WWYD--grad school v cash

[Anonymous]

My husband and I bought a house in January, the same year I started grad school part time. We net ~$9k a month, save about $2700. We're debating whether we should pay for my grad school in cash ($21,000/year) or squirrel away cash for more of an emergency fund. Right now we have about 20k in savings. We both have slight preferences to a different decision on this. What would you do?

[Anonymous]

Pay cash for school

[Anonymous]

Get an ER fund and then throw all your money into class or loans immediately

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pay cash for school

+1

How long is your program? 1 year? 2 or 3 years? Or longer? Pay cash.

[Anonymous]

OP here, two years and about 42k

[Anonymous]

ER fund first for sure. What happens if someone loses a job? The smart money play depends on the % rate on your student loans.

[Anonymous]

What would the term of the loan be? Sometimes if you pay it back within a short time, the interest is forgiven. If you can get a good loan, I'd build up the ER the first year, pay cash the second year, and pay off the year one loan in the third year. Don't carry that loan for years.

[Anonymous]

really depends on the interest rate you would get on your student loans. when i went to grad school the loan rates were TERRIBLE - like 8.6%. I took out tons of loans and then when i graduated ended up taking a big lump out of my savings to get rid of the worst/biggest loans b/c the rates were so bad.