Should I invest while still paying off student loans?
I have $35k in student loans at 5.2% interest. I'm also sitting on $8k in savings doing nothing. Should I start investing or throw everything at the loans first? My employer offers a 4% 401k match that I'm not taking advantage of.
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At minimum, get the 401k match — that's an instant 100% return. For the rest, at 5.2% interest it's a close call. Personally I'd split 50/50 between extra loan payments and investing.
The 401k match is free money — don't leave it on the table. After that, mathematically investing beats 5.2% loans over time, but paying off debt has a psychological value that math doesn't capture.