student loans

Why not debt consolidation?

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Paying off debt is hard. Chances are that you have debts in a number of different places (car, student loan, credit card, and even perhaps medical or personal debts as well), all of which have different payment dates, rates, and … Read More … Read More

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Lightning in the desert

Would I have done college differently if I had wanted to avoid debt?

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I’m annoyed when I think about debt. It’s a thing that I want to get away from, like a snoring person in the room, or a screaming baby on the plane. I want it gone. When I was in high school, … Read More … Read More

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Spiral windows

Is it a good idea to get your student loans forgiven?

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Like approximately everyone, I graduated college with student loans. If there was a way to get my loans “forgiven”, no one told me. At the time, all I knew was that I had to either pay what I owed, pay interest … Read More … Read More

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Financial cage match: Paying off student loans versus investing for retirement

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  Recently, I made the bold claim that those who have debt aren’t ready to start saving for retirement. I added some relaxing caveats, but I really wanted to put them in an order. Debt first, investing later. I don’t … Read More … Read More

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The Debt Math Throwdown (or testing the debt snowball)

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  In my discussion about how to pay off your debt, I mentioned how there were primarily two schools of thought: pay off the highest interest rate first, or pay off the smallest debt first (a.k.a. “the debt snowball”). The … Read More … Read More

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How to figure out which debt to pay off first

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  If you’re like most people, you have a few credit cards here and there, maybe a student loan payment, and perhaps a car payment. In addition, maybe you own a house and have a mortgage payment. That’s a lot … Read More … Read More

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Pay what you owe (and take the high road)

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  Last time I talked about how I automate all my bills, and recommend that you do the same. But during the course of my argument, I dropped in this statement: …most of all, your record will say that you … Read More … Read More

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Is there such a thing as good debt?

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  I said it for years: “…but it’s good debt.” More specifically: “I have [a stupid amount] in student loan debt, but it’s okay, because it’s good debt. I mean, at least it’s not credit card debt.” One day, though, … Read More … Read More

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