BA Q&A: Eff Them Student Loans?

us via Instagram. Our instagram is what's that instagram again at Brian Ambition podcast, right, so just make sure if you want to be anonymous to say so, or you can send us a question via Briannabition podcast dot com and press ask us anything. There's a button there. Is there any other ways that people can kind of submit an answer a question.

an introvert. So I just wanted to shout her out and read this little message as she said that she sent us. So she says, hey, thank you for talking about introversion. I grew up in a super white community. Sometimes I was the only black student at school, and I struggled a lot with identity and my young adult years. I'm now in my mid to late thirties, and it's only recently that I've come to realize that I often don't feel black enough because they were such limited representation.

Black women are expected to be witty, quippy, and funny. Of course, even better if you can sing and dance and me the life of the party, an assumption that clearly has its roots in Minstrelly. In Minstrelly and wait minstrelsy and I don't understand that yet. This caused much stress to my young self because Moesha and Brandy was probably the most famous young black woman on TV, at least in my community. So anyway, I felt seen. I wish my teen self had known you, barn Ambishen were

out there. Thank you for the good show, the excellent discussions. I'm starting to dig into Tiffany's book, Get It with Money. It's going to change my life. I'm excited for your new venture. Mandy, and you're both such an inspiration.

in this neighborhood and that's what I sounded like. He was like, when are you gonna stop talking like that. I'm like, like what he's like, like, like that is that how you talk? For real? No, he's the literally have people come over with you, come eat her talk say something. I'm like, first of all, so because of my husband who he is, and living in New York for so long, I got like a lot more soul in my voice, you know, just because you know who

you're around. You kind of like acclimate too. But I understand like because Mosha was, you know, that was the closest that I could see to like yes, like a black kind of like woman superhero where I was like, oh, I feel similar, you know.

things does Alyssa do for the Vaginista? Because we can start setting aside, we can open ANGELI suggested a actual a wroth IRA for did she say a wrath ira? I don't remember her say that. Either way, an IRA wrath iras is money that she set aside after taxes are taken out, and the IRA is money you set aside in retirement before taxes are taken out. So anyway, she told me to set up an IRA, and then we can put up to I think I want to

say six thousand dollars a year. I believe this is six or sixty five hundred, I don't know, because this is last year was six thousand. Sometimes they some of years they raise it. But basically I could put up the maximum a year, which at that time was six thousand dollars a year into a list of my stepdaughter's

retirement account because she was actually working. So that's really the key is that, like if your child is working, yes, and she's at the time she was like, you know, twelve, so the age is not as much of a factor as is that child's working.

might roll his eyes. I don't know, Maybe he'll be into it, but try to involve at least in the opening and explaining what or let him choose what he's going to invest in, you know, through.

and need some help. I don't have any debt except for student loans and two mortgages, one on my main home and one on my rental. I owe about forty eight thousand dollars on my student loans, and I was silly and I refinanced out of my federal loans for a lower rate in twenty nineteen. My goal is to pay off my student loans asap. My payments are seven hundred and thirty dollars a month, but I'm considering refinancing again for more breathing room. So here are some options

she's considering again. Her goal is to pay off her loans asap and try to leverage that five hundred dollars a month that she's getting from that rental all right, So she thinks she has four options. Option one, don't refinance the school loan. Take three hundred dollars from her rental profit and put that on top of her student loan payment, so she'd be paying about one thousand dollars a month instead of seven thirty. Number two, don't refinance

a student loans. Take that three hundred dollars profit from her rental company and help that help to subsidize her seven thirty payment, which means three hundred dollars of that seven thirty would come from her rental profit and four hundred dollars would come out of her regular income. You still with me, all right? Number three, refinance to a

payment around four to five hundred dollars a month. So she's talking about refinancing again to get a lower monthly payment and then invest three hundred dollars a month for a couple of years and attempt to bank a lump sum payment on her loans down the road, and for four say f them loans refinance to a payment around four to five hundred dollars a month, and then invest that three hundred dollars a month profit to save up and pay cash for my next car in a few years,

I should add, she says that my husband and I are planning to start a family, but struggling with infertility treatments, so there's no guarantees. Also, I appreciate Tiffany's transparency so much. I never thought i'd cry during a finance podcast. You know, we laugh, we cry, We make money.

But this is a good lesson for everyone. One of the reasons why Mandy and I and Mandy, I've heard you say, well, I say this that I really don't like for people to refinance out of federal student loans, even for a lower rate. Oh, because although the lower rate is very attractive, that there are some rules in place that protect you with federal student loans that you

can't get that same protection with a private loans. So, for example, now we have this moratorium where for over a year now you haven't had to pay any interest or any payment on your student loan. That does not apply to private student loans. This is only federal student loans. That's where that's where the federal government has agency over And so I just put that out there. So, I mean,

I understand why you did it. You know, like you know, you wanted to lower your payments so I just want to put that out there first.

been nice. But hey, she didn't. She is where she is. I would just wonder, you know how much I would do the math and you don't stay here. If you've actually shopped around refi rates, you actually can. I think a lot of refic sites will actually let you do a soft credit check to see what your rate might be, so see if you can actually save and get a lower rate. It's only been a couple of years, but we all know rates have been falling, you know, since

the pandemic. So maybe you have such a substantial you know, savings that it would make sense for you to refinance again. But it sounds like she wants to not just refinance for a lower rate, but actually refinance and stretch out to a longer repayment term, because by stretching out the number of years she has to repay the debt, she could reduce her monthly payment, which would then free up an extra three hundred bucks which she could then put toward an investment or you know, her save up for

her car in the future. Right, h So do you think about that if.

