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I agree with jayjay's post above, but I do think it's possible to consider your timeshare as an investment. For example, I think of my 2-bd/2-ba week 5 condo in Whistler as kind of like a variable annuity (something I invested money in that pays me back every year for the rest of my life). Here's how it works: What it's worth: checking on-line, I cannot find anything comparable to my unit for less than $15K--so I consider that number as its fair market value--ie, the value of my current investment there. (That also happens to be $2K more than what I paid for it 10 years ago from the developer--but it doesn't often work that way.) What I'd spend (or receive) renting a comparable unit: again, checking on line, I cannot find anything for less than $200/night. So I'm either going to get that much in rent or pay that much if I wanted to ski there. Let's say I rent the unit out. So...dividing my net rental income of $900 ($1400 for week - $500 maint fee) by my $15K "investment" gives me an annual return of 6%. Is that great? No, it's not fantastic--but in this economy, it's not too shabby, either-- and this number does not factor in the falling value of the US dollar against the Can dollar (which, I think, largely explains why the condo hasn't gone down appreciably in value in 10 years). If you start adding in the cost of exchanges ($150-250/yr), the return could drop to 4%. Still better than a CD these days.