Invest in stocks, pay off student loans, or buy Real-estate.

[Robert Pierce]

I'm a long term stock investor and have recently started looking into Real-estate opportunity as a way to diversify my investments, still very new.

Right now I'm in the process of selling my home just outside Orlando metro to move closer to downtown Orlando, and I have enough cash for  a down payment on the next property. The predicament I'm facing is that between myself and wife we have student loan debt @ 1500/mo, 7 years left, and our house sale proceeds are enough to wipe out the loans. 

Part of me wants to just pay off the loans to open up the 1500/mo which reduces our liabilities and in turn would allow us to save more cash and reduce out debt/income ration. This would also allow us to get back to living off 1 income and dedicating the other to saving/investing.

What have others done in the past?

[Nathan Gesner]

You'll get different opinions, but my belief is that you should only invest after you've taken care of your debts. I know student loans are a low interest rate, but it's still costing you money and it's enslaving you to the lender. Get rid of it. Stabilize your finances 100%. Then you'll have a strong financial foundation to build from.

Real estate investing isn't for everyone. It takes a variety of skills and you may not have what it takes. Maybe you don't want to spend the time and don't know how to make it a hands-off business. Research it, look at what kind of return you can expect, and then decide whether it's worth the effort.

You could invest in crowd-funding, turn-key rentals, partnerships, and other methods that require less involvement, but they'll all take a piece of the profit.