Should you pay off debt or save money first?

It seems a lot of people haven’t been getting my daily emails even though they signed up for them.

For shame.

My email system is in the process of sorting itself out so…  if you signed up to my email list and totally forgot about it, this is why you’re now receiving this email.

It’s not because I’m hunting you down across the Interwebs or because I added you without your knowledge or consent.

You did sign up, but probably forgot. And, I have been sending daily emails, but you haven’t been getting them.

Now, you are.

I’m sure this “email out of the blue” is going to offend someone on my email list or make their life more stressful and to that I say: It’s OK. Don’t sweat it. There’s an unsubscribe link way at the bottom of this (and every) email so if it gets to be too much for ya, you can always leave. No one will snicker or shame you or make fun of you behind your back.

Unless you deserve it.

No, no. I’d kidding. You can leave if you want to. It’s cool.

Moving right along.

Speaking of stress… I was reading yesterday that worry and anxiety are linked to high IQ.

Interesting.

This jives with what I know about one of the richest investors who has ever lived.

His name was Philip Fisher.

According to his son, Fisher was a constant worrier.

He would worry all the time about his investments.

He would sit and analyze them and when he was done… he would worry that maybe he’d missed something.

And so he was never truly done thinking about what might happen to all his money.

A lot of people are worried about this but they don’t have any good investments… Just debt.

Speaking of debt, lots of people have asked me about whether it makes sense to pay off debt first or save money.

My tl;dr answer is: save money first.

A slightly more nuanced answer is… it depends on how much debt we’re talking about. Most of the time, it makes sense to split debt payments and savings. And, in some cases, it makes sense to start saving money first.

It all just depends on the specifics.

It’s true that paying off debt first saves you a bunch of interest payments but… you cannot eliminate interest cost.

My life insurance clients are very familiar with this idea.

The interest cost you think you’re saving is transferred elsewhere. For example, if you pay off your debts before saving, then you lose interest you could have earned on your savings.

In finance, this is called “opportunity cost.”

This opportunity cost is usually WAY more than what you save in interest by paying off debts first… assuming you’re not paying off debts for the next 50 years.

Anywho, one thing that can help make you financially independent, and reduce all that worrying and stress about debts, interest payments, and money in general is life insurance.

If you want to know more about it, sign up to my email list.

David Lewis, AKA The Rogue Agent, has been a life insurance agent since 2004, and has worked with some of the oldest and most respected mutual life insurance companies in the U.S. during that time. To learn more about him and his business, go here.