<prompt> Human: Hello Personalfinance!I am 20 years old waitercollege student and I need some help with protecting my assets. I have around 2 more years of college left Bachelors in AccountingEconomics and I was looking for some advice in how to manage my cash. First off, I have never been in debt, and I planned on doing all of college without it. I got a job when I was 16, saved up 15,000 and used that for livingcommunity college so far while working. 2 years later I have 12,000 but now that I am attending a University school is around 5,000 a semester. I live in an apartment and have a small, beat up 1999 Civic. My main worry is protecting my cash on hand from inflation. I know to protect yourself from or take advantage of inflation, it is best to invest in assets such as Houses, Cars, Education, or foreign currencies things with intrinsic value or remain constant. My question here is would it be better to sell my cheap car, and buy another newer model that retains its value, while also getting loans to pay for my college while using the cash I have on hand as a back up for emergencies.Or should I continue to work and pay for everything as is, without any loans, while my car continues to lose value? Feel free to ask any questions, and thank you for reading!  <response>: Buying a newer car will not retain value. Your old car is probably depreciating about as little as a car can. 