When you're in your 20s, earning $50k a year may seem like a lot, but you're probably overlooking some expenses that you should start saving for now. I'm in my mid-30s, so some of this is in my somewhat recent memory (or so I like to think
). For example, you may want to get married and start a family 10 years from now. If you want to buy a 2-3 bedroom house or apartment in LA, you're looking at $400k+, which means you'll need an $80k+ down payment. While you'll have no problem saving up that much without car payments, I imagine paying for a pricey car would make such a goal difficult to achieve.
I like to give myself context when considering pricey purchases by comparing them to my disposable income. List your annual income in Excel, then subtract off all of your taxes and at least several percent for 401k. Then subtract off all of your basic expenses, such as food, insurance, clothes, cell phone, gas, rent (if you move out), etc., in order to get your annual disposable income. For a car, compare your disposable income to the expected depreciation over your years of ownership. Let's say a $100k Model S is worth $25k after 6 years (just making up numbers), resulting in $75k of depreciation. Let's say you have $25k of disposable income, which means a Model S would cost you 3 years of hard work for 6 years of enjoyment. If you think that's totally worth it, then go for it! I'd personally hold off until the depreciation is less than 1 year of my disposable income.