WHY SMART PEOPLE LEASE CARS

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0:31Can you hypnotize someone into sleeping with you? Can you get someone to join your cult? NLP was used on me to access my subconscious. Mind Games, a new podcast exploring NLP, a.k.a. neurolinguistic programming. Is it a self-help miracle, a shady hypnosis scam, or both? Listen to Mind Games on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, hello, all my people. What's up? It's Questlove. Recently, I had the opportunity to sit down with the one and only A$AP Rocky. He reflects on his journey from Harlem roots to global icon status and discovering the hip-hop origin of his name.

1:14The ledge was on the TV. Rakim had the Buckethead Kangol join on. Pops was like, that's Rakim. That's who you named after. I just, damn the f***ing f***ing swag. But listen to the Questlove show on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. A new year doesn't ask us to become someone new. It invites us back home to ourselves. I'm Mike Della Rocha, host of Sacred Lessons, a space for men to pause, reflect, and heal. This year, we're talking honestly about mental health, relationships, and the patterns we're ready to release. If you're looking for clarity, connection, and healthier ways to show up in your life, Sacred Lessons is here for you.

1:58Listen to Sacred Lessons with Mike Delaroach on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is Dr. Jesse Mills, host of the Mailroom Podcast. Each January, men promise to get stronger, work harder, and fix what's broken. But what if the real work isn't physical at all? I sat down with psychologist Dr. Steve Poulter to unpack shame, anxiety, and the emotional pain men were never taught how to name. Part of the way through the valley of despair is realizing this has happened, and you have to make a choice whether you're going to stay in it or move forward. Our two-part conversation is available now.

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3:15PNC Bank, National Association, member FDIC. The difference between leasing and buying a car. What are some key differences in leasing a car and buying a car? Well, on a lease, most people, you'll hear that a lot. People say, well, you don't own the car, right? The truth is, do you want to own a vehicle that's going to lose value, right? very rarely do cars go up in value. So that's why leasing is so prevalent. 70-80%, like you said, of people lease the vehicles. When you're financing the vehicle, you do, you technically own it, but the bank owns it while you're financing. So until you pay it off, the vehicle still belongs to the bank.

3:54The title's held by the bank. You're not the owner of that vehicle. That's something. That's a common misconception. You don't own a car either way. Until you finally pay it off and then when you do pay it off, more people want to trade it in they want to trade in right away it's old by the time you own it now it's old exactly but another thing with the with the leasing that people don't fully understand so like for me personally right the reason why i lease is that um so i'm a business owner yep right so i get better tax treatment for leasing a car exactly whereas like with the lease i can write off the insurance the gas and the lease payment formula percentage we won't get too complicated in it but i can write that off on my taxes if i own the car then i could only i have to go by the depreciation correct because it's an own i get less of a tax benefit for owning a car so it's in my benefit to lease the car because it's pretty much a write-off yeah for me and i don't have to worry about maintenance right so i never i haven't gotten or i haven't paid for oil change and i can't remember when or at least everything is paid for and warranties too yes and then i get a new car every three years so i always sell like if you want to everybody's personal preference is different you can't force your views on somebody right like if you want to keep a car for 10 years that's your right you can do that i don't want to do that i want to get a new car so i know it's going to cost me a lot more money to buy a car and then buy a new car every three years as opposed to leasing a car and then getting a new car every three years and the upfront is less yeah right yeah absolutely yeah on a lease you only pay um let's say the taxes right when you're financing a vehicle, you pay tax on the whole price of the car.

5:31Or on a lease, you only pay tax on, let's say, the monthly payment. Depending on the state and where you're registering the car, let's say like New York, you're only paying tax on the monthly payment. Right. So I think that that's something that people could, and as far as for me, I don't drive a lot. So 12 ,000 miles, I never go over 12 ,000 miles. I usually hit like 11, 10, 5. So it's perfect for me. But you were saying even if you do go over 12 ,000, that's a big misconception also. is a lot of people think that if I drive a lot of mileage, I shouldn't be leasing. You know, you'll hear a lot of people come in and they say, you know, I do 15 ,000, 20 ,000 miles a year.

