Hi All- I am 24yo and I am needing to buy my first car. I am debating between leasing and financing for a few different reasons. I know that leasing is rarely the financially smart option but hoping to get opinions still.
I have a job and make roughly $55K a year, expected to raise about $10K later this year. I have $30K in savings, $12K in my 401K and 15K in a ROTH-IRA. My debt includes student loans only, which total roughly $23K at this point, however only 3 of them ($7K total) have an interest rate above 3%, so hoping to pay those off first and let the rest payoff on a payment plan since I make more having money sit in a HYSA than paying off the debt up front.
I am either looking to finance a CPO car, the on I am looking at is $23K, I'd put $7 down and finance the remaining roughly $18K after taxes, financing looks like $350 over 5 years with a 6.25% loan rate (absolute lowest I can find) - Other option I am looking at is just leasing a car, I wouldn't put anything down (beside taxes and fees of course) and monthly payment would be higher but I would still have more money in my savings accounts.
At first I was absolute on financing and just taking the money from my savings to put a good chunk down but now I am back to square one with leasing. I know leasing you don't have any equity but right now I feel like I would rather have more liquid assets than I would take out a loan and accumulate more debt (though I know that's just how car buying works). Nonetheless, any advice would be super helpful and appreciated.
Thanks!
original posted by ProfessionalSky9159 to r/personalfinance on Fri, 12 Apr 2024 15:54:29 GMT.