refinance now. I would check to see I'd be hesitant to refinance for a longer term, but I would you know, I'd be open to refinancing for the same length of time and if I can save, you know, like an additional one hundred and two hundred dollars. That would be awesome. Now, I because student loans typically, especially if you're refinancing, Because student loans, the interest rates are typically reasonable. And I'm assuming if you left federal student loans to go those

private student loans, they're fairly reasonable. Because federal student loan interest rates are fairly reasonable, not double digit interest. Then I would not, honestly, part of me says Part four at them loans partially meaning like sis, you're not getting no more than me than this minimum. Because girl, I have life to live. I would be giving my student loans this money. I would set it and set I forget it. I would use the excess money to grow wealth.

I wouldn't even like, you know, like you know your car, that's cute, But honestly, I'd be using this excess money to grow wealth. You already have one investment property, maybe another, maybe put into the market. So that's what I would be doing. I would say, you know, I'm going to refinance. I'm going to give the loans whatever it's minimum is, you know, and I'm going to use This is what I did as a budgetista as well as Tiffany. I had was really aggressive with paying off my credit card debt,

paid them off. I'm talking about aggressive all the money I had, and then I was like, dang, I really don't want to live in this room. I'd been renting a room because that's all I could afford. I don't want to be living in this room for the next another four or five years because I want to be aggressive with paying off student loan debt. That's not my ministry,

and Brenda, I don't believe is yours as well. So instead of what I did was I paid the minimum to my student loans, I automated it, and then I focused my time, energy and the rest of the money I had left over on growing wealth. And in that same five years, I could have been living in that room. At the end of five years, I had my lump sum plus some so I was like, ooh, I have a business. I've got the mine was fifty two thousand.

I have the fifty two thousand dollars plus an additional probably a hundred thousand dollars I think I had saved by then, so I had all the things. So I never think that focusing on debt is the right place to place your energy, because where your energy goes that's what grows, and so refinance, Tiffany. I'm not talking about ID because you know, we don't get financial vices in that way. Tiffany, I would refinance. I would take that

extra money. I would use it to grow wealth, and over time, as I got my lump sum, you know that I could pay it off because I'd have My assumption is I'm going to have additional money, not just the lump sum for the student loan debt. Yeah, I agree.

you're going to buy in the next few years. That's a I mean, that's a long ish but it's not quite long enough for me to say, yeah, maybe put that money in the market. But you know, you can set part of that aside for your you know, in a cash savings account for your new car and be ready for that in a couple of years and then you know, invest the rest into a brokerage account. And

there's my child screaming in the background. But I think this is a This is a real complex and fascinating conundrum that I think a lot of people are in. But the key, like Tiffany said, is put that money to work and don't just use it to you know that that's the kind of thing where if you don't automate it, like Tiffany said, the money can easily disappear. Yep, three hundred bucks is like three you know, nice dinners out and I mean you'd be surprised how quickly you

can go. So really really being yeah, really being thoughtful and putting that money into work is going to be the key here.

You know. So it's not like, oh my god, you know, Mandy, you know you're you're so good at writing, You're such a disciplined writer. Yes you are, But you created your she shed cave, your she cave where then the zend I was like, what's the damn name? You created? What? You created a zen den? Which so if you have if you were, like say, writing at the dining room table,

then you'd be less likely to write. But you've created an environment that's like, this is just for Mandra and this is this is a creative space where my juices can flow. So what I will say to you, Brenda and anyone listening, is that to before any money or or whatever comes in, to create the plan ahead of time and then set that automation up so you don't actually have to be as disciplined. You know that literally,

automation is the new discipline. And Brenda, I'll say this because I know how hard, like you know the journey is with IVF. I mean, you know, I'm on my last last run as it is right now, and so I mean you're allowed to feel bad and terrible about it. You know, people will tell you like, oh, you know, it's gonna be all right, and I mean, I can't promise that it's gonna work out. I don't know, but I do know that, you know, lean into your partner, lean into your family and friends, and you know, do

what's right for you. Because people are like, well, why don't you just adopt I'm like, you know, everybody gonna tell you their own opinion, and I just say that do what's right for you. You are allowed to feel however you want to feel about it. But know that it is not I've learned this from myself, that it is not a condemnation of your character. There's nothing wrong

with you. Quite honestly, it's a little bit troubling in that people don't talk about it, but human beings, fertility of human beings is down significantly, I mean men and women like I mean when I go to the clinic, I see women who are twenty six all the way up to forty something like me. You know, and my doctor said, literally, you know that fertility doctor around the around the world are like puzzled by, like wow, that

it's not that people are just having less kids. You are way less fertile than your grandmother was, way less fertile. And so you know, you're not the only one struggling. When I found out that Michelle Obama both her kids were I U I, which is instead of I you I IVF, it's kind of like the Turkey baseder method. Not to be so graphic, right, but you know that so many women you'd be surprised, You're like, really so and so many women are struggling. So you're not alone

in it. And that's why I talk about it. Even though that one girl said to stop boo boo and the boo Boo's still doing it. No, I don't do that just to be funny, because you know, I don't care what she has to say. But Brenda, you know I am a sister in fertility struggle, and you know what will be will be, and you will still be this amazing woman either way. And keep your money. Sist them government. People can't get it when you good and ready f them. Loon. Oh that's a good one. Oh, should be loans.