6:04I shouldn't, you know, leasing is not for me. I think the contrary. The way I look at it is when you're leasing a vehicle, even if it's a high mileage lease, you know your true cost of ownership, like you said with maintenance, right? You know that you're going to have this car three years. You're going to put 15 ,000 miles a year. You'll have 45 ,000 miles. Most warranties are, let's say, four-year, 50 ,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warranty, So you're still covered under your warranty. You see what I mean? So you'll be able to look at it and say, hey, you know what? I know exactly what I'm going to be paying every month for this car as long as I have my lease.

6:34Now, when you're financing a car and you're putting high mileage on the car, the two things that lower the value of the car quickest is the amount of mileage you put on it and the condition of the car. So let's say if the vehicle was in an accident. So if I'm leasing my car and and it's someone that my next door neighbor is buying their vehicle and they're financing their car in three years I have a lot more flexibility of what I can do I don't have to worry about if my car was in an accident or you know Did somebody key my car did a garbage truck come down the street and hit my car because their value is dropped now So now you're playing this guessing game of oh, wait a minute What is my car now worth and you run into a situation where you finally pay off your car?

7:12You put money into the vehicle trying to fix it. And they turn around and say, hey, your car's worth$6 ,000. Now, the other thing that we talked about was that technology is moving so fast. So things get antiquated quick. So that's why leasing is nice. Because in three years, you may not need a small sedan, right? Now, in three years, your life changes. You have a family. You have kids. Now I want an SUV. My lease is up. I come out of the lease. I go into a brand new SUV if I want to. You can't fit in the Honda Accord anymore. Exactly. Yeah, no, it's true. Technology changes. Even like the vehicle I have now, like I saw the 2020 model.

7:46I'm like, wait, that is ridiculous. Like I need that technology now. So it's like you can just come in every three years, man. That's a huge benefit in leasing. One of the things that is important when you're leasing or financing is the credit. How does that work? Is there a specific bureau that car dealerships use or the bank? How's it go? So it varies between manufacturers. So different banks. So let's say. Run a business and not thinking about podcasting? Think again. More Americans listen to podcasts than ad-supported streaming music from Spotify and Pandora. And as the number one podcaster, iHeart's twice as large as the next two combined.

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8:56I gave her some suggestions to be sexually aroused. Can you get someone to join your cult? NLP was used on me to access my subconscious. NLP, aka Neuro Linguistic Programming, is a blend of hypnosis, linguistics, and psychology. Fans say it's like finally getting a user manual for your brain. It's about engineering consciousness. Mind Games is the story of NLP. It's crazy cast of disciples and the fake doctor who invented it at a New Age commune and sold it to guys in suits. He stood trial for murder and got acquitted. The biggest mind game of all? NLP might actually work. This is wild. Listen to Mind Games on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

9:44Hey, what's up, y 'all? This is Questlove. Recently, I had the opportunity to sit down with A$AP Rocky ahead of his album release, Don't Be Dumb. He reflects on his journey from his Harlem roots to global icon status, discovering the hip-hop origin of his name. The ledge was on the TV. Rakim had the bucket hat Kangol Jr. Pops was like that's Rakim that's who you named after I just was like damn that **** I swear Rocky offers a window into not only a boundary breaking artist but as a man committed to fusing creative ideas community and remaining unapologetically himself have you ever gotten roasted for any of your outfits?

10:22for sure some people don't be getting the vision look they can roast me they can cook me they can deep fry me they can saute whatever they want because nobody knew what my fashion sense and my taste is impeccable. I'm just like, I impress myself a lot. It's an amazing conversation, one you definitely don't want to miss. So listen to the Questlove show on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

10:52Every January, we're encouraged to start over. But what if this year is about slowing down and learning how to understand ourselves more deeply? What if this year is about giving ourselves permission to feel what we've been holding and knowing that it's okay to ask for help? I'm Mike DeLaRocha, host of Sacred Lessons. This is a podcast for men navigating stress, emotional health, fatherhood, identity, and the unspoken pressures we're taught to carry alone. We talk honestly about mental health, about healing generational wounds, and about learning how to show up with more presence and care. If you want a healthier relationship with yourself and the people you love, then Sacred Lessons is the podcast for you.

