You're really misusing that figure, here is the quote from the article you linked below: >The average new car payment in America has crept above the $500 per m

You're really misusing that figure, here is the quote from the article you linked below: >The average new car payment in America has crept above the $500 per month mark for the fist time, settling in at $503, according to a recent study by Experian. and here's your statement: >When the average car payment in America is around $500 a month See the mismatch? This is not evidence that people (especially poor ones) are overspending on cars. It doesn't say anything about people without car payments, people with used cars, people who bought outright or even how many people exist in those categories. Besides I just put $500/month on a 5 year auto loan into googles calculator and I got a cost of $27,751. This isn't exactly an extravagant purchase for a new car. Besides this notion that most people will ever be able to cut their expenses enough to "amass multiple millions of dollars in investments over their working career" is just painfully out of touch.