I know you highly encourage to go HAM on debt. I have been working on mine since I’ve graduated with my masters degree but I do have around 90k to go. I’m on a plan to double my payments to decrease the time it should take to pay off. If I stick to that plan, I will have paid my loan off in six years. We have paid off everything that we own besides our house. My husband and I have saved six months mortgage for emergencies. I am 29 and want to invest. Do I need to wait six years? Given my age, I feel that investing is important, especially because our occupations will not provide any type of retirement.
Hey @Katelynreiss!
How much is in your emergency fund? Are you paying this debt off on your own (i.e. your husband is not helping?) How much do you make per year?
Continuing the discussion from More savings/investing:
We have 15k in our emergency fund and we cumulatively make 80k. All of our money is joint and he contributes to my loan.
Our income should increase significantly in year 2022 as I’m working on licensure in California and am currently not working in my field.
WELL, I know it’s not as fun or sexy as getting started investing now, but I still think the right strategy is to go HAM on your debt. I don’t think it will take six years. I think if you go hard, get your income bump, etc you can knock it out in more like 4. That puts you at 33 years old, likely making $100K as a household with ZERO DEBT. With THOSE numbers, you can start plowing money into investing and be well on your path to millionaire status.
To think about it another way: If you were 100% debt free today, would you go BORROW $90,000 then invest it in the market? That sounds pretty ludicrous, right? Well, with every dollar you put into investing instead of toward that debt, that’s exactly what you’re doing.
I think it’s important to think about your wealth as your NET worth. Not just how much cash/investments have. You have to count the debt against you. Right now (from what you’ve mentioned) your net worth is -$75,000. The $15K in cash minus the $90K in debt. You’re way under water. You gotta get your head above water before you start investing. That debt is weighing you down and charging you interest. You gotta cut the anchor before you can fly! Investing while in debt is like trying to run up the down escalator. Get off the elevator first! 
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Okay! Thank you for your response. This helps a ton and puts it into perspective. Super grateful for your online presence and guidance.
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