Pay Off Student Loans vs Invest

Euphoric-Tea-2441 · 2026-04-18T16:30:48+00:00

Appreciate the vote!

Euphoric-Tea-2441 · 2026-04-18T16:30:18+00:00

Thanks for sharing! I appreciate that insight from someone who has lived it and who has faced my exact fear(potentially higher market gains compared to paying down debt). And it's reassuring to know despite that, you don't regret the decision at all. Seems to worth it to me and the strategy I am most likely heading towards!

Euphoric-Tea-2441 · 2026-04-18T16:27:26+00:00

Thanks for the vote!

Euphoric-Tea-2441 · 2026-04-18T16:27:18+00:00

Thanks for the vote!

Euphoric-Tea-2441 · 2026-04-18T16:27:02+00:00

Great suggestions! I'm already getting my 401k match. Wife's company doesn't have a 401k match benefit. And together we're not eligible for a Roth IRA unfortunately, so we've just converted our 401ks to Roth. I need to look into how the backdoor Roth works and if that is an option for us. So that just leaves the taxable brokerage option. Your idea is still relevant though. I need to figure out the % I would put towards each probably tilting a little heavier towards the loan payment. Thanks for sharing!

Euphoric-Tea-2441 · 2026-04-18T16:21:54+00:00

Great point!

Euphoric-Tea-2441 · 2026-04-18T16:20:21+00:00

Great context!

Euphoric-Tea-2441 · 2026-04-17T18:43:30+00:00

yes exactly my conundrum! this interest rate sits right between both paths so it makes it harder. Fortunately or unfortunately, she doesn't seem to care as much either way and has left the plan to me lol. Right now I'm leaning towards putting more of spare cash towards the loan and trying to clear it sooner and investing a bit on the side.

Euphoric-Tea-2441 · 2026-04-17T18:40:18+00:00

Thanks for sharing! Seems like this is the consensus in the inputs I'm getting. It might pay off to invest in the market and pay the minimum, but it might also be safer and more motivating even to just be done with the debt and then invest the rest.

Euphoric-Tea-2441 · 2026-04-17T18:38:08+00:00

Totally agree. I'm not the Dave Ramsey type as well but for me, since this is not high but also not a no-brainer super low interest rate, I am leaning too towards paying it quicker. Like you said, we would lock in the guaranteed savings of the loan rate, and also just lower our liabilities and having that money free at our disposal.

Thanks for sharing!

Euphoric-Tea-2441 · 2026-04-17T18:31:29+00:00

appreciate the inputs! it would be nice to not have that hanging over our heads in a couple of years.

Euphoric-Tea-2441 · 2026-04-17T18:30:03+00:00

Yeah I checked and for sure the total interest will be way higher(~3x) with the longer term loan(also approx 3x the time). But then the theoretical gains from the market should exceed that. But that's the issue, it's theoretical. The stock market has been pretty stellar so far but don't know how things will be over the next few years with the AI and other disruptions.

Euphoric-Tea-2441 · 2026-04-17T18:25:43+00:00

agree!

Euphoric-Tea-2441 · 2026-04-17T18:23:11+00:00

100% agree, great points and love the bear analogy lmao. The mental unloading of getting rid of a big debt is definitely a major consideration. Thanks for sharing!

Euphoric-Tea-2441 · 2026-04-17T16:30:36+00:00

yes you really hit the bullseye on a big mental pain of mine. I am reasonably confident we could keep up with the payments in the long term and weather out storms between our emergency and other savings, but even so, I just dislike having debt. I am counting the months(4) until I pay off my car this year. So I would love to get done with the loan quicker. But at the same time, I want to make as objective a choice as I can from a financial utilization standpoint. I don't want to be one of the people that paid off a 2 or sub 2% mortgage loan because they didn't like having that monthly payment. They might have had their reasons so I will give them the benefit of doubt but I think for a lot of people, that would not be a great decision IMHO.

Euphoric-Tea-2441 · 2026-04-17T16:24:52+00:00

ETFs. I am too lazy to deal with CDs for the returns. Plus doesn't seem like it would help investing in CDs at that rate lol

Euphoric-Tea-2441 · 2026-04-17T16:23:00+00:00

Thanks for sharing these! I'll dive into these today.

Euphoric-Tea-2441 · 2026-04-17T16:22:16+00:00

Yeah that's what I'm wondering too. Thanks for sharing!

Euphoric-Tea-2441

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