I have a $13K student loan, I have saved about $22K in savings. I am thinking about paying OFF the loan.
I make about $55K per year and my student loan is the only debt I have. Is that a good idea?
Should I pay half and save some?
Thank you
2007-03-21 03:12:53 · 4 answers · asked by heyhey123sf 1 in Business & Finance ➔ Personal Finance
You should definetly pay it off. Your savings account is probably earning an interest rate that is below or about the same as your student loan interest rate. When you paid it off, you have no debt to worry about.
After that, you should invest your money each month. I used to pay $98/month on my student loan and then I paid it off. Now I invest $100/month into my Roth IRA. I have 3 mutual funds in there and try to evenly split the $100 between all 3. The average rate of return on my IRA portfolio in the past 3 years is 11.12%. In 30 years, I could potentially have $292,000 in there.
2007-03-21 06:32:41 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 5⤊ 2⤋
GREAT JOB! You are doing very well financially.
When you don't have any debt payments you have Cash Flow. Pay off the loan. The idea of keeping a loan and investing the money into a CD might make you enough to buy an extra 20 Once cup of Coffee a month, but wouldn't you rather be debt free?
Having no payments means that you are better off financially than most people. You are doing great having 22k in savings. But I would rather have 9k in savings and be debt free. Plus if you put your monthly payment back into your savings account each month, you will get back to 22k in a short time.
Think of it this way. If you had 9k in savings, would you go and borrow 13k to bump your savings to 22k? I wouldn't, but effectively that is what you are doing by not paying the loan off.
2007-03-21 05:00:07 · answer #2 · answered by Lip Service 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Pay off the debt. What would you do with that payment each month if it wasn't going to "Sallie Mae?" After paying off the debt, build your savings back up to 3-6 month of expenses for emergencies.
I would then start paying cash for everything (including car) and if you don't own start accumulating a big down payment for a house/condo, etc.
If you want a tax break, give to your favorite charity. I don't know about you but my student loan holder is not my favorite charity! :-)
I suggest you read The Total Money Makeover by Ramsey on why not to be in debt and why paying cash makes sense.
2007-03-21 04:00:22 · answer #3 · answered by mldjay 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Depends on the loan. My student loan debt is consolidated at 1.6% APR, plus the interest is tax deductible, which gives me an after tax interest rate of about 1.2% give or take a little.
As long as I can get pretty much risk free returns from CDs paying more than that 1.2%, which I can all day long, it makes better financial sense to invest the extra in the CD and just make the minmum on the student loans. In fact, if I could borrow more at 1.2% I'd take as much as I can get.
2007-03-21 03:29:24 · answer #4 · answered by BosCFA 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Hey bulldog...if you spend the money repaying the student loans, how can you then invest it in CDs? You're spending it twice.
I would take the risk free 3% on $13,000. It's only $400 a year, but if someone walked up to you on the street and offered you $400 would you turn it down? Because by offering you borrowing rates lower than lending rates, that is exactly what the government is doing through subsidized student loans.
2007-03-21 05:46:49 · answer #5 · answered by BigBill 1 · 1⤊ 2⤋
pay it off. It makes no sense to Pay 3% interest and collect 6% intereset on a cd and end up 3% ahead when you can pay off the loan, be debt free and collect the whole 6% off of the CD.
2007-03-21 05:27:17 · answer #6 · answered by heybulldog 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋
If it's at a lower after-tax interest rate than you can get, guaranteed or really close to guaranteed, like a CD or a high quality bond, then it's better to keep the debt. It's an arbitrage profit.
Remember, not all leverage is bad. If I can borrow at 3% and invest at 6%, I made 3% on other people's money. That's how you succeed...learning how to effectively use other people's money.
2007-03-21 05:17:10 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 3⤋
Personally, I would pay off the debt. It is a wonderful feeling to not have any debt. On the other hand, does the interest on your student debt amount to enough for deductions on your taxes?
2007-03-21 03:18:28 · answer #8 · answered by ropman1 4 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Try this instead of depleting your entire savings: http://staceyflowers.com/the-simplest-easiest-smartest-way-to-pay-off-your-student-loans/
2013-10-30 05:14:06 · answer #9 · answered by ? 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
pay it off. get rid of the debt.
2007-03-21 03:18:46 · answer #10 · answered by Ovrtaxed 4 · 4⤊ 1⤋