On Feb 6, 1:10�pm, Tim wrote:
I wonder if they are the ones buying up all the Grand Banks?



A key measure of each district's wealth was the number of single-filer
taxpayers earning more than $100,000 a year and married couples filing
jointly who earn more than $200,000 annually, he said.- Hide quoted text -


Hardly. Families with a total household income of $200k aren't in a
realistic position to dump well over $1mm into a boat. At 6.75 APR,
payments on a $1mm balance for 15 years are $8850 a month. Stretching
to 20 years drops the note to $7600. In either case, that boat is
going to cost soemthing close to $10,000 a month all in, all done,
before it ever leaves the dock. That would be 60% of the gross income
of a $200k per year family, and maybe 70-75% of spendable net.

Paying cash simply creates an opportunity cost instead of interest
expense. The amount of money $1mm could earn in a low or moderate risk
investment then becomes the "cost" of buying a relatively pricey boat.

If anybody asked my financial advice (and nobody does) I'd suggest
that about 10% of net worth is good figure to tie up in all toys
combined. If all you have is a boat, fine, spend 10%. But if you've
got a motorhome, some expensve motorcycles, off road vehicles, etc the
total sunk into all of them combined should be about 10%. IMO.
A typical management-level family earning $200k probably has a net
worth of somewhere between $1mm- $5mm, depending on age, whether
anything has been inherited along the way, and whether there has been
any financial discipline in personal money management.

According to Uncle Chuck's Sage Financial Advice, two mid-managers
grossing $200k should *typically* be looking at a boat somewhere under
$500k.
:-)