Opinions please: I’m 24, have over $100k in private student loans at around 5%, ~$80k salary in tier 2 HCOL city. Do I dump money into principal or prioritize savings/401k? May want an MBA (cont)

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Always pay off debt first.

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That’s not true. If your interest rate is 5%, paying off debt essentially returns 5% over the life of the loan. That’s not too shabby and probably makes sense here but I’d at least maximize your 401k match (it’s free money) and put a little into savings (a few months rent in case things go south). Outside investments can wait until your loans are paid down.

Source: I am a former financial planner

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Pay off your loans before saving for retirement

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Eh if you get a solid match, you should save up until that but no more.

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Have an emergency fund of a couple grand. then once you have that, dump money into student loan debt.

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You need to plan a budget and pay that off.

If the tier 2 city has high taxes, consider moving to another state if it makes sense.

I job hopped yearly from 22-27. If you can hop to another company to get more money, you should consider that.

But yeah, this affects your credit score if you ever plan on buying a house. You can get away from letting this linger for years, but no telling what could happen.

If your technical or work in tech, I don’t see a need to get an MBA.

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Yeah OP, if you’re all in, you may as well just be patient. I moved to 3 different states. Was fun, but I had 30k loans and help my elderly parent financially. Sounds like you’re in a different place so sounds like you could afford to wait.

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In a few years and am hesitant about having even more debt (will try for scholarships but that isn’t guaranteed). OTOH, comp will likely increase over the next few years as I am a high performer and plan on sticking around

Even if a company covers MBA there will be other related costs. I am just suggesting this because I don't think it would be wise at your current financial state to take on more debt.

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I’m not at MBB or even T2 tho, so comp may not increase as much as you probably think

401k up to March (6% hypothetical match + a conservative 5% ROI in the market) -> rainy day finds -> budget daily life -> all else to loans

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