Buying a Car? Get Familiar With the 20/4/10 Rule (2024)

FAQs

Buying a Car? Get Familiar With the 20/4/10 Rule? ›

It suggests that you should do the following: Make a down payment of at least 20% of the car's purchase price. Finance the car for no longer than four years. Ensure that your total car expenses, including loan payments, insurance and fuel, do not exceed 10% of your gross annual income.

It suggests that you should do the following: Make a down payment of at least 20% of the car's purchase price. Finance the car for no longer than four years. Ensure that your total car expenses, including loan payments, insurance and fuel, do not exceed 10% of your gross annual income.

How much should I spend on a car if I make $60,000? If your take-home pay is $60,000 per year, you should pay no more than $750 per month for a car, which totals 15% of your monthly take-home pay.

Consider your monthly budget

As a general rule of thumb, many experts suggest following the 20/4/10 rule, which holds that you should set aside 20% of a car's purchase price for a downpayment, take 4 years to repay your car loan, and ensure that your monthly transportation costs don't exceed 10% of your monthly income.

20% down — be able to pay 20% or more of the total purchase price up front. 4-year loan — be able to pay off the balance in 48 months or fewer. 10% of your income — your total monthly auto costs (including insurance, gas, maintenance, and car payments) should be 10% or less of your monthly income.

The most common way to use the 40-30-20-10 rule is to assign 40% of your income — after taxes — to necessities such as food and housing, 30% to discretionary spending, 20% to savings or paying off debt and 10% to charitable giving or meeting financial goals.

For example: Mortgages and real estate debts, unlike consumer debt, are considered “good debts”. A home is an investment, and a mortgage increases the equity with every payment you make. The 20/10 rule does not include your mortgage or rent.

The 20/4/10 rule can give you financially sound guidance to budget for a car loan, but it's not a hard and fast rule that will work for everyone. Saves money: Because you're putting down a large down payment and agreeing to short repayment terms, this rule can help you save money on your car loan.

Consider putting at least $6,000 down on a $30,000 car if you're buying it new or at least $3,000 if you're buying it used. This follows the guidelines of a 20% down payment for a new car or a 10% down payment for a used car.

The Total Loan Amount

For example, if you're buying a $60,000 luxury car at 3% APR with no money down and paying it off over five years, you'll be responsible for paying about $1,078 per month.

What car can you afford with a 40k salary? ›

on the price of a car. is not to exceed 35% of your gross income. That means if you make $40,000 a year, the cars price should not exceed $14,000. If you make $80,000, the cars price should be below $28,000. And at 150 k salary, that means your max car price should be 50 2500.

Start With Your Gross Income

To get an idea of how much car you can afford, a good rule of thumb is to pay no more than 35% of your annual pre-tax income. So, if you make $50,000 before taxes per year, your car purchase price should not exceed $17,500.

The 20/4/10 rule states that you should be able to afford 20% of the down payment on a car and for the monthly cost to be less than 10% of your monthly income when a loan of 4 or less years is used.

Less Ownership Stress and Guilt

Often, when people overspend on an item they fear the money should be going toward something more important, causing guilt and resentment. Sticking to spending 1/10th of your income on a car makes ownership and driving (and even parallel parking) stress-free.

Seek Out Auto Service

So if your car hits 30,000 miles, 60,000 miles, or 90,000 miles, you should bring it to an auto shop for the maintenance that it needs. It is better to take care of it when it needs to be taken care of rather than waiting and seeing what happens.

Balance Your Budget

50% for needs like housing, food, and transportation. In this case, the monthly car payment and other related auto expenses fit into this category. 30% for wants like entertainment, travel, and other nonessential items. 20% for savings, paying off credit cards, and meeting long-term financial goals.

The 50-30-20 rule recommends putting 50% of your money toward needs, 30% toward wants, and 20% toward savings. The savings category also includes money you will need to realize your future goals.