Originally Posted by Platy

I calculate that having the skills to live carfree is roughly equivalent to having an extra quarter of a million dollars in your retirement account.

The rule of thumb is, to cover an annual expense of $X in retirement you need to have $25*X invested. This accounts for both historical investment returns and life expectancies. Of course you have to also pay taxes on whatever investment income you have.

Thus $250,000 invested during retirement supports an annual withdrawal of $10,000, giving let's say $8,000 after taxes. (The Bush tax cuts have been more generous to investors in the last few years, but I expect they cannot be extended very far into the future.) $8,000 is about what the American Automobile Association estimates for total annual cost of ownership for one average vehicle. You can craft a scenario where your out of pocket expenses are less than the AAA estimate, but it will probaby involve doing all your own repairs, going with mimimal insurance coverage, and making no provision for replacing the car at the end of its life.