TMCP #552: Ask Rick – Is it Wise (or Possible) to Have Collector Cars as Your Retirement Investment?
It is September and football is back!!! It is also time for another riveting Ask Rick segment were I ask him the tough questions that not everyone wants to hear. As always Rick delivers sage advice and wisdom founded in years of buying and selling classic vehicles. When it comes to cars as investment, possibly a with a great ROI, Rick has strong opinions and advice here. Can it be done? Short answer; yes! Should it be done? Long answer……maybe.
As with all things, it depends what you understand and where you can make your gain on the purchase of the car initially. For Rick and his dad, their collection has immense value today of course, but every car in inventory was chosen for it’s specialness to the Schmidt’s not as a hedge on a great investment. They chose high quality low mile original cars and didn’t just stick to muscle cars. Their collection has many examples of unique rare American cars that have less than 1000 miles (think Rivieras, Eldorado’s, and Lincoln’s).. Some have interiors with the delivery plastic still in place! Others are beautifully restored treasures. Today, it’s paid off. Technically, it could payoff if they ever chose to sell….which they almost never do!
TMCP #456 – Ask Rick, The Realities of Classic Cars as Investments; Which 2021 Muscle Cars Are Collectible?
Investing: In this day and age of huge government stimulus packages, thoughts turn to rising costs and inflation. Since our audience could invest in something, why not follow Rick’s model and invest in what they know best; cars! Rick shared that one of the lessons his father believed most was to invest in yourself first, and as such the stock market is now where he chose to invest but instead in his businesses and in assets. The car collection they curated…..wasn’t actually for an investment though, though it resulted in one. In addition they chose to purchase low mile, highly optioned cars not as speculation bets, but simply because they liked them! Some are rare, some are not, but all are special. Today if they wished to sell a portion of the collection they would certainly see a great return….but that day may or may not ever come. Why? They still like the cars!