Pay Off Debt Vs. Investing

[Benjamin Reemsnyder]

Hello BPers! I have a question regarding debt payoff vs. investing. I currently make a good income with my W2 position, own my home(owe about $178k on the loan), owe about 18k in student loans, and have just recently consolidated all my credit debt to a lower interest Prosper loan. I currently have about $10k left over from that loan and will be getting about a 4k bonus in the next week or so. My question is should I put all that money back on the loan and get it paid off quicker or take that money and find a way to invest the money. I am really interested in getting into real estate investing, but obviously don't have a lot of money at this point. Any advice would be helpful! Thanks!

[Vincent Crane]

I've been in the same boat, I'd recommend this order. 1) CC debt, 2) house hack (if possible, buy a duplex or triplex, live in one unit and rent the others out and it should cover the whole mortgage so you live for free, saving you like, $800 a month on rent which is the best return you can ever get. 3) student loan debt. 4) investment properties using the BRRR strategy. You can take the same $40-$50k and reuse it over and over to build a portfolio without having to save up for a 20% down payment over and over. And $4k isn't nearly enough to start real estate investing. ALSO, always keep a $10k emergency fund, if you get in a bad car accident or get fired or laid off, you'll be glad I told you this, and you NEVER know when that can happen, both have happened to me and my sister.