Never felt like I had to make an excuse for the car I drive. Most of the Porsche people I know, are "motorheads" and do most of their own work on them We love the car for what it is, not what it means

 

nevermind..

 

I hear ya. It is uncomfortable sometimes when you have both ends of the economic spectrum represented at a family reunion. The money/car topic does come up. Some relatives just fixate on it...like they don't have other things that could use attention. I just let them know their sister will be happy and safe when we fully retire.

 

In my situation, I own a retail shop with very low margins. My customers see a 2009 911 they mistakenly think I'm making too much money off of them and it hurts my business.

What they don't know is I make/made most of my net worth via smart, sometimes lucky, investments not my business......like 40,000 shares of Ford stock a year ago at 1.20/share now at about $10.00/share.

I'm not going to explain this to everyone who notices my car so I drive a Jetta TDI to work most days and maybe once a week the 911.........in which instances I park around back of the building.

P.S. Anyone of you who, like me, reads all of the car mag's both US and UK hopefully picked up on the Ford stock idea as well.

 

From a "doc" perspective, most physicians should have no inherent "guilt" about driving a nice car... all of the recent health care reform debate has been truly infuriating in how MD's have been portrayed- it's all about how much we bill, how much the average MD makes, etc... but the press rarely discuss what's involved to earn that... I would challenge anyone to say that their career path is more arduous than that of becoming, say a cardiologist or general surgeon... and that their current workload is more demanding as well- and in that I disagree with MACT333. It's not mostly luck- it's a product of hard work, dedication, ability to accept delayed gratification, intelligence, and a smaller component of good fortune. But seriously, for example, to become a cardiologist, it takes 4 years of doing well in college, then 4 years of doing well in medical school, then 3 years of internal medicine residency, 3-4 more years of fellowship, at which point you're in your mid 30's saddled with 100K-200K or more in educational debt, to be followed by a career of 12+ hour days, sleepless nights on call at least once a week and every 2nd-4th weekend, saddled with increasing bureacracy, paperwork, insurance regulations, rising overhead, decreasing reimbursement- all the while having to deal with rising malpractice insurance and the threat of litigation that could bankrupt you (because the democrats don't have the ***** to address tort reform)- believe me, it's not all country clubs and fast cars. Sure there are some specialities that have it much easier- ie radiology, radiation oncology, dermatology, etc- but most of the primary care docs and medicine subspecialities are not like that. I'm not looking for sympathy here but I also feel that most MD's deserve what they make-

 

just get a daily prius and drive that to work...

 

Fang,

I erased my long post as i didnt want to be too preachy on here...but lets not kid ourselves, we do work hard and did work hard but so does the ditchdigger and cashier working two jobs at 10.00 an hr...we all worked hard in different ways...as my previous post noted, many of us are a few missed question away on our MCAT, LSAT, GMAT, etc to becoming something in which we couldnt afford a Porsche...I believe 95% of society has similar smarts but our previous environment either allowed us to cultivate this or it didnt...the smartest guys/gals I know dont have a phd or even a college degree...its all about perspective...when i see how much I make compared to a teacher or firefighter then I seem overpaid...but when I compare myself to a pro athlete or someone in entertainment industry I seem underpaid given what I do is prob more important objectively than what Tiger Woods does putting ball in a hole.

Superficially, its easy to say I went to school for 12 yrs and studied numerous hrs and gave away my youth but what about the person struggling working as a cashier somewhere raising 2 kids alone?...didnt they suffer too?...what about the person who has to work 2 jobs to put food on the table for their kids, they too are working hard...my point, many people work hard and trust me, many of them are just as smart as you are...didnt you watch Trading Places with Eddie Murphy?...

To say luck doesnt play an important role in where we are at is silly...how many times did you barely get an A in some of those college classes or tests...how many times did you almost wreck or get hit by a car as a child?...how many good stock picks did you have during the tech bubble and then the real estate bubble thinking Ive done my due diligence and these stocks have good earnings and good growth while investing in the biggest bubble of all time?...we are all geniuses until we take a step back and see the big picture.

My point is this, we should be very thankful for what we have cause no matter how solid you think your situation is, it isnt...we are allowed to collect materialistic things because the elites in charge have the ability to create asset bubbles one after another...the federal reserve has depreciated the dollar by more than 98% since its inception in 1913...this creates inflation and high prices and real estate/stock appreciation...for high income earners it is an advantage...but to the middle class and poor it hurts them as the things they need to survive has the same cost as it does for high earners, hence there is nothing left over...in our fiat based economy, money is credit/debt...debt is the modern day form of slavery.

Wonder why both parents now have to work to make ends meet?...ever think that if the people being kept dumb and docile via American Idol television pacification woke up one day to see how society really works, then our way of life might just change...healthcare might be valued alot less than it currently is...revolutions happen when the masses cant take any anymore and have nothing to lose...you will see what Im talking about in 2-3 yrs...but then again, I always try to look 2-3 yrs out.

BTW, Im in one of the easy sub-specialties you mentioned above so maybe Im abit jaded.......some may wonder why I even drive a Porsche given my strange beliefs...I have always been a car person and always will be...but I know enough to realize how lucky we are and appreciate everything I have cause believe me, society doesnt owe us a Porsche for getting good grades in school and having a high MCAT score and losing some sleep while on call...life is much more complicated than that.

