[CORedneck]

I'll give you a personal account. I am debt free including house. I worked for a particular manager at the last job that knew too much about my finances.

I have no debt whatsoever including house and vehicles. Most of the time, I drive an old pickup truck. I was "strongly encouraged" to buy a vehicle that was "commensurate" with my position and like what others drove - newer vehicles and something that made a good impression to visitors to the parking lot. I replied that I was not interested and then he mentioned that he knew I had no debt and it should be nothing for me to buy a vehicle, borrow some money, etc. I told him I wouldn't have any of that rubbish in diplomatic terms. I asked my old manager how he found out and he told me it was his business to know all of his direct report's finances. It is pretty easy. Take a person's SS#, have a friend do a credit check. That simple....

[Domicile of Doom]

I do agree it's easy for your employer to know your finances. But if your Manager is asking you to do something of that nature, I strongly recommend dusting off the resume. By the way in many parts of the country (read flyover country) fancy cars in the lot can make a bad impression of the service or product being too expensive for that customer. Lot of people in Real Estate try to impress with fancy cars, but for people with half a brain, they know that those brokers and agents are chiseling more commission than they actually earned. My policy on snooping Managers (personal life anyway) is to make their jobs more difficult as in my case I'm usually their boss. And by the way I'm debt free except for one small car loan.

[RockinRight]

If you aren't actually driving to meet clients, it's none of his business what you drive. Even then, it's a fine line.