AT&T Next (new plans)

[aristobrat]

Debt is debt, call it what you like. If I don't have the money to buy a new phone outright, I don't buy it.

That's cool for you, but I'd guess less than 1% of folks in the US have ever paid full-price for a phone just to say "I'm not paying monthly towards this debt".

The main debt vehicle for new phones (until a year or two ago) was the 2-year contract. You could buy a $649+ phone for $199 down. Part of your monthly payment went towards paying the remaining debt off. And that was the rub... after you paid the debt off, your monthly payments never went down. So you continue to pay, as if you had a debt, even when you had none. So in that regards, it made no sense to ever pay full-price for a phone.

Now you can buy a $649 iPhone for $0 down, and then pay monthly until the remaining debt is paid off.

Not much different, IMO. At least this debt doesn't incur you any fees/interest/charges/etc.

 

[C DM]

Debt is debt, call it what you like. If I don't have the money to buy a new phone outright, I don't buy it.

But for me it's less of a quandary to drop $900 on a phone, because I no longer use legacy computers for anything really. My iPhone is my computer, so I'm not also buying a laptop every 3 years.

And if you have it and just don't feel like paying it all at once when you can do it in small installments with no downside?

 

[rstark18]

But this year. I am just gonna to wait for promos from Costco or SAMs club like they had last year for att next $300 gift cards

What deals did they run?

 

[aneftp]

What deals did they run?

$300 gift cards for upgrades (doesn't even have to be a new line).

Just watch for deals. Unless you plan on buying full price.

I would NEVER upgrade with att next (or Verizon or whatever) at ANY of their corporate stores.

Best Buy, Walmart, SAMs club Costco always have promo on att next, Verizon edge (or whatever it's called).

I am not gonna to get into a debate that's "it's a gift card" either. It's a promo.

 

[Closingracer]

stay away from AT&T next plan they are nothing but a scam i find 2 year contrack a march better plan

It's not a scam..... T-Mobile, sprint, Verizon do the same thing....no contract and you finance the full price of the phone for X amount of time.

 

[phillytim]

The main debt vehicle for new phones (until a year or two ago) was the 2-year contract. You could buy a $649+ phone for $199 down. Part of your monthly payment went towards paying the remaining debt off. And that was the rub... after you paid the debt off, your monthly payments never went down. So you continue to pay, as if you had a debt, even when you had none. So in that regards, it made no sense to ever pay full-price for a phone.

And that's another reason why I could not figure out why the carriers dissed the contracts; they locked you in and commanded a higher monthly price indefinitely. Seems like they made out like modern day bandits to me.

 

[whsbuss]

I went with NEXT when I got 6's for me and the wife. Mobile share plans require that. As long as AT&T offers a reasonable trade-in price I'm good.

 

[gabo864]

There's purchase protection and there's extended warranty.

Oh I had no idea. I'm gonna have to look into it. Thanks.

 

[Qbnkelt]

thats why i went with verizon has they are still sell phones with 2 year contracks AT&T next is nothing but a scam so dont went AT&T talk you in too getting a phone on next

OK you said twice that it's a scam. But you haven't explained how it is a scam.

So....please explain the nature of the scam.

 

[Qbnkelt]

What a joke - AT&T just seems bent on keeping us confused and assure that we pay more, one way or another.

What's the best option for someone like me who wants to be sure that I can upgrade whenever the new iPhone "S" models launch--which can either be every 24 months OR perhaps it may be a bit earlier at 23 (or even 22) months?

I don't like the thought of the AT&T NEXT 2/30 plan, which seems inflexible if the new S model comes out at 22 months into my contract.

Can't speak for you but I get the device on Next. Put away 100 bucks every paycheck, and I've got the cash to get the phone paid off in six months.

I get a new phone every year and gift the prior year to a family member.

 

[AZhappyjack]

Can't speak for you but I get the device on Next. Put away 100 bucks every paycheck, and I've got the cash to get the phone paid off in six months.

I get a new phone every year and gift the prior year to a family member.

This. It's exactly how I roll. I put a little away every payday and I'm ready to purchase the new device outright as soon as it's released. My "war chest" currently has about $2K.

IMO, if you can't afford to pay for the device outright, then maybe you don't need a new phone every year. There's no real shame in using a phone that's 2 years old. #firstworldproblems

 

[aristobrat]

IMO, if you can't afford to pay for the device outright, then maybe you don't need a new phone every year. There's no real shame in using a phone that's 2 years old. #firstworldproblems

So what exactly is the functional difference of you making a monthly payment (to yourself) to get a new phone vs. someone else making a monthly payment to their carrier to get a new device? A monthly payment is a monthly payment.

