Debt Forum

Pay off CC from cash savings?

Hi all. I have an emergency fund in a MMF at 3%, with currently $21,000 in it. For me that is safely and conservatively 5 months of expenses with wiggle room (probably closer to 6–my bottom line expenses are $3500/month all-in). I have a credit card with $5200 on it (one sizeable home repair and one $3k vet bill from just last month). It's currently at 0% interest which is about to end. - **Option 1:** Pay off the card in its entirety immediately. That leaves $16,000–or only about 4 months of an...

twoawesomedogs 119 XP

3 months ago 8 Share

Update on helping my friend get out of debt

I have to be honest…this isn't entirely altruistic on my part. I've been in the "boring middle" for a few years now. Helping someone else who is starting from zero (less than zero actually) is invigorating. We had a meeting today where I proposed my split-income strategy (a portion to debt, and a portion to living, with no budgeting restrictions on the living money except the general ceiling of having less money to spend). It helped that over THIRTY PERCENT of her take-home was already going to...

Westie 1,516 XP

3 months ago 1 Share

Where do I go for help?

Hello all. Situation is that I am helping my parents (both 66) with their financials. They have 60k ish in student loans. I am trying to help them with retirement/financial planning, but I think we need some guidance on how to deal with their student loans. Can you guys recommend some advisors or services that can assist with student loan counseling? Thanks!

banjo_wolf 111 XP

3 months ago 3 Share

Mathematical or emotional repayment

Hi. I bought my house a month before completing my masters degree. I live in Norway where we need a minimum of 15% equity (I think it's called) in order to qualify for a home loan. I did not have enough, so I borrowed the remaining amount from my parents at 0% interest to be repayed within 8 years. That means I currently have 3 loans: one for the house at 5,09% interest (3,1 mill NOK), one for my studies at 5,009% interest (170 000 NOK), and one to my parents at 0% interest (400 000 NOK). Mathem...

Arrez 250 XP

7 months ago 7 Share

When do retirement loans make sense?

When does it make sense to use a 401k loan to pay off debt? When does it make sense to withdraw Roth IRA contributions to pay off debt? Is it just a factor of whether the interest on your debt is higher or lower than the interest earned from retirement investments? Are there other implications I'm missing?

cheryl 35 XP

8 months ago 8 Share

Assisted living facility

Hello Gang, I have recently joined the local group but have been listening to Brad and Johnathan for a while. i wanted to kindly ask if anyone runs or is in assisted living business. I am exploring this as a ramp to early retirement and wondering if anyone has leads/info. Thank you!

traveller

1 year ago 1 Share

Moving on from SAVE, what to do next?

Hello, I'm looking for some ideas on how to think through my student loans. Trying to balance my feelings about my debt load, vs my investment goals and trying to reach FI. I'm a 35 year old pharmacist in Wisconsin. I graduated in 2015 with about $205,000 in student loans and not a dollar to my name. My wife (currently stay at home) and I have 3 children (8, 6, and 4). I found ChooseFI and Financial Independence in early 2021 and have been on the path since then, following concepts from "The Sim...

MedicineMan15 200 XP

1 year ago 5 Share

Do Multiple Micro-Payments Reduce Car Loan Interest?

I was wondering if someone with more mathematical understanding has done a deep dive into paying off a car loan quicker by using multiple smaller payment like weekly or maybe 8 times per month micro payments. In Comparison to the standard " just 1 time" monthly Payment? If your loan allows for 4-8 partial micro payments going toward that monthly required amount it should add up by the end of the month to be 1 whole payment. Example. I buy a used Honda civic 2021 for $21,000 with a 5% auto loan a...

Anonymous

1 year ago 2 Share

A rant and reflection on my student loan payoff journey

My student loans are from my first masters degree from 2017. While I was in my PhD program, I used the sale of my business to pay off a private student loan of over $20,000. I then had a remaining $120,000. Between around 2020 and when I graduated from the program last spring (2024), my loan balance went down to about $100,000. I started a new job in June last summer. Since then, I've contributed bonuses, a benefit that matches up to $2500 in student loan payments each year both last year and th...

shamikalashawn 75 XP

1 year ago 8 Share

Drowning

I’m one of those drowning in student loan debt from my masters degree and then my PhD. Up until a forbearance in 2020 due to the pandemic, I made payments on time consistently. According to the student.gov website, after 20-25 years my loans can be forgiven/discharged. It’s been that long and forgiveness has yet to happen. Now that the forbearance is over. my student loan payments are $1900/month which I cannot afford. I’ve tried calling and talking to someone. I’ve been told the student loan is...

jkinghynes 69 XP

1 year ago 8 Share

Pay Off Student Loan or Continue Investing?

Hello all, Curious for your advice and feedback. My wife and I are both 29 years old. We have ~$310,000 in a combination of pre and post tax retirement accounts and ~$90,000 in cash spread across CDs and HYS accounts. I do however have ~$119,000 in student loan debt at a 3% interest rate and a monthly payment of roughly $1,500. I feel we’re doing well but also can’t shake the feeling that my student loan is really hindering us from accelerating our path to FI. At times we’ve been tempted to pay...

Anonymous

1 year ago 8 Share

Travel credit cards

im looking for a new travel credit card and came for some help on this website. i have most of the ones recommended on this site. the one i dont have is the chase ink cash card. the description is a little confusing on how i can earn 75,000 points. can someone dumbify it for me? please and thank you! sorry i didnt see a travel card forum.

Ashbal1 49 XP

1 year ago 3 Share

My #1 Tip on this Long Journey of Debt Repayment

YNAB (You Need A Budget). #notasponsor This app, hands down, has been the most important change in my life as I work towards paying off 6-figures worth of debt. I've been using it for just over a year now and seeing the behavioral change has been unreal. It can be a little confusing at first but stick to it and soon enough you can't imagine tracking your day-to-day transactions without it. I'm fortunate enough to have a job that pays well and provide overtime every now and then which obviously h...

pilotmike 231 XP

1 year ago 7 Share

0% Interest Balance Transfer

I am currently working on eliminating all my credit card debt and my car loan, both total to about $12k. It’s not too bad but the interest rates on the credit cards, one at 21% and the other at 19%, are making things difficult. I have thought about opening another card with a low or no interest balance transfer. I feel it’s safe to assume that paying off the balance transfer in full before the promotion period ends should be the goal. But I’m curious as to the potential pro’s and con’s of openin...

Rootfifth 382 XP

1 year ago 4 Share

How I am managing student loan payments and tracking it

We’re aggressively paying off $63,000 in student loans, making an extra $3,400 payment per month on top of the $700 minimum payments. With interest rates between 8-14%, refinancing wasn’t giving us great options, so we decided to just throw everything at the debt and clear it in about 18 months. How We’re Managing Payments The challenge wasn’t just making the payments but also tracking them effectively with cash flow. I tried: * Ally’s Buckets – Didn’t work how I wanted. * Quicken Simplifi’s Pla...

GrandLibrarian 266 XP

1 year ago 2 Share