The economy is ugly, no doubt about it. Here is a list of headlines from the finance pages today.
Investors Look for Safety as Market Test Bottom
HP Cuts Full Year Outlook; Shares Fall
It May Cost Less to Let GM Fail
FOMC Minutes Show Doubts About 2009 Recovery
Farrell: Is There A Bottom?
http://aero-news.net/index.cfm?ContentBlockID=f559e852-ee2f-4117-80fc-eb378e3d2bcf&
It seems as though the Economic Stimulus plan has something for us aircraft buyers also. Bonus depreciation. You’ll have to question your tax advisor about how this could apply to your situation, but I see the opportunity to purchase a new Remos GX, put it on a leaseback at your local flight school, and write a ton off your taxes. But then, I’m not a tax advisor. Luckily, I’m also not a stock market investor. Here’s a graph of the SP 500 over the last decade. Again, I’m not an analyst, but this doesn’t look good to me.
As if you couldn’t guess, I prefer airplanes to stocks and bonds. Let’s examine a couple of airplanes.
- - In 1978, a Cessna 152’s base price was $14,950 and the average delivered price was $20, 075. Today in Trade-a-plane, you would expect to see this model listed anywhere from $22-45,000. Not a bad investment.
- - Go back a little farther, the 1967 Piper Arrow debuted at $16,900, and you’d be hard pressed to buy one now for less than $55,000.
- - Want to feel real bad about the stock market? A 1938 Piper J-3 sold for $2500, and today fetches anywhere from $25,000 to $45,000.
Wow! I wonder what will my 2009 Remos GX be worth in 30 years? Know what? It really doesn’t matter to me, because that’s 30 years of “living the dream”, and besides, I depreciated the whole thing courtesy of the 2009 Economic Stimulus Plan.
I'm not suggesting anyone should bail out of the stock market, and invest their IRA in a new airplane. But things are rarely as bad as they seem, or as good as you remember. Relax, have fun, and be happy. Better days are ahead.
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