11:40Listen to Sacred Lessons with Mike DeLaRocha on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Follow Sacred Lessons with Mike DeLaRocha and start listening on the free iHeart Radio app today. New year, new goals, and in this economy, a better money plan is more necessary than ever. I am Matt. And I'm Joel. We are from the How to Money podcast, and every week we help you to spend smarter, save more, and make sense of what's going on out there. If you want 2026 to be the year you finally feel in control of your money, we're here to give you the tools and advice to help you make it happen. Listen to How to Money on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

12:18if you're going to honda honda financial toyota has toyota motor credit mercedes-benz has mercedes-benz financial they all have different criterias right so it's not it's not a blanket as far as what they use some people use transunion some people use equifax other manufacturers use what's called the auto score so an auto score means your automotive history so even if you had some trouble on your credit but they saw let's say for whatever reason you had some medical bills or something happened, but you always paid your car note on time, the bank may look at that and say, hey, well, wait a minute.

12:51Yeah, they missed some payments over here, but they always paid their car on time. So that means that, hey, you know what? This person needs that car. They need to get to work. They need to provide for their family. So no matter what happens, they're going to take care of that monthly payment. And another thing I want people to think too, a lot of times people look at it like, okay, well, I'm not a business owner. And we're talking about luxury cars just because we have luxury cars, but it's the conversations for any type of car. It doesn't matter but also people have to realize is that you don't have to be a full-time entrepreneur to be an entrepreneur because the tax system i can't stress this enough the tax system is set up for entrepreneurs and investors it's not set up for employees right so as an entrepreneur you get all kinds of benefits you can write off meals you can write off travel you can write off almost anything realistically as long as it makes sense don't get what it is but um and cars is one of the things that you can write off, right?

13:43So if you work in a regular job and you might have a side hustle, why not get that incorporated, get an LLC, get a C Corp, whatever you want to do and get a tax ID, open it up a bank account. Now you have a business. So now you can lease that from your side hustle business and you can deduct the same deductions like if you work the regular job, right? Like now that goes against any money that you make on that end. So I say that to say, you have to thank business people and you don't even have to actually be a full-time business owner salespeople as well right if you're at 1099 or if you are in some former sales where you can um take deductions like real estate stuff like that insurance you sell insurance the same thing so a lot of times people you know they have negative views towards things because they don't they have a lack of understanding once you have a lack of understanding and like i said now if you still choose to do that then it's your decision it's a free country 100%.

14:39But a lot of times we make decisions based out of ignorance, not knowledge. Misinformed, yeah. Exactly. So one of the things I wanted to ask you was you said MSRP versus price, right? What's the difference? What's the selling price? All right. So, yeah. So you have MSRP, right? That's what's on the window sticker, right? So the manufacturer suggests the retail price of the vehicle. That's MSRP. Manufacturers suggest the retail price. That's what they recommend you should be selling that car for. Now, the selling price is what you negotiate, right? or whatever. However, you can reduce the selling price of the vehicle.

15:09That's what that comes down to. So is that the same thing as the cap cost? So no cap cost. Let's say you're leasing or you're financing the vehicle. The final cap cost is the selling price plus anything else. So whatever money the bank is lending you, whatever it's a lease or a finance, they're still lending a certain amount of money. So let's say on a lease, if you rolled your taxes into your payment, that's going to add to your cap cost. If you negotiated a$50 ,000 selling price, and then you rolled your taxes of$2 ,000 into the lease. That's$52 ,000 cap cost. Okay, and is that negotiable? Well, it's based on what you negotiate as far as, let's say, your selling price.

