Here's my situation. 27 years old, gainfully employed making 55k a year. My only debt is about $9,500 in student loans, spread across 5-6 separate loans with interest rates between 6.5% and 4.5%. I've paid $210 (a modest amount more than the minimums) monthly on my loans since payment first started on them, and have brought the principal down several thousand dollars in that time.
My monthly bills are such that I'm able to save around $500-600 each month. My emergency fund right now has $3,500 in it. I have no expectation that I'll need to take on any additional debt or have any other drastic changes to my financial situation for the foreseeable future (of course I know that anything can happen, that's just my best assessment for the time being).
My question is this--I have traditional and Roth IRAs that I've got a few thousand dollars in each from rolling over my 401k balance from a previous job. I'm
What's the most financially sound plan for me moving forward?
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Make a contribution to my IRA(s) for 2016 before the April 15 deadline, since once that passes, I'll lose the opportunity to use any of that $5500 yearly limit (and the compounding gains on that money) forever.
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Skip the IRA contribution for 2016, and don't focus on contributing to it at all until the loans are paid down. Start making larger payments to my loans once my EF hits the "right" amount (not sure what this is).
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Leave my EF at the amount it is now, and start immediately throwing the money I'm saving into the loans.
Which of these is the best option that correctly prioritizes having enough savings, paying down my loans as quickly as I should, and not neglecting the benefits of getting in early for retirement investing?
Thanks in advance for your help!
Submitted March 27, 2017 at 10:24AM by CranberryBogMonster http://ift.tt/2n98Yuw
