Comments on: Info from a savvy reader…

By: Nicole

Nicole — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 14:54:39 +0000

Good call!

By: John

John — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 18:50:06 +0000

Hey gang. Speaking of Dave Ramsey. If you haven’t heard. Dave Ramsey is giving away $999 a day for people to start an emergency fund. There is a link to enter on my blog. If you don’t have an emergency fund established or want a chance to slap an extra $1,000 on your debt check it out.

By: Beks

Beks — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 05:47:06 +0000

Sorry, I guess I wasn’t clear. I am going to pay off the student loan ASAP, I’m simply paying off the truck first so I can continue to get the tax write off. I’m not saying to keep the loan, I’m just saying to pay it last.

And, since I don’t plan on claiming bankruptcy anytime soon, I think I’ll be OK.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 04:30:07 +0000

Hmmmm… just remember that you can pretty much never EVER wipe out a student loan in bankruptcy, whereas a truck loan is easy to get rid of if either of you loses your job. You could return the truck and wipe it out in bankruptcy, or, if you are above water already on your loan, you could get rid of it at any time by simply returning (or selling) the truck. The student loan write-down is great, but with less than 10k in student loans, it can’t be THAT much money (if it’s $900 a year (and I imagine it’s less) if you are in the 15% income bracket, you’ll save $135 a year). I’d gladly give up $135 a year (plus the higher interest rate) for the security of knowing that I no longer have non-dischargeable, non-waivable student loans on my head.
Oh, and for the record, I have $130k in student loans and wish I were in your shoes on that front!

By: David@Dinks Finance

David@Dinks Finance — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 17:00:47 +0000

Absolutely. The student debt shouldn’t be a priority with the other loan. I’m glad you didn’t listen to Dave Ramsey on this point (he has some good stuff but I’m not a big fan).

By: ZFarls

ZFarls — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 13:57:12 +0000

I dunno, don’t get too fancy with it. Just keep breaking it down. Remember it truly isn’t a math problem.
If you truly think you have a job loss and aren’t just harboring fear then start building up a solid emergency fund, THEN when you realize you aren’t going to lose it you throw that money at the debt. I just paid my last payment on loan hours ago and believe me, I could care less about the tax write off I just lost, because Well 20k is a lot better than any write off.

People call Dave constantly and say “this person” said don’t pay off my home in full because I will lost the write off. Constantly Dave is telling them its not true and to pay off the house. (while its a little different because you don’t have the cash behind it)

KEEP IT SIMPLE and Stay Motivated! These are the reasons the debt snowball works. You have been doing an awesome job, don’t get too cute now.

By: Financial Samurai

Financial Samurai — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 06:33:22 +0000

Hey there! Greetings from Financial Samurai. Regarding your school debt, just double check and see if you qualify for the interest expense write-off. There’s an income limit you have to be under in order to qualify, and I can never write it off.

Hope all is well.