You do realize that there is a big difference between a salary of 50k a year and what a person making that actually gets to take home. After taxes, social security, health care, 401k, ect. expect to only take home about 2/3 of that amount.

Then you have to split that remaining 2/3 between housing, food, car and a multitude of other things. Although from the sounds of it your parents are probably very well off and you won't have to worry about rent and stuff.

 

What do you think the take home pay on $50k/year is after you pay uncle sam, the state, local taxes (if applicable), health insurance/health savings, 15% to 401k (if you don't do this and you buy a vette, you are going to be broke your whole life), disability insurance, union dues if you are in a nurse's union, etc.? I'd be surpised if you take home $32k. Then pay your apartment, utilities, rental insurance, feed and cloth yourself, put 5%-10% of your take home into savings for emergencies (and for flexability...i.e. your best friend wants you to fly out to vegas for the weekend), then pay for car expenses. If you get a vette, and drive it daily, say 15k mi/year. That's about 750 gallons of gas (vette gets good mileage on the highway, but when it's cold, or off highway, or your having fun it slurps it down). At $4/gallon premium gas (don't say that's too high, we are talking 3 years out and we've already seen this price before), that's $3k. 2 oil changes a year, if you do it yourself, will cost atleast $100. Tires every 12-18 months at that mileage (figure about $1k/year). At least $500 year on average over a 10 year car life for misc repairs. Also, in 10 years, you'll need a new car, which means, you need to save 10% of the cost of a new car per year just so when this one dies you can buy another. Oh, and when I was your age, it cost $200/month to insure me to drive a toyota corolla. Depending on where you live, it may be $300-$400 month until you are 25 or so. You can't do this on $50k/year. No financial advisor would say it is wise to spend 70% of your gross income on a car (unless you have many years of gross income in savings, and you aren't buying a daily driver). You buy the car, the rest of your life is going to suck and you won't be able to crawl out of the financial disaster you started.

 

Richmen6.....why set your goals so low....your only 15....by the time you turn 18...you should easily have 100K saved.

Then you can go out, get a New ZR1, go to nursing school, then Med School...

If your interested, I am looking to hire someone your age, starting salary is $50K a year ( tax free ) no skills/experience required .

 

The majority of everything is being paid by my parents (house, food, etc). My nursing school is being paid by my parents and other scholarships. I'm not going to drive my corvette daily it's more of a weekend driver.

 

1)sometimes, most people who own corvettes are older and have attained the ability to have an impractical vehicle
2) no way in hell is it deductable. Last year the sales tax was deductable but i'm not sure if that's in effect this year, probably not. You haven't paid income tax yet, and you probably won't until you are 23-24. Your dad will claim you until your done with college and out of the house.
3) you don't have to park out far, but if you want to keep your car nice you will. And this doesn't go for just vettes, any car really. People who insist on parking up front are lazy. So they are going to be lazy with their car door and parking as well.

I bought my first vette when I was 18. I had 30k to spend. I ended up buying a C4 for 7k. It wasn't the nicest and I sold it and upgraded to a late model C4 that I had until I was 27. Last year at 27 yo, and after I got back from 15 months in Iraq I bought a new one.

Don't start off with a C6, let alone a Z06. These cars are ridiculously fast.

Buy a late model C4 or early C5. Keep some cash in reserves for maintenance and tires. And enjoy your teenage and young adult hood. If you grow up with a HP vehicle, you'll end up respecting the power, and i believe end up a MUCH better driver than your peers.
Insurance on a C4 and C5 will be MUCH less than on a C6. You'll end up paying as much insurance for the C6 as you will your loan payment. Dumb idea.

With that said, I don't know you. But just make sure you are mature enough to drive a car, let alone one with 300+hp and an under 10 lbs per hp.

 

Great goal. Go for it. I did. But I did take the advice from a lot of the responses posted.

My plan at your age.
1. Saved my money.
2. Kept my driving record clean ( no tickets or accidents).
3. Starting looking for my first corvette at 20.
4. Purchased first Corvette at 21 ( due to insurance concerns ).

