When you have extra money, should you pay down debt or save? An expert weighs in

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EDITOR’S NOTE: This story was originally featured in the Savings Challenge newsletter, which you can sign up for here . The weekly newsletter offers readers savings tips, expert answers to your questions and weekly challenges to help boost savings.

Figuring out how to strategize paying down your debts while also saving for emergencies and big goals is a common dilemma for many.

Douglas Boneparth, a certified financial planner and founder of Bone Fide Wealth, tackles that quandary head on in this week’s Ask the Expert for CNN’s Savings Challenge. [If you have a question for Doug, please send it to savingschallenge@cnn.com. You can sign up for the weekly newsletter here. ]

A reader from Vermont wrote: “School loans are debilitating. Do we consolidate or just keep making payments? When we have extra money, do we pay it toward school loans or save/invest it?”

DOUG: Great questions (and ones I hear a lot), because this situation is more common than people think.

On consolidation: Federal consolidation simplifies your payments, but it can extend your repayment term and cost you more in interest over time. It also can disqualify you from certain income-driven repayment plans or forgiveness programs. If instead you choose private refinancing – in which a private lender pays off your federal student loan balances and issues a new private loan in their place – that might lower your rate, but you’re permanently walking away from any federal student loan protections like deferment, forbearance, and forgiveness. So, you will want to know exactly what you’re giving up before you commit to anything.

Now, the pay-down-versus-invest-extra-money question. This one’s all about the math, and the math is pretty clear. Think of your loan’s interest rate like a guaranteed, risk-free return.

CNN Photo Illustration/Photograph by Sylvie Rosokoff

If your rate is above 6%, using your extra money to aggressively pay down your debt is compelling. That’s because paying it off sooner likely will save you more in interest payments than what you’d earn if you invest the extra money in the market, where it’s hard to consistently get a return over 6% without taking risk.

If, however, your rate is below 5% and you’ve got an emergency fund in place, investing the extra money (especially in tax-advantaged accounts) may serve you better over the long-term.

Here’s the framework I’d use when deciding how to deploy extra funds:

Regardless of your loan’s interest rate, build a three-, six- or nine-month emergency fund first. No exceptions.

Next, contribute enough to your workplace savings plan to capture any employer matching contributions, because that’s free money.

If you’re all set on both those fronts, and your loan’s interest rate is above 6%, use your extra money to attack your debt aggressively. Rate below 5%? Consider investing it. If your rate is somewhere between 5% and 6%? Split it! Put some of your extra money toward loans and some toward savings or investment.

Have your own savings question for Doug? Please send it to savingschallenge@cnn.com. You can sign up for the weekly newsletter here.

If you’re a woman, try Savvy Ladies , a nonprofit dedicated to empowering women to take control of their money. Their free helpline is staffed by financial professionals, and they provide free courses on specific financial questions.

If you or your spouse have a gambling addiction , GamFin offers one-on-one financial counseling, which is free in at least 17 states; as well as free virtual group sessions no matter where you live.

And if you want to learn how to manage your finances, join the five-day Get Good with Money Challenge , hosted online by Tiffany Aliche (aka The Budgetnista) every January.

CNN图片插图/Adobe Stock

编者按：本文最初刊登于“储蓄挑战”电子报，您可在此处订阅。该电子报每周为读者提供储蓄技巧、专家解答疑问以及每周挑战，帮助您提高储蓄效率。

如何制定策略来偿还债务，同时还能为紧急情况和远大目标储蓄，是许多人面临的共同难题。

注册理财规划师、Bone Fide Wealth创始人道格拉斯·博内帕斯(Douglas Boneparth)在本周CNN“储蓄挑战”的“专家问答”环节中正面解答了这一难题。[如果您有任何问题想问道格，请发送邮件至savingschallenge@cnn.com。您可以在这里订阅每周新闻简报。]

一位来自佛蒙特州的读者来信问道：“学生贷款让人不堪重负。我们是应该合并贷款，还是继续按期还款？当我们有多余的钱时，是用来还学生贷款，还是存起来或投资？”

道格：问得好（而且我经常听到这样的问题），因为这种情况比人们想象的要普遍得多。

关于贷款合并：联邦贷款合并可以简化您的还款流程，但可能会延长还款期限，并随着时间的推移增加利息支出。此外，它还可能使您失去某些收入驱动型还款计划或贷款减免项目的资格。如果您选择私人再融资——即由私人贷款机构偿还您的联邦学生贷款余额，并向您发放新的私人贷款——这可能会降低您的利率，但您将永久放弃所有联邦学生贷款保护措施，例如延期还款、暂缓还款和贷款减免。因此，在做出任何决定之前，您需要确切地了解您将放弃哪些权益。

现在，我们来讨论一下还款还是把多余的钱投资的问题。这个问题完全取决于数学计算，而计算结果其实很简单。你可以把贷款利率想象成一种有保障的、无风险的回报。

CNN图片插图/摄影：Sylvie Rosokoff

如果你的利率高于6%，那么利用多余的钱积极偿还债务就显得尤为重要。这是因为提前还清债务很可能比将这笔钱投资于股市更能节省利息支出。在股市中，如果不承担风险，很难持续获得超过6%的回报。

但是，如果你的利率低于 5%，并且你已经有了应急基金，那么将多余的钱进行投资（尤其是投资于享有税收优惠的账户）从长远来看可能对你更有利。

以下是我决定如何运用额外资金时会采用的框架：

无论你的贷款利率是多少，都要先建立一个相当于三个月、六个月或九个月生活费的应急基金。没有例外。

接下来，向你的工作场所储蓄计划缴纳足够的金额，以获得雇主的任何匹配缴款，因为那是白送的钱。

如果你已经解决了上述两个问题，并且贷款利率高于 6%，那就用多余的钱积极偿还债务。利率低于 5%？考虑投资。如果利率在 5% 到 6% 之间？那就合理分配！一部分用于偿还贷款，一部分用于储蓄或投资。

您有关于储蓄的问题想问道格吗？请发送邮件至 savingschallenge@cnn.com。您可以在这里订阅每周新闻简报。

如果你是女性，不妨试试 Savvy Ladies，这是一个致力于帮助女性掌控自己财务的非营利组织。他们的免费热线由专业的金融人士接听，并提供针对特定财务问题的免费课程。

如果您或您的配偶有赌瘾，GamFin 提供一对一的财务咨询服务，在至少 17 个州是免费的；此外，无论您住在哪里，都可以参加免费的虚拟小组会议。

如果你想学习如何管理财务，可以参加由蒂芙尼·阿利切（又名“理财达人”）每年一月在线举办的为期五天的“理财小能手挑战赛”。