Wow, what a tangent this thread has taken thanks to my inane diatribe....

 

There is no shortage of sick people and society created this nightmare where you had to study for a gazillion years , pay an exorbitant fee to the various degree factories ,and wait until you were in your thirties .. to create the minority of doctors in order to get the fee . Yes --you did do the work and you are entitited to a good life but you also had to memorize so much worthless garbage that you will never use in your practice . And you are right .. they didn't teach you about hospital and insurance red tape , or the patients who really don't care about what you put into it --only what they can get out of it -- and for what price .

Whether its fair or not does not really matter because life isn't fair .The same goes for having a Porsche . Whether the patent thinks its fair or not will not effect the fact that you can buy one . So as long as you have it , as long as you did jump through the hoops , and face all the modern day hurdles .. It's my opinion that you ought to savor every minute of driving it !!! Why not ? You don't have to justify the car to anyone . The only person you owe it to is youself to have the best time with that car that you worked hard for .

 

Wow - ya'll worry way too much.

There will be people who are not jealous of your Porsche. They may envy you a bit, but they also live vicariously through someone who can have a car like this - not just afford it, but can drive a car that makes no practical sense. As some have pointed out, a used 911, and this year even a new one, wasn't the most expensive car at all. It's just weird and odd and quirky - eclectic.

There are some people who actually like the idea that other people are doing well or having fun - as an inspiration that they can too.

When I worked for and with people with nice cars, I never thought they were *******s because of it - I just wanted to work hard enough to get mine. I worked for a guy who had a 959 at one point. I'm pretty sure everyone that worked for him thought he was a cool guy - no envy or jealousy that I ever saw - and probably only the car heads there even gave that 959 a thought. (Of course he didn't drive it - laws being as they were - drove something mundane like a Lexus...)

So now I got mine - I get to walk the mile in the shoes of those guys I once lived vicariously through. I suspect it will be both fun and sobering; I hope the grass is fairly as green as I imagined it to be.

Consider that not everyone is so petty that you have to hide your car from them. Of course, I reckon as MDrums points out, some are - Bell Curve and all...

 

I do drive my 911 to work every few days ... but the Superleggera and Tesla nearby take some of the tension off. =)

 

Surprisingly enough, I found that the 911 in the parking lot brought in more business. I've had multiple patients call wanting "to see the doctor with the red porsche." I guess it stands out next to all the minivans and trucks in the lot and they get the impression that I must be doing well, and have something more to offer.

I remember years ago (I was maybe 10-11) my aunt had hired an attorney for some reason. He showed up at her house one night in a beat up rusty old truck to deliver some papers. I don't know if he was any good or not, but shortly after she went out and found another guy that drove a big black mercedes.

So perception probably works both ways.

It's the only car I have and I LOVE it, so it will continue to sit in clear view of my competition's waiting room on a daily basis.

 

Ever since my first 911 I have always had this guilt. As silly as it sounds I seem to sell them because of it.

Being in the medical billing/accounting business for over 10 years my clients either do not care or do not know. I don't go out of my way to hide it but I don't talk about it either.

Funny story I had an STI as my daily I went to the grand opening of a client's second ER location. Someone called out, "Who's driving a black STI?" which turns out to be one of the ER doc/partners. I told him it was me and he said cool car. He's the only client I have shared my sickness for cars.

 

I definitely harbor guilt about the GT2 and though I drove the C4S to work RARELY, I never drive the GT2 to work, except for the occasional weekend call. I've always wanted a "true" exotic at some point in my life but I'm not sure if my guilt will ever allow me to have an F- or L-car, forget about driving it to work!

Oh well, w/ the upcoming reforms I'll be happy if I can afford a civic in a few yrs.

 

Redistribution of wealth is the most ancient form of human activity, whether it was accompanied by stone hammers smashing skulls of most successful tribe members to total awe of looser masses or true democratic congress taking your money away from your own pockets and bank accounts.

History rewards most active ones. Who allows to get robbed silently - gets extinct. If suddenly entire society got reversed 180 degrees and interests of non-working habitats of slums and ghettos suddenly became much more important for legislature than prosperity of middle class as trash reproduces faster and forms electorate masses which are much cheaper and simpler to manipulate - well, then may be it`s time to change both this legislature and government model as well.

 

To all these Docs here-

I think that the FAR majority of people in the U.S. do NOT begrudge doctor's high incomes, because we know you earn it, one patient at a time, with hard work (maybe except those few business-types who own labs, surgical centers, etc) and lots of education. You were the cream-of-the-crop in college, and yes, your work should be compensated much much more than the grocery clerk, even though they work HARD too.

(The public anger is really directed instead at those in the financial industry--those who manage money for a living. They make money off of managing other people's money--and also merging companies, selling securities, etc--... and oh, by the way, will take a couple of million or more off the top for themselves.)

Alas, I think the window is closing for high income docs--both on the top end (payments, reimbursements), and on the bottom end (taxes). Since those here already have Porsches, be thankful you have gotten some well-deserved compensation before the iron curtain closes. The young docs coming up will be on the other side of the train track, looking across at you with envy and even perhaps some contempt....lol