art of animation vs. deluxe??

[bethymouse]

AOA is new, but certainly not value priced with the suites. IMHO that is a bit deceiving. But, I am spoiled, so we try to save $ to stay at a deluxe resort. The monorail is a nice convenience, but not a " be all end all" for us. If I had the choice though, I'd choose the Contemporary, but that's just me.

 

[Fordlover]

as far as timeshares go, you should evaluate your needs/desires before buying in. My parents bought a time share 30+ years ago, and never once used it. They finally unloaded the thing about 5 years back, after paying year after year of maintenance fees, and paying off the original time share cost.

Stories like that one will likely prevent me from ever considering a DVC membership.

 

[GoofGoof]

as far as timeshares go, you should evaluate your needs/desires before buying in. My parents bought a time share 30+ years ago, and never once used it. They finally unloaded the thing about 5 years back, after paying year after year of maintenance fees, and paying off the original time share cost.

Stories like that one will likely prevent me from ever considering a DVC membership.

I think you would be hard pressed to find anyone who would argue that buy was a good investment. I don't think that automatically makes buying a timeshare or DVC a bad idea either. If you don't plan on using it you shouldn't buy it. I think that should probably go without saying.

 

[psukardi]

I'm not treating mine as an investment just a way to force myself to take a break from working and vacation

 

[GoofGoof]

I'm not treating mine as an investment just a way to force myself to take a break from working and vacation

Yeah, I use the word investment meaning an outlaying of money with some future benefit as opposed to a pure financial investment. I'm not referring to it as an investment like a stock or a beach house that you hope would appreciate in value and you could sell for a gain. I bought a Honda Accord about 11 years ago that has just short of 250,000 miles on it. I call it a great investment since it has lasted so long and was incredibly reliable. I don't expect to get a whole lot for it when I sell it.

 

[Fordlover]

Yeah, I use the word investment meaning an outlaying of money with some future benefit as opposed to a pure financial investment. I'm not referring to it as an investment like a stock or a beach house that you hope would appreciate in value and you could sell for a gain. I bought a Honda Accord about 11 years ago that has just short of 250,000 miles on it. I call it a great investment since it has lasted so long and was incredibly reliable. I don't expect to get a whole lot for it when I sell it.

Yeah, there is a big difference between a great value, and a great investment. Investments should earn some type of capital return. Rarely are cars an investment, but they can be a great value, like your Honda.

My cable company keeps trying to sell me on this deal that will "save me a bunch of money," by signing me up for a 92 dollar a month plan. Only one problem with that idea is that I pay only 53 a month currently, so how is that saving me money when I'll be spending more-talk about backwards thinking.

I have no doubt DVC can be a money saver for some people, but I also predict that some people end up losing big time in the deal as well. As always, YMMV.

 

[GoofGoof]

Yeah, there is a big difference between a great value, and a great investment. Investments should earn some type of capital return. Rarely are cars an investment, but they can be a great value, like your Honda.

My cable company keeps trying to sell me on this deal that will "save me a bunch of money," by signing me up for a 92 dollar a month plan. Only one problem with that idea is that I pay only 53 a month currently, so how is that saving me money when I'll be spending more-talk about backwards thinking.

I have no doubt DVC can be a money saver for some people, but I also predict that some people end up losing big time in the deal as well. As always, YMMV.

Not trying to drag this out, but investment has a different definition in finance and economics. In finance an investment is the purchase of something with the expectation of either capital appreciation, dividends or interest income. In economics an investment is considered the purchase of an asset with future economic benefit. This is why you will see a manufacturing company talk about building a new factory or buying a more efficient piece of machinery as an investment. They don't typically intend to sell that factory down the road for a gain, but it does have a planned future economic benefit (either to generate future income or reduce futre costs). Disney building new rides in the parks or buying electric busses are economic investments.

DVC is not really a financial investment since by design it doesn't generate dividend or interest income and has a finite life and expires worthless at the end of the contract (although in limited cases it has the potential to be a financial investment in the short term with the resale market). It is an economic investment. When you buy in you are paying cash today for an asset with a potential future economic benefit. You will be staying for less money than the cash rate in the future. Whether it is a good investment or not will depend on things like how much you use it, how much your initial upfront cash payout could have earned if invested somewhere else and how much cash hotel rates go up vs maintenance fees.

 

[Fordlover]

Not trying to drag this out, but investment has a different definition in finance and economics. In finance an investment is the purchase of something with the expectation of either capital appreciation, dividends or interest income. In economics an investment is considered the purchase of an asset with future economic benefit. This is why you will see a manufacturing company talk about building a new factory or buying a more efficient piece of machinery as an investment. They don't typically intend to sell that factory down the road for a gain, but it does have a planned future economic benefit (either to generate future income or reduce futre costs). Disney building new rides in the parks or buying electric busses are economic investments.

DVC is not really a financial investment since by design it doesn't generate dividend or interest income and has a finite life and expires worthless at the end of the contract (although in limited cases it has the potential to be a financial investment in the short term with the resale market). It is an economic investment. When you buy in you are paying cash today for an asset with a potential future economic benefit. You will be staying for less money than the cash rate in the future. Whether it is a good investment or not will depend on things like how much you use it, how much your initial upfront cash payout could have earned if invested somewhere else and how much cash hotel rates go up vs maintenance fees.

Agreed, an investment doesn't have to be sold to realize capital returns. But still investments have the expectation of some type of future capital gain (typically monetary gain, but sometimes time savings or cost savings) My company did a 100,000 Sq. Ft. addition to our plant two years ago. But it was with the expectation that the additional space would increase our manufacturing capacity and output, which would pay back the initial cost of the new space and equipment in less than two years. Turned out to be a very wise investment, even though we have no plans to sell this space, from this point forward we are in the 'black' from any benefits realized from the additional production capacity.

A car is a depreciating asset, almost always.

 

[GoofGoof]

Agreed, an investment doesn't have to be sold to realize capital returns. But still investments have the expectation of some type of future capital gain (typically monetary gain, but sometimes time savings or cost savings) My company did a 100,000 Sq. Ft. addition to our plant two years ago. But it was with the expectation that the additional space would increase our manufacturing capacity and output, which would pay back the initial cost of the new space and equipment in less than two years. Turned out to be a very wise investment, even though we have no plans to sell this space, from this point forward we are in the 'black' from any benefits realized from the additional production capacity.

A car is a depreciating asset, almost always.

Agreed. The car was probably not a great example. Although I haven't had a car payment in a really long time so it has worked out as a cost savings. I was considering leasing the car back in 2002 but I decided to buy it.