A $300,000 Christmas iPhone Gift Problem
People go crazy around Christmas time when it comes to buying presents for themselves and others. There are so many great “deals”, especially on new phones. Last year, Brett Arends of MarketWatch.com, put the lifetime “opportunity cost” of always owning the latest iPhone at close to $300,000. This means that over a person’s life from ages 18-78, if they always upgraded every 32 months to the latest iPhone instead of investing that same amount of money, they’d be missing out on $300,000.
Stop and ask yourself, “what features, that I actually use on a regular basis, does the latest phone have that my current phone does not have?” Compare:
| Old Phone | New Phone | |
| Call People? | Yes | Yes |
| Text? | Yes | Yes |
| Email? | Yes | Yes |
| Internet? | Yes | Yes |
| Music? | Yes | Yes |
| Videos? | Yes | Yes |
“Hmmm,” you might say, “but the newest phone makes videos look better”. Yes, but the video quality of the newest phone probably pales in comparison to your computer or television.
Be wise with your money all year round; don’t get fooled by a great “deal” this Christmas.