Questions and answers about cars, refinancing and wealth accumulation
Keep divorced wife in a safe car?
Dear Dave,
My wife is divorcing me and we just had our first baby. I feel it is my responsibility to take care of her until her divorce is finalized and to keep her in a safe vehicle. She right now drives a 1982 Honda Civic, and it’s so small that any kind of accident could be a disaster. I’m thinking of buying him a new car. What do you think?
Miguel
Dear Mike,
I am so sorry you are going through all of this, especially with a new baby in the mix. I appreciate your nobility and attitude to the situation, but you must realize that once you get divorced, it is no longer your responsibility to take care of your wife. Divorce brings a lot of emotional stress and worry to everyone involved, but I don’t think buying her a new car will solve anything. In fact, it can lead her to expect even more from you later on.
I’m going to wildly assume that the truth of the matter is that you’re worried about your son, and all of this is breaking your heart. That’s natural, Mike, and it means you love your baby. But a safe car doesn’t have to mean a new car. You could put her in a 1974 Suburban and she’d be safe because those things are tanks!
If it were me, I’d find a very large used car, one that any of you could pay for with cash, and let her drive off into the sunset. But spend every second you can cuddling and loving your little one. He’s going to need someone like you in his life.
-Dave
The mobile home as an investment resource?
Dear Dave,
I have a mobile home that I still owe $28,000 on and that I use as a rental property. It sits on an acre of land that is worth about $10,000 and I paid for it a few years ago. I am thinking of refinancing the mobile home and going from an 11.25% interest rate to 8%. Do you think I should do this?
Karen
Dear Karen,
I’d refinance the RV, but here’s a bigger problem. Should you KEEP the mobile home? And the answer is no.
Right now you have a lot of cash wrapped up in something that is losing value like a rock. I’d sell that thing in a heartbeat, Karen. Otherwise, you’ll see $28,000 worth of mobile homes turn into around $8,000 in the next few years. That is not a good investment strategy.
-Dave
Question Dave’s ‘loads of cash’ comments
Dear Dave,
You are always talking about accumulating lots of cash. I’ve been going to church for several years, and the Bible says don’t lay up treasure on earth. Doesn’t that mean we shouldn’t accumulate wealth or be greedy?
Jorge
Dear George,
The Bible also says in Proverbs that in the house of the wise there are provisions of choicest foods and oil. If you look back in the scriptures you will find that many of the main biblical characters were very wealthy people who understood that they were not the owners of money and wealth. They understood that their job was to handle these things properly for the glory of God.
I can appreciate your concern, George, but when I talk about lots of cash, my frame of reference is that we should manage our money and other possessions for good and for God. It’s not about greed or use to buy bigger and better things for ourselves.
But you can’t do good if you don’t have the strength to do it.
-Dave