15:44Okay. So whatever fees you put into it, those aren't negotiable. Those are, let's say, taxes and DMV fees, things like that. So, all right, we talked about, okay, talk about leasing a car, but buying a car. Somebody wants to buy a car, right? And you would say most of the time, if you do want to buy a car, it makes more sense to buy a used car. I always recommend people, if you are going to buy a car, buy a certified pre-owned. Now, listen, there's vehicles you can find at these lots that are not authorized, let's say Mercedes-Benz dealerships or Toyota dealerships. Me, personally, I think you're better off going to, you may pay a couple of dollars more, but you're getting it from the manufacturer.

16:17So you have the backing with manufacturers. And just to give you an idea, most companies, when they certify a vehicle, the vehicle goes through, let's say, 150 point, 160 point inspection. So not only will they inspect the vehicle to make sure that it's in certain conditions, so they'll eliminate things like, let's say there's frame damage to the car. If the car has frame damage, it doesn't qualify for certification. So it's eliminated. Most dealerships won't even take that car. They'll send that car out, and that's where you'll see the vehicles on these other side lots, right? And they're selling those vehicles.

16:46So there's really no recourse when it comes to something happening to the car. Not to mention the fact that once that car goes through the certification, a lot of manufacturers will put new car interest rates on those cars so typically pre-owned cars or used cars will have a higher interest rate than a new car but if it's certified you get a better interest rate so like right now like let's say you have 1.99 percent you can't get 199 percent on a on a used car you know anywhere else you know what i mean if the vehicle certified that's the way to do it me personally the vehicles as you guys have all heard this people say oh well the vehicle loses value as soon as you drive it off the lot.

17:22Now, what happens is really it's once it's registered, the vehicle loses value. That's when the vehicle loses value. And that's normally when you drive it off the lot. That's when you got it brand new. So yeah, when you're buying the car brand new, it initially loses its value when you drive it off the lot or the vehicle is titled. So now you're buying a vehicle that's going to depreciate in value. That's what a car does. It's going to go down in value. So you're financing a car that's losing value. It already took a big hit right when you're buying new opposed to a certified pre-owned that the initial depreciation has already happened it's already taken place but you know that car was taking care of the manufacturer the dealership you know is putting themselves behind that vehicle saying hey we know this vehicle we've inspected this vehicle we know this vehicle's in good shape we're willing to even put a new car rate on it so you have some more confidence when they're buying that type of vehicle okay all right

18:18you can't do it

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20:34neurolinguistic programming. Is it a self-help miracle, a shady hypnosis scam, or both? Listen to Mind Games on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, hello, all my people. What's up? It's Questlove. Recently, I had the opportunity to sit down with the one and only ASAP Rocky. He reflects on his journey from Harlem roots to global icon status and discovering the hip-hop origin of his name. The ledge was on the TV. Rakim had the bucket hat Kangol join on. My pops was like, that's Rakim. That's who you named after. I just was like, damn the f*** I swear. Listen to the Questlove show on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

21:21A new year doesn't ask us to become someone new. It invites us back home to ourselves. I'm Mike Della Rocha, host of Sacred Lessons, a space for men to pause, reflect, and heal. This year, we're talking honestly about mental health, relationships, and the patterns we're ready to release. If you're looking for clarity, connection, and healthier ways to show up in your life, Sacred Lessons is here for you. Listen to Sacred Lessons with Mike Delaroach on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, it's Joel. And Matt. From HowToMoney. If your New Year's resolution is to finally get your finances in shape, we've got your back.

21:59Prices, they're still high, and the economy is all over the place. But 2026 is the year for you to get intentional and make real progress. That's right. Yeah, each week we break down what's happening with your money, the most important issues to focus on, and the small moves that make a big difference. Kick off the year with confidence. Listen to How to Money on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is Dr. Jesse Mills, host of the Mailroom Podcast. Each January, men promise to get stronger, work harder, and fix what's broken. But what if the real work isn't physical at all?

22:32I sat down with psychologist Dr. Steve Poulter to unpack shame, anxiety, and the emotional pain men were never taught how to name. Part of the way through the valley of despair is realizing this has happened, and you have to make a choice whether you're going to stay in it or move forward. Our two-part conversation is available now. Listen to The Mailroom on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite shows. This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human.