Who has paid off their car?

JLP over at AllFinancialMatters reports that he finally paid off his car. It's great not owing money on a depreciating asset like that! Personally, our car loans are some of the first debts we paid off after the credit cards. We've been without car loans for over 4 years now, and it feels great.

Anyway, it got me wondering -- I wonder how many people own their cars outright? Anyone know the stat?

Another way CC arbitrage hurts you

I always knew credit scores figured into how much you pay for insurance, but I never mentally put these two together. The fact is, 0% balance transfer and credit card arbitrage schemes wind up costing you money on your insurance premiums because premiums are more expensive when your credit score is lower. ...And clearly, having $100,000 on the books as a 0% loan is going to lower your credit score. So how much more will you pay for insurance? Looks like we'll never know.

Saving more than your parents

I came to the realization the other day that I have more savings than my parents -- seems kind of obvious, but it never really sunk in. After all, how is it possible that someone in their mid-30's has saved more money than their parents in their mid-60's?! Looking at the numbers, it's shocking: I have 3x more saved than they do. Absolutely shocking to me.

Anyway, I've been worried about them and their finances for some time now. I hope they will eventually pull together a plan, formally retire, and hopefully not run out of money. It should be possible with their current savings and home equity, unless debt and rampant consumerism takes over.

Anyway, anyone else out there hit this point and realize that they now have more savings than their parents?

(photo courtesy of: Indigo Goat)