At 21 with a clean driving history, the insurance was affortable. Plus, for my first corvette, I bought one used, about 5 years old, to help with the insurance coverage as well.

Keep your goal. Keep your record clean and strive to have that Corvette, real soon.

the best of luck,,

 

Hat's off to people who can make plans like these come to reality (making plans like these is a whole lot easier). When I was 15, all I wanted was a new stereo. Oh well, times change.

 

I am 27 and bought my Vette a few months ago. The Vette is my 4th car that I have owned. I am fairly young and have a pretty decent income, but let me warn you about getting a Corvette as a first car:
The warning will come in the form of progression, MY progression through cars.
My first car was a 97 Grand Am, then a 2001 Mitsubishi Eclipse GT, then a 2008 Infinity G37S, and THEN the Corvette.

There was a considerable upgrade through each of these cars.
If I had started out with a Corvette, what would be my upgrade?

For me, I am single, I don't have any responsibilities other than myself, so I look to entertain myself. I don't care much for vacationing, so I spend most of my money on my cars. So what's next? Where do you go after you get bored with your Vette after a few years?

It is GREAT that you have a plan. Several people have said that already, and it can not be said enough. It is great that you are taking this seriously enough to post on a forum and seek the opinions of others as well.

I don't want to tell you not to go after your goal, but I do want to caution you about what it will do to you in the long run. I am not concerned with the money part. People say that the economy is bad.. blah blah. Anyone who is determined and has a brain in the US can still make good money. Most people are lazy and have bad attitudes.

I just don't want you to be at a point when you are 27 when you feel that you need to have a Ferrari, because you will then want to own a helicopter at 32. At 40, you will have a jet, but then what do you do at 50?

 

this is a good thread. i hope you learn a few things. i am young too, just 25. took me until 24 to buy my vette (used).

First off, the answers to all your questions is no. The corvette is a great car affordable car. most owners are middle class hard workers. in fact, most F250s and Suburbans you see on the road likely cost more than many Corvettes. And there is nothing tax deductible about a Corvette. That'd be nice. Your dad sounds bitter toward Corvettes for some reason.

I started working when i turned 15 making $6/hr working about 20 hours per week, sometimes over 40 in the summer. later made up to $8.50 per hour, then as much as $11/hr in college. I never made more than about $6000 in a year until I was 21, then I made just over $10,000 when i was 22 in my last year of school and a couple of months in a real job. While in high school i was able to put about 75% in savings. college is expensive. i was blessed that my parents paid my tuition/fees/books/rent for 8 semesters, but i had to pay for summer school, food, gas, insurance, girlfriend, everything else. there were times in college i had depleted ALL of my savings.

you would have to make about $10/hr, work an average of 30 hours per week every week, and not spend a dime and after taxes, you may be able to save $12,000 in a year. but it is much harder than you think. gas, tires is expensive. you say this will be a weekend car and drag racer. what about paying for your other car? drag racing is very expensive!

i really appreciate your goals and your passion and i will be the last guy to tell you "dont get a nice car" or "that car is more than you can handle". all i am trying to say is your numbers on paper are not as realistic as you think. i just don't want you to be heartbroken, but if you pull it off, that is awesome!

btw, get the Z06, before you get that yellow one with the procharger.

 

You do make some good points. I would be done with nursing school when I'm 20 considering the min is 2 years. The money I earned during that time can be put to maintenance, etc. When I'm 21 I would expect around 60-70k in my saving if I keep doing my job and making 12k a year. A used C6 atm is around $40k maybe lower when I'm 21 considering how the cars go down in value. I would have 30k to leave in my saving account for repairs, gas, etc.
How affordable was the insurance at 21?.

