Has anyone calculated in LOST INTEREST when determing DVC value?

[vernon]

Yes I did factor in lost interest ( and cost of borrowing) and I calculated I'd break even after 6 trips. Since that time it costs me my dues ( about $800 a year ) to be able to have 20 days of top quality accommodation. I think that is a very good deal. If you only go every 3 years it will take you a little longer to break even.

IMHO you can't use figures like 10% as a potential return in the stock market because that is only a guess and as most brokers literature says the cost of your investment can go down as well as up !!. You can only use either a fixed borrowing figure or something like a CD which GUARANTEES your return. I think 6-7% is a fairer figure.

Granted the cost of DVC has risen since I bought in , but then so has the price of hotel rooms !! I think the numbers still work.

 

[eileenkeeney]

Of course I am trying to seriously consider if I want to buy a membership, and not just trying to be negative or talk anyone else out of a membership.

Did anyone notice that I left taxes on interest out of my calculations. I have several more calcualtions to run anyway, including the use of points borrowed 1 year ahead, and the subtraction of taxes I would pay on interest. President Bush may help lower this, but if he does I should probably save anything he saves me to supplement my social security when I retire .
I thought about this tax thing while I was sleeping, and it was based on remembering something in one of the messages that mentioned something about trying to find investments where the returns were not taxed.

Yes, I can put the money into a CD, keep it there, and get 7% interest (the 7% interest is contingent on my acting by the end of February and only guaranteed for 1 year).
Saving, when I have a goal or purpose has never been a problem for me. I even have a buffer for living expenses, for one year (down to 8 months of I buy into DVC), just in case I loose my job. Even Mr. Greenspan would be proud of me.

Yes, I will take vacations anyway, and likely vacations with accomodations pretty close to that of a 1 or 2 bedroom DVC unit. The question is how I am going to pay for these vacations and what risks I am going to take in the process. I do live on the West coast, this makes the DVC a much higher risk for me, then someone on the East coast.

4 years ago, when I looked into DVC, I found only ONE unhappy customer. While timeshares, as a class, have the highest rate of consumer complaints, the DVC has a good record.

While the re-sale value of DVC memberships is pretty good right now, the closer it gets to 2042 the harder these will be to sell.
Unlike most timeshare sorts of plans, this plan does expire.

Had the stock market continued with its irrational gains, I would have gained enough on my investments to pay for really nice vacations .

How long are the points good, before they expire. I noticed people trying to rent out points so they would not loose the points. I consider this a negative.

Are the Wilderness Lodge Villa units as orange as they look in the pictures. This will clash with my whole wardrobe, which is mostly pink. (another negative).

I am also considering buying into OKW via the resale market.

 

[SusanSeng]

Eileen, You need to do what is best for you and you situation. I am very much like you, I need to know all of the information before I can make a decision. It drives my husband batty. Our decision to purchase a DVC was probably the easiest and most exciting thing we have ever done. We are always so worried about how much money we are going to have for retirement or how much it is going to cost us to take our next vacation. Life is to short and now we have finally invested in our family and we can look forward to some wonderful quality time together and to me this is priceless.

Also don't worry there is not a lot of oranges in the VWL. They are however more north woods type of look. The color pink could be a problem.

 

[HorizonsFan]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> I do live on the West coast, this makes the DVC a much higher risk for me, then someone on the East coast.
[/quote]

I don't understand. How does living on the West coast make DVC a bigger risk? If DVC were on the West coast maybe there would be some risk that CA would sink into the ocean but please clarify this statement for me.

Dave

 

[PamOKW]

While I agree you need to consider finances before purchasing DVC I really don't get all these financial gyrations. Of course, some folks consider it part of the fun I guess. DVC is not an investment that will bring you any monetary gain. It says that multiple times in all the offerings. It even warns against depending upon rental income.

DVC is much more akin to purchasing a car. Do you consider the pros and cons of putting money into a CD versus a Corvette? Let's say you know you will have to drive. You really love the BMW but the Hyundai will get you there. But, you are well off and go ahead and purchase the BMW. In the DVC example....you know you like to vacation at WDW fairly regularly. You could stay at the moderates or look for deals to allow you to stay elsewhere. OR you could purchase into DVC and know the type of luxury accomodations you will have now and in the future. You check your finances and decide that you can handle the purchase and the "gas & maintenance" (yearly dues) without creating a hardship. Go for the DVC. On the other hand, you may not have the cash to lay out right now and that's okay. It's not worth going into hock to drive a BMW or to purchase DVC. Or you may not be planning to vacation fairly regularly at WDW, Vero or HHI and then maybe it's not for you either. But trying to project what the money spent would do spent differently is a way to make yourself crazy.

