Scott and James discuss how to balance retirement savings with debt paydown.
Listener Question
I'm 36 years old with a wife, a 2.5 year old and hopefully a second child in the near future. I currently have a job with a non-matched 403b but it also currently offers a pension (and hopefully still will when I retire in 25-30 years). My wife's employer offers a matching 403b. I currently contribute 15% per pay period into my 403b and my wife about 11%. I’ve been working a few years longer than her and excluding my current 403b account, I have about $75k in an IRA from previous 401k rollovers (post-college thru taking my current job in the summer of 2018). I still have about $45k remaining in principle student loans at 4.35% fixed (8 years left on a 10-year refi loan). I graduated college in 2007 and have been paying my student loans every month since then. My current min monthly payment is $575. Does it make sense to cash out my IRA/rollover account and finally just payoff my student loan, pay off a small amount of credit card debt from a trip we took to Hawaii a few years ago, and ultimately free up some cash to increase my monthly 403b contribution, and build our emergency fund back up to a healthy level, especially as the cost of living increases and we plan to add another child to our family? Or is it absolutely insane to throw away $75k saved over the previous 10 years of my career?
Planning Points Discussed
Timestamps:
3:57 - Listener Question
4:56 - Pension Income
7:28 - Tax Implications
11:29- Paying Down Debt
14:18 - Refinancing Knowledge
16:22 - Unknown Expenses
19:08 - Aligning Your Financial Goals
LET'S CONNECT!
James
Scott
ENJOY THE SHOW?
Don’t miss an episode, subscribe via iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, or Google Play.
Leave us a review on iTunes.
Have a money question you want us to answer? Submit one here
