My parents have no retirement savings, although my Dad expects a reasonable pension in a few years. He figures that with the pension and SS, they'll be alright on paying bills. That's fine.
Then he calls me yesterday and asks me to drop by after work to see the car he's thinking about buying, because he's afraid his work truck is going to bite the dust sometime soon. It's a used Cadillac.
Me: "Are you planning to drive this to work?? (Construction/Concrete)"
Dad: "No, I'll drive your Mom's Hyundai (Elantra)"
Me: "So, the Cadillac is for?"
Dad: "If your Mom needs to go somewhere (She doesn't work)"
Me: "How are you going to afford this?"
Dad: "We'll refinance the Hyundai along with this loan, and our payments will only go up $250/mo (Total $450/mo)"
Me: "So, you're going to raise your payments $250/mo, and your debt to $25k, for a car you don't need?"
Dad: "Your Mom's always wanted a Cadillac"
Me: "Then she should get a job to pay for the Cadillac! (Sounds mean, but she quit working when they really couldn't afford for her to)... Wait, you need a replacement for your work truck, why aren't you looking at small trucks?"
Dad: "That's what I went for initially, but I saw this, and wow it's a pretty car!"
Me: "It is very pretty, but that's $250 each month that could be going to other things"
Dad: "Like what?"
Me: "Savings! Flights to see your Grandchildren in Colorado, College funds, Health costs, just any emergency that might pop up!"
Dad: "Well, we need a new car."
Me: "Not yet, why don't you just put that $250/mo in a savings account, and if/when your truck dies, you can use that savings to buy something with cash?"
Dad: "It is a really pretty car"
I spent an hour or so that evening sending him links to used trucks and cars that were half the cost and similar mileage of the Cadillac. I also found that the price on the Cadillac was >$1000 over KBB value for buying from a dealer.
He said he was going to see if they would drop the price to match KBB... he's probably going to buy it. Ugh
Was I too harsh? I feel awfully judge-y, but they live barely paycheck-to-paycheck as is.