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Hello, I'm currently 23 years old. I just recently graduated from college, and luckily found a job that pays me $3000/month.
In regards to my finances, I am dirt poor. I have $100 left on TD chequing account and $16,000 student loan from OSAP (Ontario Student Assistance Program) that I have to repay back in six months time. According to them, I will have to make monthly payments of $300. By the way, Ontario Student Loans have an interest rate of prime + 1%. I had various jobs in college to pay off some of my tuition, but had to rely on OSAP for the rest.
I'm just wondering whether I should first start paying down my student loan aggressively before thinking about investing or saving, or pay the minimum balance and start investing right away.
Currently, I live at home as I can't afford it to go on my own yet. My parents are both low-income earners, and I have always been driven to make something out of myself . I only started educating myself with regards to finance last year. It all started when I stumbled upon David Chilton's book - The Wealthy Barber, it opened my eyes to the concept of compound interest and the idea of pay yourself first, and that hey, maybe I can be financially independent someday through investing and saving.
I don't mind being frugal and living like a dirt poor student for the next few years even with my job. I'm willing to sacrifice the short term to long term gain. With that, I plan to breakdown my $3000 monthy salary into the following:
18% ($540) go to RRSP
12% ($360) go to TFSA
17% ($510) will go to my parents to help out
10% ($300) will go to the charity/church/ministry
27% ($810) will go to pay my student loan
16% ($480) will pay for my transit (I don't plan having a car yet because of the expense associated with it) and other miscellaneous stuff
My question is, should I be paying down my student loan faster? Also, what type of strategy should I use for RRSP and TFSA? I am willing to be quite aggressive since I'm still young. Does my salary breakdown sound realistic - should I change anything? Any advice for someone like me who is starting out will be greatly appreciated.
In regards to my finances, I am dirt poor. I have $100 left on TD chequing account and $16,000 student loan from OSAP (Ontario Student Assistance Program) that I have to repay back in six months time. According to them, I will have to make monthly payments of $300. By the way, Ontario Student Loans have an interest rate of prime + 1%. I had various jobs in college to pay off some of my tuition, but had to rely on OSAP for the rest.
I'm just wondering whether I should first start paying down my student loan aggressively before thinking about investing or saving, or pay the minimum balance and start investing right away.
Currently, I live at home as I can't afford it to go on my own yet. My parents are both low-income earners, and I have always been driven to make something out of myself . I only started educating myself with regards to finance last year. It all started when I stumbled upon David Chilton's book - The Wealthy Barber, it opened my eyes to the concept of compound interest and the idea of pay yourself first, and that hey, maybe I can be financially independent someday through investing and saving.
I don't mind being frugal and living like a dirt poor student for the next few years even with my job. I'm willing to sacrifice the short term to long term gain. With that, I plan to breakdown my $3000 monthy salary into the following:
18% ($540) go to RRSP
12% ($360) go to TFSA
17% ($510) will go to my parents to help out
10% ($300) will go to the charity/church/ministry
27% ($810) will go to pay my student loan
16% ($480) will pay for my transit (I don't plan having a car yet because of the expense associated with it) and other miscellaneous stuff
My question is, should I be paying down my student loan faster? Also, what type of strategy should I use for RRSP and TFSA? I am willing to be quite aggressive since I'm still young. Does my salary breakdown sound realistic - should I change anything? Any advice for someone like me who is starting out will be greatly appreciated.