Recluse

I agree 100%.

I also definitely wouldn't recommend it in your case....I would say that only $2K (I know you said your fiancee has money, but I think everyone should have his/her own cushion) isn't enough in case things go awry.

Pnuge88

iTrader: (1)

take it from mee with no moneyy! pay it off and invest the rest of your money from the payments to the bank (or mods) lol

ISF_GG

iTrader: (2)

Cash is king. Period. How long would it take for you to re-save $24K?? Chances are it would take more than a year or two at least, if not substantially longer than that. In the mean time you would only have $2k as a cushion against possible future calamities. It doesn't make sense. Now if you were paying 19-22%, then you would need to pay down that debt asap to avoid incredible % charges. Bt that isn't the % rate you're paying, so SAVE YOUR CASH.

dragon1992

Pay it off ...since u probably don't simply have only 24k in your saving...one less thing to think about..

sinister2c

pay it off...no point in paying interest on a depreciating asset with no tax benefits.

combfilter

iTrader: (3)

So is their a point in putting all your liquid cash into a depreciating asset? His interest rate is "ok". It's not like crazy high.

Even a cheesy ing's account would do him better in the long run then putting all his cash into a vehicle. You never come out ahead on any vehicle purchase (some rare cases like a cuda or exotic collector). This is why leases are becoming more and more popular.

Name one car in the last 15yrs that you can sell for a profit other than maybe a Supra/and some skylines.

darkdream

pay it off.. its always better to pay in off than have debt

ToothDoc

I don't understand some of the rationale here. If interest rate is higher than inflation rate, it makes sense to pay off the loan. If return via stock market sucks (which it has - at least for me), there is no sense putting money where you'll lose it and still pay interest.

IMO, unless you have a guarantee your money will give you more return than your interest rate, I'd simply pay off the loan and start saving the money again. At this present time, I simply don't know of any CD, saving/checking account, IRA, or stocks that will guarantee 6+% yield in the next 2 years. My IRA, 401, etc etc has given me exactly like .1% in the last 12 months and I have no reason to believe it'll improve the next year.

Oh, and don't give me that "buy a house" crap. I'm closing on my home and in the last 4 years, I've lost about 80K equity in my home. So much for saving money by putting it into real estate.

So, stocks suck, housing sucks... might as well pay off your loan.

jackblack7

Don't listen to what anyone here is saying. This is a car website, not an investing website. There's a lot of bad advice here. Do your own research. If you do, I think you'll determine the best idea is to invest your money in a properly diversified manner. It doesn't matter what's happened in the past couple years, or what will happen in the next couple of years. What matters is what that money will amount to in 30+ years. You have a great opportunity to accumulate a lot of wealth if you start investing at your young age. But like I said, don't listen to anyone here, even me. Do your own research.

rdgdawg

+1... this is a depreciating asset, nothing changes that fact.

FACT- TIME is your friend with YOUR money...it's called compound interest....

Cali2is

Pay it off... The sooner the better!

nighthawk

You guys are like my brain...back and forth, back and forth...I am so confused. Although i may take the advice on a few individuals and find a reputable financial advisor. I am 24 so I am aware that I have an opportunity to use the compound interested thing in my favor.

Anyone have any recommendations for financial advisors in the Orange County area...I'm sure they are around here...

Better yet, any financial advisors frequent this forum that would be willing to help steer me in the right direction?

gsrthomas

iTrader: (1)

I opened a CD account with Countrywide at a rate of 4.30% a few months ago. Might want to do that. CD's now are dropping due to the economy. But Countrywide still has a good rate, better then others.

AznJason

iTrader: (5)

I'm with ToothDoc unless I don't completely understand the interest rate stuff on the loan.

With 24k left on the loan and 24k in cash...

If you save it in a 5% savings account, then after one month, you owe 6%/12 months = .5% interest on the 24k left on the loan + money towards the principal. You use the 24k that you have in savings to pay towards principal... but on that 24k, you only got 5%/12 = ~.42%. You're getting less interest from your savings than you owe in interest. From a sheer numbers standpoint, not paying it off and having a return of < 6% means you'll be paying more out of pocket.

Am I missing something?

fasteddy91

iTrader: (5)

pay off the car unless you need a down payment for the house. just my 2 cents.