Are Student Loans Keeping You From Becoming a 401k Superhero?

There has been a lot in the news lately related to student loans and debt forgiveness, and this has many borrowers asking a lot of questions.

I was on vacation last week with my nephew. He's in his mid twenties and a recent grad of a big ten university. We got to chatting about his student loans and I was struck when he shared with me that he's going to be exactly my age, which happens to be 43, when his loans are paid off.

It seems like a massive challenge as he's starting out in his financial life. And given what I do for a living, I couldn't help but ask him if he was simultaneously contributing to his 401k and trying to take advantage of that. And luckily he said that he was. He said that he's contributing enough to get his full employer match, while also trying to pay off his student debt.

I was impressed by this and I just wanted to pass it along as a piece of advice to those of you out there who might be thinking, "how can I become a 401k Superhero to my future self while also trying to tackle student loan debt?"

And I would say, most basically, try to contribute at least enough to get that employer contribution. That's free money for you at a young age, which will compound and become quite valuable over time at the same time that you're trying to tackle that student loan debt.

We know it's not easy to prioritize what you're going to pay and when, but I loved hearing what my nephew was doing and wanted to pass it along as something for you to consider if you're trying to decide between the two or how to do both.

Our Superhero team is here to help. If we can help you and you got questions about this, maybe budgeting around it, or making sure you're still becoming a 401k Superhero to your future self, then click on the link below and let us schedule a time to talk today.