Wes and I are proud to be the new owners of a 2009 Honda Civic. That is, we're the proud new owners. That's because we just paid off the loan on the Honda, and we're now waiting for the title to come in the mail.
A few weeks ago, Wes and I met with a financial planner that one of his co-workers recommended. David seems like a nice guy, knowledgeable (though probably anyone in this field would seem knowledgeable to me), and on the conservative side where money is concerned. We vetted him through several co-workers who use him, along with some feedback from Wes's brother who works in finance, and decided that now was the time to start doing something with our savings other than just putting it in a saving account. Wes and I don't have any "bad" debt (though obviously all debt is bad), but when we moved here, we bought a house and two cars, plus we're still paying (and will be for awhile) on his medical school loans. So Wes and I were kind of happy when he recommended that, in addition to investing some and starting 529 plans for both kids, we pay off some things. He said it just makes good financial sense and that partly, it just feels good to pay something off.
And so we did. The smaller med school loan (and the one with the higher interest rate) and the Honda loan are now gone. There's still plenty more where they came from, but it does feel good to be taking these steps. It makes us feel like we've accomplished something with our savings, rather than just having it sit there (though that's important, too, for emergency funds), and it makes me feel like we're saving for something, too, which often helps better spending habits.
It is crazy to have someone sit there and calculate numbers and tell you what you'll have available when you retire at 65, 66 years old. The gross sums, in particular, are wild to hear, but then Wes and I both come from well, really old people, so we might need it if we're going to live to 90 or more (knock on wood).
A few weeks ago, Wes and I met with a financial planner that one of his co-workers recommended. David seems like a nice guy, knowledgeable (though probably anyone in this field would seem knowledgeable to me), and on the conservative side where money is concerned. We vetted him through several co-workers who use him, along with some feedback from Wes's brother who works in finance, and decided that now was the time to start doing something with our savings other than just putting it in a saving account. Wes and I don't have any "bad" debt (though obviously all debt is bad), but when we moved here, we bought a house and two cars, plus we're still paying (and will be for awhile) on his medical school loans. So Wes and I were kind of happy when he recommended that, in addition to investing some and starting 529 plans for both kids, we pay off some things. He said it just makes good financial sense and that partly, it just feels good to pay something off.
And so we did. The smaller med school loan (and the one with the higher interest rate) and the Honda loan are now gone. There's still plenty more where they came from, but it does feel good to be taking these steps. It makes us feel like we've accomplished something with our savings, rather than just having it sit there (though that's important, too, for emergency funds), and it makes me feel like we're saving for something, too, which often helps better spending habits.
It is crazy to have someone sit there and calculate numbers and tell you what you'll have available when you retire at 65, 66 years old. The gross sums, in particular, are wild to hear, but then Wes and I both come from well, really old people, so we might need it if we're going to live to 90 or more (knock on wood).
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