I guess you get the option of not making a monthly payment to yourself if you hit hard times, but the amount of these monthly payments are pretty insignificant to most peoples budgets, IMO, esp when the vast majority of the amount is something they've been paying for the umpteen years they've been making payments via 2-year contracts. i.e. this isn't a new budget hit most people

Nobody (ok, virtually nobody) ever bought devices outright a year or two ago. Virtually everyone paid for their phones... monthly... via 2-year contacts.

So why is now suddenly uncool to pay monthly for a phone?

 

[AZhappyjack]

So what exactly is the functional difference of you making a monthly payment (to yourself) to get a new phone vs. someone else making a monthly payment to their carrier to get a new device? A monthly payment is a monthly payment.

I guess you get the option of not making a monthly payment to yourself if you hit hard times, but the amount of these monthly payments are pretty insignificant to most peoples budgets, IMO, esp when the vast majority of the amount is something they've been paying for the umpteen years they've been making payments via 2-year contracts. i.e. this isn't a new budget hit most people

Nobody (ok, virtually nobody) ever bought devices outright a year or two ago. Virtually everyone paid for their phones... monthly... via 2-year contacts.

So why is now suddenly uncool to pay monthly for a phone?

I never said that it was "uncool"... and my post was in response to phillytim's comment about what happens if the new model comes out 22 month into his plan.

Saving money in your own account is not the same as "making payments". Sure, almost anyone can make payments on anything... but IMO, it's more responsible to save for what you want.

 

[aristobrat]

I never said that it was "uncool"...

Correct, and I don't think I said that you did. Uncool was the vibe I got from your "if you can't afford to pay for the device outright" comment.

Saving money in your own account is not the same as "making payments". Sure, almost anyone can make payments on anything... but IMO, it's more responsible to save for what you want.

Financially speaking, if you have built a "war chest" ("rainy day fund", "savings", whatever...), why would you want to deplete its value by $649+ (in one transaction that will take months to recover from) when you have the option to only deplete its value by $20-$40/month (which you can replenish monthly)?

Seems less risky/more responsible to keep your money with you as much as possible, vs giving it in a large lump sum to a carrier/phone manufacturer, no?

 

[AZhappyjack]

Correct, and I don't think I said that you did. Uncool was the vibe I got from your "if you can't afford to pay for the device outright" comment.


Financially speaking, if you have built a "war chest" ("rainy day fund", "savings", whatever...), why would you want to deplete its value by $649+ (in one transaction that will take months to recover from) when you have the option to only deplete its value by $20-$40/month (which you can replenish monthly)?

Seems less risky/more responsible to keep your money with you as much as possible, vs giving it in a large lump sum to a carrier/phone manufacturer, no?

I am reluctant to hijack this thread, but since you asked...

It's just how I was raised. If you want something, save for it and pay cash. If I fall on hard(er) times, then I can forego the purchase and keep the cash for another, more needful purpose. It would probably rock your world to know that I also do that when buying a car. I pay cash, then make payments into a savings account to enable me to purchase my next car. I do have a mortgage (owe less than $30k on a $400k house), but other than that, I have zero debt and none of my future earnings are committed. I have credit cards that I use and pay off each month... and a credit rating well over 830.

One of the biggest issues facing our kids today (and our country) is outrageous debt and the overwhelming sense of entitlement. I was raised to believe that if I can't pay cash, I then I have to wait to get "it', whatever "it" is.

(climbing off my soapbox... but you did ask, sort of.)

 

[ovo6]

Hopefully we can make a down payment like right now
Edit:nvm

 

[rstark18]

I am reluctant to hijack this thread, but since you asked...

It's just how I was raised. If you want something, save for it and pay cash. If I fall on hard(er) times, then I can forego the purchase and keep the cash for another, more needful purpose. It would probably rock your world to know that I also do that when buying a car. I pay cash, then make payments into a savings account to enable me to purchase my next car. I do have a mortgage (owe less than $30k on a $400k house), but other than that, I have zero debt and none of my future earnings are committed. I have credit cards that I use and pay off each month... and a credit rating well over 830.

One of the biggest issues facing our kids today (and our country) is outrageous debt and the overwhelming sense of entitlement. I was raised to believe that if I can't pay cash, I then I have to wait to get "it', whatever "it" is.

(climbing off my soapbox... but you did ask, sort of.)

I am in somewhat agreement with this BUT, paying cash (literally)(and I'm not implying you do this) is usually not financially the smartest way to buy something. If you have the money in your account (like I agree you should) then paying with a credit card is almost always smarter. If you've done your homework you automatically get rewarded by cash back or FF points or what ever is of more value but at the very minimum cash back.

