Do new cars eat wealth?

"Don't let the opinions of the average man sway you. Dream, and he thinks you're crazy. Succeed, and he thinks you're lucky. Acquire wealth, and he thinks you're greedy. Pay no attention. He simply doesn't understand." unknown

This quote came to mind as my parents were happily sharing all the new cars they bought over their lifetime to me and their 2 grandsons in 2017.

All smiles- 'We had a '58 Crosley, a '62 Vic, a '66 Mustang. All brand new." (all financed and with payments, too!)

"Wow", my classic car-loving boys said, "Where are they now?" "Hard to say." dad said, "but I wish I sold the Vic before I went to 'Nam. When I returned from my tour it was worthless from sitting so long. The '66 Mustang we basically gave away to my mom. She later burned it up by letting it run too low on oil."

"What about houses I asked? Tell me about those." 'Ah. Well, when we sold our Chicago house we bought in '69 in '74 to move to Tacoma it had doubled in value. When we sold the Tacoma house in '81 to move to MT it had also doubled in value.'

"Really? That's awesome! Did you ever consider buying more houses?", I asked. "Buy more houses? We never could have afforded that!", both parents looking at me like I was from Mars.

Pay no attention - they simply do not understand!