Introducing . . .

the Affordability Factor

Any man who has to ask about the annual upkeep of a yacht can't afford one

This is a quotation attributed to the famous banker, J P Morgan. It's hard to believe that an expert moneyman could ever have made such a statement.

It might sound cute, but when you examine it more closely it's not so good. It has more boasting than common sense behind it.

We might say, in the light of the recent recession, that anyone who doesn't ask about the annual upkeep of a yacht before buying it is a fool. How does he know he can afford it if he doesn't ask?

I'd be very surprised to find Warren Buffet not asking about the annual upkeep of something he was considering investing in. 

 Here's a better quote, from Charles Dickens' David Copperfield:

Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen ninety-six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery.

The affordability factor is all about asking sensible questions that result in happiness, not misery.