You are probably referring to pharmaceutical sales. It is a competitive environment in that field because that area doesn't actually require a PharmD, although it'd really be beneficial to have one. There are positions in BigPharma that are solely restricted to those with PharmD and they usually pay much better for the amount of working that you would do (clinical trials come to mind).

I've known many people that were offered $100+k and a substantial housing allowance in California working for CVS Corporate.

Many 5th and 6th year pharmacy students have told me that Alaska was willing to pay a LOT for pharmacists. The contract was $1million/3 years. I'm not sure what the other specifics were...it must have been that you agree to have your life suck for 3 years.

 

Agree. Based on my current expenses and income and projected income (next 2 years) due to military obligations, I could safely afford the car. If the future works out the way I want it to (which is just to do well in pharmacy and graduate), then a sub $30k car is absolutely not a problem at all.

 

For the record, my preference is the Legacy 2.5GT 5spd unless Nissan offers some ridiculous incentives this month. It has conservative styling (could blend in with Accord), it is reliable, it is less expensive (about as much as a V6 Accord), and it has AWD. It is NJ and I do need a vehicle that can get through some pretty bad snow storms just in case and I need something reliable enough because my dad is moving to Florida because of his job. It does leave room for future mods if I do come up with extra cash and time.

 

Wow I must be Poor. I own two homes, three watercraft " All Moded out " and my 06 Z with all the normal bolt on parts.
I have done all this on 45K. It's not hard.

 

agreed, not too hard. It's easy to get financed for a car nowadays. As long as you have good credit, there is always some loop hole to get a car. i know that's not what you asked, but i would say try and make sure you can get the car first, after that, it seems easy to make car payments.

 

I make 50k a year.

 

wait, wait, 1K rent in NY? where do you live....freaking Niagara? (the US side)

 

I'm ok at 48k

It all depends on your "luxuries" of life...

and what you feel are necessities to your well being... subtract that from your income plus daily living expenses, that in itself equals the amount you can afford to pay per month for a car...

 

Your salary doesn't matter. All you have to do is just save your money and buy the car with cash. Simple really. Borrowing money to buy a car, particularly an expensive toy like the Z is really stupid. The only time you should borrow money to buy a car is if you can get financing at a rate that is less than what your invested money is earning. The problem there is that usually you can only get those nice rates on new cars, not used.

Look at it this way. Lets say that new 2009 Z is going to cost you $35,000 (could be less or more depending on the trim, options etc...)

If you can get a 5 year auto loan at 7% interest on that $35,000, your payments will be about $693 a month. After 5 years, you will have a 5 year old car that you paid $41,580 for that is only worth $14,000. If you sold it after paying it off, that car would have cost you $27,580 to own for those 5 years.

Now, let's say you stick $693/month in a money market account at 3.25% interest. After 3 years you would have $26,168 in the bank. That would be enough to buy a used 2010 Z. In three years you would have a 2 year old car. If you kept putting that $693 in the bank each month for another 2 years for a total of the same 5 years in the first example, you would have a 4 year old car worth $18,000 plus over $17,000 in the bank.

Look at it another way. If you are going to spend $693/month for a car you can either borrow it to buy a new car in 2009 and have a 5 year old car worth $14,000 when you are done or...

Put $693/month in the bank, and buy a 2010 car in three years and after five years you would have a 4 year old car and over $17,000 cash.

Again, borrowing money to buy a car is probably the biggest financial mistake anyone can make. Buy a used econobox for cash, drive it for three years while you save you money. You'll be way ahead of the game particularly when you are just starting out with work and a career.

 

In most cases I'd agree with +2% APR, I'd probably rather buy in cash than borrow.

But with so many manufacturers offering sub 1% APRs for 60 months, you actually benefit from stretching a 0% APR loan out as long as you can if you intend on keeping the vehicle for a while.

Due to inflation $30,000 now is worth more than $30,000 later. If a 0% APR for 60 month incentive came out and I did have $30,000 in cash right now, I'd rather take the 0%APR for 60 months. I believe this is what you meant to say.

 

I agree with you actually. I bought a new 2002 Ford Explorer at the end of the model year because Ford was offering 0% financing for a 5 year loan. At that rate, the savings from using their money for 5 years, plus the tax advantages of depreciation (I was able to write it off on taxes), more than outweighed the horrendous depreciation of a new and expensive vehicle.

However, for most folks who can't get 2% financing and can't write off the depreciation on their taxes, I'd still suggest that borrowing to buy a car is a mistake.

 

+1

I have a wife (who changes jobs regularly), a mortgage (more than 1k), student loans, just bought a house OMG lets get/fix $hit payoffs, so getting a $35k+ car would leave me vulnerable for fail.

 

before taxes.

 

Its going to cost you a arm and a leg.

 

damn Rutgers students! now i know where all my taxes are going, to subsidize Z payments!!!

when i went to Rutgers (2000), i thought it was a 5 year pharmacy program (i believed they changed it after i graduated)? how long is the doctorate program, 8?

 

****...id live in alaska for 300k+ a year...i love it up there.

 

It's bc u don't live in jersey bra

 

It is now mandatory 6 years for a PharmD. They do this by limited the number of credits you can transfer.

 

True

Good financial planning > Good income