First Time Invester

[gargles]

Hi all,

I was recently reading up on investing some spare money on the financial ombusmans website and it recommended that I pay off any outstanding debts firstly before investing money elsewhere which makes sense. I currently owe 38k to the bank for a combined personal loan for a deposit for an apartment and a car which is over 7 years. The mortgage for the apt. starts in approx. 16 months and the repayments on the loan are 700/month which is very managable for me at the moment. I have roughly 1k at the end of every month and I am wondering should I pay off the personal loan quicker than the due date or should I invest? I plan to go travelling in a year and a half and work abroad (engineer) for a couple of years so I would probalby need a lump sum before going.

Just wondering if to invest or put into a high interest rate account. Any feeback greatly appreciated.

 

[ClubMan]

In general it makes little sense to start saving/investing when servicing debt esepcially high cost debt. It most likely makes most financial sense for you to reduce or clear your debts first. But crunch the numbers if you are not sure.

 

[monkeyboy]

You will want your car loan clear at least before you go travelling surely?

Also makes sense to pay it off for the other reasons. Or sell it and trade down if you are going away, save extra on the balance in the interim.

 

[gargles]

Oh yeah I am going to sell the car before I go which will be a good chunk of the loan gone. I bought it up north and got a very good deal so I should break even there after depreciation. I just got a little worried after seeing that program on RTE 1 tonight!