 

Richman 6 , Listen to what's in your heart! Have a dream, set a plan in motion, and work toward it. Don't listen to the people who throw negative thoughts your way, they are like arrows which will bleed your dreams dry.Your dad will change his mind once you reach 18 , because of the will you possess. Put a little bit of money each month into the stock market ,do research ,and pick stocks you know and understand,( Warren Buffet). You could triple or quadruple your investment in three years, I did!! Read everything you can about his investment strategy, their is a lot of information out there. Write him a personal letter, you never know, he just might answer it. Believe in yourself.Believe in your dreams. Good Luck and smooth driving.

 

Yes people who buy vettes have WAY to much money ... mine was burning a hole in my pocket so I wanted to ditch it as fast as possible so I bought a vette.

People that buy corvettes are exempt from taxes

parking you can do whatever you want its your car

and your dad will let you get a porsche because they are slow... he is probably afraid that the vette is to much of a car for you.

 

2 yr program is for LPN....they make less than Registered nurses ( RN )

$70K.....

 

your assumptions are very optimistic...

you vastly over-estimate you driving skills... at 15 you have no license and have no experience.. but, a typical teenager is not focused enough when driving, too distracted, thinks of themself as invulnerable and takes too many chances, and will see 3-5 tickets and probably a number of accidents (and possibly even a few total losses) within the first few years... learn to drive in a car that will let you learn, will forgive your mistakes, and you can walk away from after you total it (both physically and psychologically)...

you vastly under-estimate the driving skills necessary to drive a corvette... it is a beast and will totally dominate an inexperienced driver and can get you into very big trouble very quickly and very often...

you vastly under-estimate you expenses... you will be 18 and will want to experience life, especially after you get a job and start making a real income... you will not want to live like a hermit and save all of your money, nor should you..

you vastly over-estimate your income... you will not make anywhere near $50k a year with a 2 year nursing degree... also, a 2 year nursing degree (AS) does not put you 2 years towards a 4 year nursing degree (BS)... and a BS in nursing does not put you any nearer to an MD than any other degree...

besides, if you live your dream at 18, what do you have left to look forward to the rest of your life...

 

What took you so long? I'm 6 right now and have owned my vette for 3 years.

 

HOTWHEELS! .... dont tell me you have the pink barbi one?

 

My son just turned 16. There is no way I would allow him to have a C6 Corvette as a first car. They are way to powerful of a vehicle for an inexperienced driver, infact they are a lot to handle for a lot of experienced drivers.

Almost everyday I see the kids at the local high school driving like idiots in their rice burners and Mustangs. Recently a girl was killed and a few others injured when the 17 year old driver took a turn too fast and lost control of the car and rammed into a tree. I drive that road every day and they must have been going real fast to lose control like that.

Dreams and goals are a good thing to have. I had very similar ones when I was your age and worked my a$$ off to make them happen, but did not get my first Corvette until my early 40's. But along the way I have had many cars. From an SS-454 Chevelle, a Z-28 and a 9 second big block Camaro. None of those cars compares to the instant power the C6 has. I'm glad I did the progression I did because now I can appreciate just how special the C6 really is and it make me want to improve my driving skills to be able to get the most out of the car.

My advice, FWIW, is save your money as you plan, but use it for a down payment on a reasonable house with a big garage. Then work on filling that garage with the toys.

Keep on dreaming.

Good luck

Tom

 

I hope you ment 60 haha. 16-21 I will gain driving experience. I will buy my first corvette around the age of 21. By then insurance would be lower, corvette would be cheaper then they used to be, etc.

 

Laugh all you want, He said the min. is two years, R.N. in three. I live in the Chicago area and R.N. can get all the over time they want at time and a half. He can make what he stated,easy to do if you are motivated.

 

My answers to your questions above in bold.

You have a very aggressive plan and it sounds doable. No offensive, but your only 15. When I was 15 I lost count of how many times I changed my mind. Each time I had a plan I thought this was the one that I really wanted, two weeks later I forgot what is was.

Go ahead and start your plan. See how things are going a year from now. (write and let us know). If your still on track and doing well, I'd say your on the road to achieving your goal. Good Luck.