Financing (Very Expensive) Taxi Medallions

Want to become a taxi driver but don’t have a million bucks for a medallion?  Then third-generation taxi businessman and President of Medallion Financial Group Andrew Murstein is your guy. His company makes $800 thousand dollar loans to drivers getting their businesses started. While Brian and some listeners challenged the low number of medallions issued by the city that leads to sky high prices (and sky high return on investments - according to Murstein, medallion prices have gone up 15 percent per year for the past 70 years!), Murstein says his company has made a lot of immigrants into millionaires. And what about the new green Boro Taxis? Murstein is not a fan – he thinks they’re “splitting New York into the greens and the yellows.” But, with green taxi medallions going for just $1,500 a pop, he says they’re a bargain investment.