I have a question, having just had looming lay offs which I survived and not much saved (about 2K due to a recent divorce) (I am about 4 years out of college into my carrer, chemical engineering), I was wondering if it would be better to pay student loans off (at least the 6.5% interest loans) before my condo (that is the only debt I have condo and student loans, my vehical is payed for and I keep maticulus care of it).

Student loans are 27K high interest + 20K federal at 2%
Condo is about 170K left to pay

I am worried about paying to much into my condo because if I were to be laid off and could not sell it I would basicly be burning my money in a fire pit,I was thinking about paying off my high interest student loans by the end of next year and that would save me 300$ a month, another thought I had was just continue saving money and do a 15 yr refi at 4.5% (a 15 yr vs a 30 yr would only increase my payments by like 250$) once I have a little more equity and when my savings match my pay off ballance just pay it off out right, I am concerned about having a place to live in the face of a lay off, then if I were layed off I would only have to have enough savings to pay for gas/food etc which is nominal compared to a mortgage, I could even pay for utilities a year in advance with free money I get from my state. It would be sweet if I could pay off my condo in like 3-5 yrs since I gross 80K a year, I could have a potential pay raise comming up that would put me right at 100K when I test for my PE licence in chemical engineering but that is not here yet so I will cross that bridge when I get to it. Would it be possible to pay off such a loan in that short of a period of time? I basicly want to try to insulate myself from all this hoop haa that is going on with the nation.

I also have a life goal of owning an extra 300 acrobatic aircraft and getting a 70 yr hanger lease about 250K + insurance and upkeep after my basic living needs are taken care of (paying off my condo something to drive etc).

I really want to make this happen so some good advice would be greatly appriciated. I would like to pay off my condo ASAP but dont want to find myself in a place where I loose all my equity.

You should realize from your barely surviving layoff that job security does not exist. Thus your goals in life if you want to stay out of financial trouble are in order.

1. Pay of all non-mortgage debt. Highest interest first.
2. Save for emergency, and retirement.
3. Pat off Home
4. Save for all your normal living improvement costs, appliance and auto replacement, home upgrade, etc.
5. Save for toys.

Get yourself on a budget before you join the perpetual slave force.

I agree having my student loans payed off would be sweet then all I would have is my mortgage, I also want to put money into a 529 after my student loans are paid off to work on a masters to make myself more marketable and to maintain my professional engineering license. I feel like being out of the slave force is within my reach (ie I have no credit card debt or other superflous debt).

but, if you don't pay off your mortgage, you run the risk of losing your home; so i would concentrate on the mortgage over the student loan.

If you dont pay off you student loans they can get judgments and garnish your wages to pay them. Also you can not file banko on student loans. I dont know about student loans but I do know you can write off the interest on your taxes for home mortgages.



Mark - Consumer & commercial

I would pay the loan with the highest interest rate first and knock that out.

Right now, cash is king. People are getting laid off left and right, credit card interest getting raised, credit limits cut in half, or all together.

Save money for emergencies is your first priority. I would have no less then 9 months of living expenses saved, especially in today's environment. After that you might want to focus attention to your student loans. Since you said they are high interest I would assume they are private loans. Pay as much as you can on the highest interest loan first till it is paid, then move on to the next highest. The federal loans I would pay the minimums on since it's almost free money at 2%. There is no reason to pay more into your condo since real estate is shaky and mortgage interest is a nice tax write off. Additionally, worse case scenario, if you did have to file bankruptcy student loans can not be included. They are for the LIFE of the loan. Your condo could be included and other debts could be included depending on what they are. I also would not refi to a 15yr unless you REALLY can afford it and have a big savings. If anything did ever happen, such as loss of job, hurt, or can no longer work, having that buffer of a lower mortgage payment could mean the differences between keeping or losing your home. You could always check your terms and make additional payments towards principle. If you have other debts such as credit cards, I would pay those off first.

Hope that helps and good luck!