I stumbled across this site and found a lot of good stuff here. My question is: should I use extra income to build up savings or pay down my significant student loans..
So far I've mostly been trying fund my ROTH and then save for a rainy day, with the thought that my interest rates are low on my student loans and I need to have some cash on hand in case of a job loss or unforeseen expense. Now that I have a couple of months of savings built up, I'm wondering if I shouldn't be more aggressive putting extra money to student loans. I'm curious what you guys think. Here's some additional information:
I'm 24, single, relatively low living expenses (lots of roommates and low COL city) and above average income for my age. On a typical month I have $1,000 to $1,250 after expenses to save, invest or put towards debts
Assets:
Cash Savings = $9,000
Roth IRA = $12,000
Taxable Brokerage Account = $1,500 (handful of indiv stocks)
Defined contribution pension = approx $5,000 vested
Liabilities:
Student loans = approx $45,000 (interest rates vary, but the majority are in the 2.5-3% range)
Car loan= $13,000 (2% interest rate)
Credit Card debt = $0
Shorter term financial goals: possibly go back to grad school full-time, although much of that cost would probably be financed
Long term goals: same as most everyone else, own a home, retire comfortably, live the dream, yada yada you know
So far I've mostly been trying fund my ROTH and then save for a rainy day, with the thought that my interest rates are low on my student loans and I need to have some cash on hand in case of a job loss or unforeseen expense. Now that I have a couple of months of savings built up, I'm wondering if I shouldn't be more aggressive putting extra money to student loans. I'm curious what you guys think. Here's some additional information:
I'm 24, single, relatively low living expenses (lots of roommates and low COL city) and above average income for my age. On a typical month I have $1,000 to $1,250 after expenses to save, invest or put towards debts
Assets:
Cash Savings = $9,000
Roth IRA = $12,000
Taxable Brokerage Account = $1,500 (handful of indiv stocks)
Defined contribution pension = approx $5,000 vested
Liabilities:
Student loans = approx $45,000 (interest rates vary, but the majority are in the 2.5-3% range)
Car loan= $13,000 (2% interest rate)
Credit Card debt = $0
Shorter term financial goals: possibly go back to grad school full-time, although much of that cost would probably be financed
Long term goals: same as most everyone else, own a home, retire comfortably, live the dream, yada yada you know