re: somebody talk me out of this (car related)

quote:

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I just cringe at the thought of a monthly payment.

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So make the loan term as short as possible. You can easily get a 12 or 24 mo repayment schedule.

Think about it this way: if you have the capital on hand, you can at any time pay off the loan. So if your circumstances change 6 mos into the loan (say you get a higher paying job, or your wife gets a promotion), you can always pay it off early. And conversely, if she gets laid off or you don't pass the bar on the first go-round, you will be happy to have that chunk of change still in the bank.

Do you plan to pay cash for a house? A monthly payment or debt does not mean you are undisciplined or foolhardy: you are simply paying a little for the privilege of using someone else's money for a short period of time. Meanwhile, your money can be working for you. As the previous poster mentioned, you can pretty easily find a guaranteed 3% return on $10K, so you can cover the small amount of interest paid and earn a tiny bit more.

Meanwhile, go sign up for a personal finance course. No practicing attorney should avoid understanding money matters. From community property settlements, to structured settlements from PI, to following the money on RICO cases...your legal career will only benefit if you develop a more nuanced appreciation of finance than "debt is bad".