Dave Ramsey doesn't like timeshares

[davidvel]

I was responding to a quote that said that it is easy to become a millionaire in California and that everyone LAtravel knows is a millionaire. I was also responding because the statement was made that the millionaires LAtravel knew who purchased Marriott bought from the developer because they didn't need to buy resale inferring that those who purchase resale could not afford to buy from the developer. I was simply responding to those remarks, not bashing all of California.

Thanks for the clarification, tombo. Don't get me wrong either, I agree wholeheartedly on the issue of wasting money, and it is not easy to become a millionaire, but... I think you just picked a bad example talking about Marin, CA. The numbers in California are truely staggering.

I really like the opinions and vigorous debate, but don't like when mis-stated facts confuse the argument. My point was that practically everyone in Marin is a millionare (and then some). Marin's residents (not workers there) as a whole bring in about 22B in income each year. (248,096 residents * 91K income).

Also the statistic you cite as to the number of millionaires in California excludes from net wealth their primary residence. http://blogs.wsj.com/wealth/2008/05/05/california-boasts-most-millionaires/ If you added in the equity in people's homes, that number would skyrocket.

P.S. I live far from Marin county. California is broke because, the elected officials spend more thatn they take in, lock in spending every year on programs called entitlements that cannot be stopped in bad times, and have the highest public employee expenses in the nation, among other reasons . . . .

But the weather sure is nice!

 

[josh1231]

I think your guys facts might be off. I see you got your numbers for per-capita income from Wikipedia, an always reliable source . The 2007 census lists the annual household income in Marin County as ~$106K, not the absurdly high ~$335K that a previous poster listed. So unless the average household has only 1.1 person it it the per capita is off.

I think where you both are incorrect is that the person who wrote the Wikipedia article incorrectly used the term per-capita income, when they should have used something else.

Although I could be wrong.

 

[lovearuba]

Agree somewhat

Buying a timeshare from the developer or from the time share companies is foolish - anyone disagree? Good... we all agree with Dave and Susie then.
As far as the value of purchasing a timeshare any other method? That's where it get's complicated - with the many different ways to purchase a timeshare on the resale market.

To really understand their advice about the matter, you would have to fully understand exactly what they mean by "purchasing a timeshare". Personally, I'm not worried about it... sorry.

These type of discussions keep showing up on TUG, and it's always the same conclusion.

Given my experience, I would say its a bad decision to buy one but it is also a personal choice which makes it my decision. Others feel differently. I also think once you determine you want to buy one and you take that big plunge, its really really hard to admit you made a mistake so you are likely to defend the decision. I did this for awhile until it was no longer something I could even defend.

 

[davidvel]

I think your guys facts might be off. I see you got your numbers for per-capita income from Wikipedia, an always reliable source . The 2007 census lists the annual household income in Marin County as ~$106K, not the absurdly high ~$335K that a previous poster listed. So unless the average household has only 1.1 person it it the per capita is off.

My figures were not from wikipedia (although the Marin county PCI numbers were accurate). They were from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Department of Commerce. I even included a link to the source.
In my example I did not mean to say that the average family of four in Marin, makes $365K. I was loosely responding to the assertion that a per capita income of 91K for a county was not high enough to lead to millionaires .

What I should of said is that multiplying the average per capita income times four people results in the $365k in income. Obviosuly, children don't bring in $91K a year, so the hypothetical "family" is a bit off. In fact this means that some bring in hundreds of thousands if not millions per year.

It is still shocking that the residents of that county bring in 33.6B per year in income. Good catch!

 

[dioxide45]

I wonder if Dave Ramsey or Suze Orman own any timeshares? They could be among us right now as a fellow Tugger....