iPhone or Millionarie?

[Kaido]

The Comic

The math behind the comic.

The discussion of the comic.

On a side note, if someone offered me either an iPhone, or a million dollars - but I could never have an iPhone, I'd probably take the iPhone. I can always earn more money, but there aren't any other phones as headache-free as the iPhone is 😀

 

[Kmax82]

Really? Heh.. I would take the money. HAH!

On a serious note, you're going to be paying a cellphone bill regardless, so that argument doesn't honestly hold up. But it's nice to think about.. 😉

 

[rikadik]

Found the article on compound interest really interesting. I myself have been putting off starting saving properly, it really shows the benefits of starting now though!

I for one could not pull the trigger on the iPhone. I thought I really wanted it. Well I do really want it. But the maths just doesn't stack up.

I'm in the UK, so for an iPhone it would be £100 up front plus £35/month for a suitable plan for 18 months. So that's £730 over 18 months.

But I went for a different deal instead. Paying nothing up front and £30/month for a suitable plan, a total of £540. But in return I got a Samsung U900 Soul. Ok its no iPhone, but it has HDSPA, full HTML browsing and a 5-megapixel autofocus camera in a slimmer more convenient package. And, as part of the deal I got a brand new iPod Classic 80GB, which is more suited for my needs than the 8GB iPod on the iPhone.

So the question for me was, did I want to pay an extra £200 (about $400) for an iPhone, over a decent phone and an iPod?

I just couldn't do it!

 

[Ichigo]

Inflation.

 

[Kmax82]

Originally posted by: Ichigo
Inflation.

Yea, that's where it breaks down. My grandparents could've started saving back in 1953 like that and been said to have a guaranteed retirement, but what would they have gotten in the end? Will $1 million be worth it when I retire? I think it would be better to have that investment, but I think it goes back to the fact that you need to work out your retirement and have backup strategies for any, and all, circumstances.

I think that's why some people have 401k's, IRA, CDs, etc...