I don't think anyone who finances a boat for 15 or 20 years plans on actually paying on it for full term. I feel like my money is better off in investments or in the bank than in the boat.

Money is there if I wanted to pay off the boat. It's also there if something really bad happens and I want a roof over my head and eat:)

True but that kind of means you cant afford it either. Your taking a hit on interest and potentially paying way more then the item was initially worth. If you cant afford to make payments on a boat unless it has a 15 year loan you shouldnt do it flat out, sorry. In a sense your saying well I can kind of afford this boat but not really, so I am going to stretch out the payments so I can have it, and hopefully pay it off early. This is how people got into trouble with homes too, they were offered variable interest rate loans and teasers then once something changed they were done. Just not smart but to each his own i guess

I respectfully disagree. It's my 5th boat and I've flipped my previous 4 for a profit. When I plan to only keep a boat 1-3 three seasons interest is not much of a factor.

Do not get me totally wrong. I put a healthy amount down (I think about 35% on my current 342). I also have great credit and relationship with my bank which in turn gets me good rates. When the interest between a 7 and 15 yr loan is 1% why not take it out longer? You can always pay more.

It sounds like you know what you are doing. But in reality out of 10 people maybe 1-2 are going to do the right thing, most are going to do the wrong thing. This is all like anything else that people that live off of credit cards they live 20-30 grand above their level and only pay 15 bucks a month for it and they will never be free of that debt. Like I said im sure you got it nailed but I would think you would agree you would have to be careful.

Personally on toys I like to pay at least 50% down and borrow no longer than 5-7 years. That way if I come upon hard times I will probably get close to the 50% i put into it back. Versus if you say put down 10% and had a 15 year loan, there could be a potential where you say borrowed 90 grand and put down 10. We will say you are in year three of your loan. And you have a 759 dollar a month payment on a 15 year 6% loan. So ok you paid off about 25-26 grand on this boat and now owe 65 grand. Chances are on a 100 grand boat its probably now worth about 65 grand. You get nothing out of it and potentially have to pay the bank after you sell it.

Now flip the situation you paid 50 grand down on a 100k boat your payment is now 730 a month for a 7 year loan, so actually less. Now you are in year three of your loan, well you just paid off about half of your 50k loan and owe 25. Sell boat for 65 and your getting 40 grand back instead of slim to nill.

So really even if the long loan is smart it really isnt smart, I guess the more you put down the better. Every situation is different and obviously the amount you put down and the amount you borrow will skew things.

And Im not against credit I have it you have it everybody has it. But regardless of how much you make, what your job is, or how smart with it you are, its always a liability that can come back to haunt you, the more you have the more issues you area going to run into

Absolutely agree. Just wanted to explain my reasons for doing it the way I do it. Every situation is different.

Plus I obviously write the interest off on my taxes.