I stand today on a new financial pinnacle, with the freshening breeze of the economic elite ruffling my luxuriant mane of hair. It feels good up here with the big boys, the powerbrokers and influencers, the kingmakers and masters of the universe, the kind of people that own “cottages.” Might be time to go shopping for that private jet.

That’s right, I paid off my minivan today.

Too bad, Bank of America, that mint green 2003 Mazda MPV is mine, all mine.

I’ve never been enough of a grown-up to have a mortgage, so the car loan is the biggest deal I’ve got going. So for the last five years, 60 months, my biggest equity investment has been the note on the van. My wife and I had leased our previous two cars, so I had no trade in. That meant a big old loan.

But now we’re free and clear. Is this the point that most folks turn around buy a new one? I can’t really imagine that. The car only has 33K miles on it, and due to a set of behaviors that drives my wife nuts, the thing is in pristine condition. Buy a new car at this point? Are you nuts? Indeed, I recently doubled-down with new tires and brake pads. Even if DadLabs was a cash cow, I don’t think I would let my baby go. I’m keeping that minivan for another five years. Minimum.

Conventional wisdom would probably hold that this is a good idea.

But hold on a minute. Let’s look five years into the future. Bubba is now in driver’s ed, Ri-ri is a tween, Coop is finishing up the third grade, and my still pristine minivan with only 66K miles on it is utterly worthless. Because gas is $15 a gallon.

It is conceivable that in five years, a whole class of vehicles will have no value. Look at what is happening right now with SUVs slowly rusting on car lots all over the country. Although my van is no Hummer, 20mpg may be a deal killer in 2013. How does it change the economics if the assumption is that the value of my van goes to zero in the next five years? Would I be better off to get the $10K or so I could get for the van today, and put it into a something that is more likely to have value in five years?

So what does this car that has future value look like? In theory, I should be able to get our family around town in any sedan. Why not a Prius? Because I have experimented with putting the kids three across in the back of my Mazda 3, and for any trip longer than the end of the driveway, this arrangement is not acceptable. I need three rows. So what are the options for a highly fuel efficient car with three rows of seats? Whose idea was thee kids?

Hello, Mazda 5. But is that it? Any other suggestions? Do any vehicles compete with the 5?

Still, the idea of buying a new car grates. Sell the car that I have used so lightly, and cared for so lovingly the moment that I finally get it paid off?

Suddenly the freshening breeze of the financial elite smells a lot like unleaded.