Looking at this from the NEXT point of view, I see no financial disadvantage to using a zero interest loan to eventually purchase the phone.

I do see an advantage to buying it outright with a credit card as was mentioned earlier which is a two year extended warranty.

 

[bigjnyc]

thats why i went with verizon has they are still sell phones with 2 year contracks AT&T next is nothing but a scam so dont went AT&T talk you in too getting a phone on next

Please explain how its a scam? its just interest free financing of the device. If a phone costs $850 you pay $35.41 a month for 24 months. If you pay it off earlier then you are done with monthly payments. If you're smart you will sell the phone in the open market usually for more than you have left on your payments and pick up a new one rather than trading it in to AT&T
[doublepost=1464294191][/doublepost]

Debt is debt, call it what you like. If I don't have the money to buy a new phone outright, I don't buy it.

But for me it's less of a quandary to drop $900 on a phone, because I no longer use legacy computers for anything really. My iPhone is my computer, so I'm not also buying a laptop every 3 years.

While that's a good mentality to have its not really the smartest so I would get off that high horse. AT&T is pretty much giving you an interest free loan so rather than taking $900 and paying for the phone upfront why not put that money to work for you? I'll give you my example... I got the iphone 6S Plus on next, I could have easily paid off the $949 no problem, but instead I took the interest free loan from AT&T and invested the $949 along with other cash in crude oil at $26 a barrel, its now worth $49.32 a barrel as of a few minutes ago... my $949 is now $1800.18

 

[yanki01]

good lord this thread is confusing.

here's the link in case anyone was wondering what they were.

http://about.att.com/story/att_simplifies_smartphone_purchase_and_upgrade_options.html
[doublepost=1464299464][/doublepost]on the new plans, i wonder if the mobile share charge will still be there for each phone.

 

[M. Gustave]

Please explain how its a scam? its just interest free financing of the device. If a phone costs $850 you pay $35.41 a month for 24 months. If you pay it off earlier then you are done with monthly payments. If you're smart you will sell the phone in the open market usually for more than you have left on your payments and pick up a new one rather than trading it in to AT&T
[doublepost=1464294191][/doublepost]

While that's a good mentality to have its not really the smartest so I would get off that high horse. AT&T is pretty much giving you an interest free loan so rather than taking $900 and paying for the phone upfront why not put that money to work for you? I'll give you my example... I got the iphone 6S Plus on next, I could have easily paid off the $949 no problem, but instead I took the interest free loan from AT&T and invested the $949 along with other cash in crude oil at $26 a barrel, its now worth $49.32 a barrel as of a few minutes ago... my $949 is now $1800.18

Yeah, sure you did. Thanks for the laugh.

 

[Peter K.]

Please explain how its a scam? its just interest free financing of the device. If a phone costs $850 you pay $35.41 a month for 24 months. If you pay it off earlier then you are done with monthly payments. If you're smart you will sell the phone in the open market usually for more than you have left on your payments and pick up a new one rather than trading it in to AT&T
[doublepost=1464294191][/doublepost]

While that's a good mentality to have its not really the smartest so I would get off that high horse. AT&T is pretty much giving you an interest free loan so rather than taking $900 and paying for the phone upfront why not put that money to work for you? I'll give you my example... I got the iphone 6S Plus on next, I could have easily paid off the $949 no problem, but instead I took the interest free loan from AT&T and invested the $949 along with other cash in crude oil at $26 a barrel, its now worth $49.32 a barrel as of a few minutes ago... my $949 is now $1800.18

Oil speculators suck.

 

[bigjnyc]

Yeah, sure you did. Thanks for the laugh.

I've worked in investment banking for 7 years now I have several posts in the watch forum at my desk in front of a Bloomberg trading terminal, but I don't really have to prove anything to a clueless troll on a message board so I'll leave it at that.


https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...your-watch-today.1949227/page-2#post-22643786

 

[C DM]

Oil speculators suck.

What does that have to do with this thread's topic or anything related to iPhone or even Apple?

 

[Peter K.]

What does that have to do with this thread's topic or anything related to iPhone or even Apple?

...I got the iphone 6S Plus on next, I could have easily paid off the $949 no problem, but instead I took the interest free loan from AT&T and invested the $949 along with other cash in crude oil at $26 a barrel, its now worth $49.32 a barrel as of a few minutes ago... my $949 is now $1800.18

 

[C DM]

[Quotes]

...and that has nothing to do with the topic of this thread.