I hear it all the time: “Leasing a car is the biggest waste of money out there.” This kind of blanket financial advice sounds smart, but it’s actually financially lazy. As someone who’s built wealth through strategic thinking rather than following conventional wisdom, I can tell you that dismissing leasing outright ignores the most important factor in wealth building: cash flow.
When people make sweeping statements about financial decisions, they’re often missing the bigger picture. It’s not about whether you should lease or buy—it’s about how money moves and how you can make each dollar work harder for you.
The Cash Flow Advantage
Let me share a personal example. Years ago, I found an Acura RL lease for $550 per month. Buying that same car would have cost me $800 monthly. Instead of just following the “never lease” rule, I looked at what I could do with that $250 monthly difference.
I redirected that $250 into a properly structured whole life insurance policy. This wasn’t just about saving money—it was about creating a compounding asset while I drove the car. Plus, I could write off the entire lease payment as a tax deduction, something that would have been phased out with a purchase.
After 39 months, here’s what happened:
- The cash value in my policy had grown enough to buy the car outright
- I took the entire $800 I would have been spending on payments for the next 21 months to pay off the loan against my cash value
- I ended up owning both the car AND adding over $16,000 to my wealth-building policy
This approach gave me both the car and a financial asset. That’s strategy, not sacrifice.
The Hidden Truth About Interest
Here’s something most financial advisors won’t tell you: you always pay interest. If you finance a purchase, you pay interest to the bank. If you pay cash, you lose the ability to earn interest on that money. Either way, there’s an interest cost.
The real question isn’t “Should I lease or buy?” It’s “How can I make this dollar do more than one job?” When you start thinking this way, you open up possibilities that conventional wisdom misses entirely.
Beyond Financial Programming
Advice like “never lease” isn’t financial planning—it’s financial programming. It’s the kind of thinking that keeps the middle class spinning its wheels while the wealthy focus on cash flow and leverage.
Wealth isn’t built by following rules. It’s built by asking better questions and designing a game worth winning. The wealthy don’t get caught up in lease-versus-buy debates. They ask:
- How can this decision improve my cash flow?
- What tax advantages might this option provide?
- Can I use the difference to build assets elsewhere?
- What’s the opportunity cost of each option?
When you look at financial decisions through this lens, you start seeing opportunities where others see only rules to follow.
A Smarter Approach to Financial Decisions
Leasing a car doesn’t make you stupid. What’s actually unwise is ignoring cash flow and blindly following financial advice without understanding the principles behind it.
The next time you face a financial decision, don’t just ask what conventional wisdom says. Ask how you can use that decision to create more wealth. Look at the whole picture—cash flow, tax implications, opportunity costs, and how assets can work together.
This is how the wealthy think. And it’s available to anyone willing to question the financial programming we’ve all been taught. True financial freedom comes not from following rules but from understanding how money really works and making it work harder for you.
