I said to myself, "Self, great day!" ... was a statement that my Economics professor in college would often say. We are finally down to one student loan payment remaining. It's funny. I told myself that I want my student loans paid off before my oldest child turns 10. I can't remember why I picked that magical number in the first place. I think I estimated how much we could realistically pay, and then projected out. Well... he turned 8 this past January. So I would say that we far exceed that goal. The most exciting thing of all, is that we won't be paying that 7.5% interest rate any longer. Instead, we will be investing that money and receiving about the same level of return back . Again, a great day.
We can't wait to start really making big differences in our finances. The first changes we will make are:
- Booking that Hawaii vacation (see Hawaii Vacation Temptation)
- Fully-funded emergency fund (3-6 months of expenses) by end of year
- 15% for retirement, including maxing out Roth (currently we only do 4%, with a 3% match)
- Increasing the mortgage payment so it is paid in full within 15 years of the origination date
- Improving our quality of life (no more rice and beans or beans and rice)
- Maxing out the 529 college savings plan on all the kids
- Contributing $3800/year/child would give a tax credit of $950 for 5 kids ($190 each)
Let the fun begin!