The True Cost of an Apple iPhone
2014 Update:
After seven years, I was finally bitten by the Apple bug and purchased an iPhone 5c. Truth told, I don't know how I ever lived without this thing.
Original 2007 Article:
It should go without saying that modern conveniences fall into the category of luxury expenses. We as a species have functioned quite well for thousands of years without such items as laptop computers, digital watches, and mp3 players. Money spent on these luxury items is in my view better spent preparing for one's future by saving and investing that money, rather than wasting it on fancy high-tech toys. Nothing represents this awful and irresponsible waste to me better than the Apple iPhone.
While I myself am not opposed to splurging on something fun once in a while, the iPhone takes this spending to a whole new level. Ranging in price from $500–$800 depending on which model and on where and if you are able to locate one, the iPhone represents more than a simple high-tech toy. It is a downright waste of money for all but the wealthiest of consumers. It took me several months to get my own emergency savings and Roth IRA accounts to the level of $800 after my necessary expenses like rent, etc., and I can't imagine throwing all that money away on something as frivolous as an iPhone.
I would put money on the fact that those people who are whipping out their wallets for an iPhone do not have either an emergency fund or a retirement savings account of any form. An iPhone is not much good when you can't afford car repairs if your car breaks down or rent if you lose your job unexpectedly. And that $800 purchase will be worth many times over if it were instead placed into a good long term investment account like a Roth IRA. Just for fun I typed $800 into a compound interest calculator, and I discovered that $800 when left to grow over 30 years will yield approximately $11,553.00 if properly invested. So how affordable does that iPhone seem now?
Wasting what seems like a tolerable amount of money, given the power of compounding investments, has serious consequences on how well off you potentially could be in the future. So don't give in to the techno-hype, folks. If you do, you are significantly short-changing yourself and your future. Instead skip the iPhone and other luxuries and place that money into a long-term retirement account. Trust me, you won't really miss the gadgets, and down the road you will be able to afford all the high-tech toys your little heart will desire; and those high-tech gadgets in thirty years when you do retire will make todays iPhone look like yesterday's slide rule.
