The wife (34F) and I (35M) have stumbled onto $60k and are determining what to responsibly do with it (unfortunate family circumstances).
We have about 8 months of expenses already saved in an emergency fund, already maxed out our Roth IRAs & HSAs for the year, contributing to both 401k plans up to employer match, no credit card debt, no kids (plan to have in the next 2-5 yrs), and have $100k saved up so far for our first starter home/condo in Southern California .
The only debt that we currently have looming over our heads is $100k in student loans that we've been aggressively chipping away at for the last 8 years from close to $200k.
We dream of one day doing away with our student loan debt (average interest rate 6-7%) and are brainstorming 3 viable options (among others that we haven't thought of yet):
- Put a big portion of the $60k towards our student loan debt via one lump sum payment
- Put a big portion of the $60k towards our student loan debt "spread out" over 12-18 months while we let the $60k grow in a HYSA, Money Market fund, Treasury note, CD, etc.
- Put the $60k towards our home fund and purchase a slightly bigger or newer home and 'house hack' to use the additional rental income to fund our student loan payments
Our goal is to do away with our student loans and be able to sleep better at night without this looming debt over our heads any longer but also don't want to pass up on a great oppty to something that still achieves that same goal but potentially smarter.
Would greatly appreciate your thoughts/ideas/suggestions.
original posted by aTribeCalledLex to r/personalfinance on Wed, 28 Feb 2024 21:44:41 GMT.