. Not my first choice but the price was right and I purchased it from my dad, who was the original owner so there was some sentimental value. But I've got the yearning for something fast that I can enjoy getting an ice cream in and going to the track for a day or two a couple times a year and just to fill my competitive side I'd like to autoX the car too.

I started out looking at something like a 2008-9 Z06 with Nav. I'd plan on doing shocks and sway bars but I want to leave the engine stock. Then I saw a carbon option and said I've got to add that (yes I'm a boy racer at heart); then the Z07 package looked enticing. Where does it end? I don't have the money for a new C7 Z06 and frankly I don't want to take the beating that a new car typically gives regarding depreciation. Then I came across a very low mileage Z06 for less than half the price of new and it got me thinking and I found my way to this post. One concern about auto-X is tires. I think the ZR1 would have a problem finding competitive tires in the right size. How much does the mag ride really do for handling? Can it compare to Konis? is it even close to Penskes? Any comments? I'd love to hear more on this subject forum members who have experience with both cars. Thanks for looking at my first post.