http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-rise-of-the-five-figure-bicycle-2014-08-20 "Last year Ted Perry dipped into his 401(k) to buy a $20,000 bicycle." edit: Not calling the guy stupid. Calling the whole $10,000+ bicycle unbelievable. I am pretty sure someone could hand lay a CF frame and fork then CNC the whole drivetrain for $ 20,000 and still make a handsome profit.
Withdrawing money from a 401k and paying penalties to buy a bike: stupid Spending disposable income on something one enjoys: smart
All 4 of my bikes don't add up to $20K. But every non cyclist I know thinks I am stupid for how much I spend
He paid $20,000 for a bicycle?!!? with HIS OWN MONEY??!!?? Good for him! Remember... It's only overkill if YOU can't afford it.
having worked in a bike shop in Irvine, i've seen several $15k bikes. usually Colnago C59's ($4k right there) with Super Record (about the same), light wheels and the best stem/bar/seat/posts that can be had. would i own one? hells no. why? i dont need to be able to feel every ants butt crack that I ride over. dont even get me onto mad fiber wheels. talk about flexy. it's interesting leaning one way on a turn and watching your rim go another direction. still, people with $$$ spending $$$ on bikes keeps them out riding or gets them riding again. i dont see an issue there.
Agreed, the issue here was he took it from his IRA with penalties to pay for it...so no, he could not really afford it. But you're still correct - who cares, his money = his choice and he's happy about...good for him!
it's a perspective as well. we all used to think that $5k used to be insane $ on a bike. now, not so much.
$20K from his 401-K for a bike? That WAS a dumb move, he should have taken out a home equity loan or charged it on his credit cards....geez, some people....
#yolo haha like others mentioned - spending $20k is one thing if you make decent coin. To take out a loan for a bicycle is a bit too intense for me. I do see a lot of $5,000 bikes on the back of $5,000 cars, haha. (Kind of guilty of that too, haha) If that bike made him income that might be a different story.
What's really stupid here is that he took his money out of retirement fund and bought only ONE bike. Any financial adviser would tell you not to put all your eggs in one basket so he really should of gotten at least 2 20k bikes to spread his risks out.
Pretty funny how some people are so judgemental about what other people are doing with THEIR money. If the guy wants to buy a bike, he buys a bike. If he had kept that money in a 401K and died before he could use it, then the buying the bike was the right choice for him.
Sung to the tune of Stevie Wonders greatest hit... Isn't it funny.. Isn't it wonderful Isn't it precious Posts less than one minute old I never thought through posts we'd be Laughing as hard as are we But isn't it funny, made by me...
I think it was in the comments section of the article, but spending $20K on a bike is no different than someone spending $150K+ on a car. Are people buying Ferrari's and Lambo's driving them to the limit? No, they just want a cool car (that they might not be able to afford). So, as far as spending $20k on a bike, maybe the guy just wanted a very nice custom ti bike. Nothing with that. As far as taking the money from his 401K, we don't know how much he has in there, what penalties he may have incurred, etc... Maybe he's well enough off and has his other money tied up in investments. Only he knows.