91TwighlightGT
Dirt-Old 20+Year Member
I dIdn't say it was a GREAT investment, but he still came out ahead. The nice thing about a tangible asset is that you still have it if it no matter what.
Imagine if he had purchased a bunch of stock in internet companies - he would have been looking good until about 2000 - when they went to 0. Or if he bought an index fund, which is fine, but sold it when the bottom fell out in 2000 or 2009. Not a great investment then.
Just because it’s a tangible asset doesn’t mean it can’t lose value or be affected by the ebb and flow of the market just like anything else.
classic car prices take a beating in recessions as well. We’ve seen a housing bubble implode in recent history. Nothing is guaranteed.
Anyway, my point was simply that investing with a diversified portfolio would have netted a better gain than investing in a car. You’d have to be really lucky to own a car that appreciates at the same rate as even a moderately successful diversified stock portfolio.
This is all academic if owning the car has brought the owner some joy or other intangible that we can’t account for. If he literally bubble wrapped it and shoved it in a crate for 30 years... probably not worth it.