 

[LisaL]

We also evaluated actual costs of the investment, what the opportunity costs were, etc. The bottom line for us was that in almost five years of marriage, we had not taken a break from work.

DVC not only made sense financially for us, it also provided us with the opportunity to take a vacation once a year without any guilt. That's priceless.

All work and no play makes Lisa a silly girl

 

[normr]

Some people are just too anal and therefore could never really enjoy Disney, they're too wrapped up in worrying every second of their lives how much money they could have made, (Must be Republicans)) µ

 

[Dean]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> Some people are just too anal and therefore could never really enjoy Disney, they're too wrapped up in worrying every second of their lives how much money they could have made, (Must be Republicans) [/quote] Yes, and some people would jump off a cliff if Disney said so, neither affect the validity of this discussion. It's a lot of money and one needs to be comfortable about how they spend it. Besides, DVC is not appropriate for everyone and people need to decide if DVC is right for them IN THEIR OWN WAY.

Dean

 

[LisaL]

Sorry normr, your conclusion is way off. Republicans like to have fun, too.

All work and no play makes Lisa a silly girl

 

[genealle]

I have no time for such financial nonsense. I'm much to busy planning my next visit to the BWV in November!!!!!

CBR Nov 1 to 3
BWV Nov 4 to 11
Back to work Nov 12

 

[HorizonsFan]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> Some people are just too anal and therefore could never really enjoy Disney, they're too wrapped up in worrying every second of their lives how much money they could have made, (Must be Republicans)) [/quote]

I'm sure Rich will be here soon...

Dave

 

[BobH]

I do not consider interest lost (opportunity cost) since I would be spending the money somewhere else on vacation anyway. I look at the DVC as a chance to enjoy my family and retain my sanity. If you are too worried about the money no vacation idea will ever make total financial sense unlwss you are wealthy enough to buy prime real estate.

 

[eileenkeeney]

Since someone asked,
It is a higher risk for me, being on the West coast, because Airfare could make a vacation on the East coast less of a value for my money then a vacation on the West coast. The DVC values at DisneyLand are not a value to me, since I prefer the off-site accomodations when visiting DisneyLand, as they give me a higher bang for MY dollar.

Anyway, I've gotten a lot of data from this discussion and will make my decision and change it at least 10 times before my money is commited.
After the money is commited I am sure I will spend some time thinking I made the wrong decision.
Last time I went through this thinking, I invested in my company stock, which could have gone up more then enough to pay for this next vacation had I cashed in at the right time .

By the way, I am not a Republican, I am an Independent as is the majority of the population yet seem to share more views with the Green Party and even the Democratic party then the Republican party. Part of me wants Disney to be held responsible for draining so much of the Florida Swamp and be forced to return the swamp to way it was. Another part of me really thinks that Disney does a better job of providing entertainment then any other company, and just wants to take advantage of all the fun.
(But then we don't need to get into a political discussion here).

 

[Lisa F]

But Disney is one of the most environmentally friendly companies out there. I'm not sure what you mean by saying on one hand you think Disney should restore the swamp land they developed, unless you feel that every piece of raw nature in the entire country (including the one your house is sitting on!) should be returned to its natural state. Disney does maintain a relatively large portion of its property as a natural wetlands habitat and has vowed to never develop that part, as was part of Walt's original vision for the property. The efforts they take to recycle (including processing and recycling used water, which is why when the droughts were encouraging brush fires a couple of years ago, Disney had plenty of water to still do daily fireworks displays).

Anyway, just thought you should know, and I apologize for the off topic response. Disney is a lot of things, but as a company I think they are one of the more "green" ones out there, so you can buy into DVC with confidence that devistating the environment is not one of Disney's evils.

Lisa

"You employ stone, wood, and concrete, and with these materials you build house and palaces. That is construction. Ingenuity is at work. But suddenly, you touch my heart, you do me good. I am happy and I say 'This is beautiful.' That is architecture. Art enters in."
-Le Corbusier

 

[WebmasterDoc]

You are right, political and general environmental comments are WAY off topic for this thread about calculating interest in a DVC purchase and for this Board in general.
Those comments would be very appropriate for the Community Board and/or the DizBiz Board.

Thanks!

Doc
doc@wdwinfo.com