I am always saying how interesting our clients are. One of the perks in my business is to see what interesting businesses and projects people are working on in the Bay Area. Our high property prices dictate that many of our clients are working on interesting high profile projects.

I recently sold a second property to a client who I have known and advised for several years. He is an engineer in Silicon Valley who recently took a new job at one of the most interesting electric car companies I have seen. Being that my office is in Berkeley, California, I often see electric and hybrid vehicles traveling around the city. None of them look all that appealing, and I have also test driven them and they are not what I would call fun to drive.

I recently checked out the web site of my client’s new company Tesla Motors and it made me want to go out and buy one. So, although this is not finance or real estate related I thought I would post a bit about their new Electric Roadster.

The vehicle’s performance and engineering looks impressive. It is 100% electric, goes 0 to 60 in 4 seconds, and travels over 200 miles without recharging. Not to mention it is a beautiful looking sports car. The initial production run of the vehicle sold out in just 4 months. All I can say is, “Wow, I want one!”

Rachel and I gave a talk at Stanford University last year where we discussed some basic but not obvious financial thinking. One of our claims was that people who share our spending philosophy will be more satisfied and more wealthy. Our philosophy is basically this: each time you buy something, consider whether you want to trade up or trade down. If you trade up every time, you will likely find yourself with very little savings. If you trade up part of the time and trade down part of the time, you will see your financial situation improve. We think that trading down every time would be better financially but is not practical since all of us want to splurge on ourselves now and then.

We gave specific examples of trading up and trading down and what impact this would have on one’s IRA in 30 years. The numbers can be huge, especially on large ticket items.

So when you go to make that next purchase, consider whether you want to take this opportunity to trade down and save money or if trading up is worth the cost. If you want help figuring out how to make the calculations or if you want to explore how this thinking will dramatically help your bottom line, just contact me and I’ll walk through the numbers with you. cvanemon@opesadvisors.com

MONEY; Cutting Costs While

Appearing Savvy

By FRED BROCK

Published: April 10, 2007

If you have been whipsawed by the stock market and have seen the value of your house plunge, you might be looking askance at your retirement plans. If you are already retired, you may be worried about staying that way without looking for a soup kitchen.

Well, try to relax and remember something important: you can increase your income by cutting expenses, which could save your retirement.

We live in such an affluent society that you can eliminate plenty of expenses without becoming a cheapskate. (more…)