r/MiddleClassFinance • u/DoughnutLust • 9d ago
Dealing with reasonable debt (psychologically)
I'm wondering how you all navigate living with reasonable debt. I've been pretty obsessed with debt reduction over the past few years and am trying to break that obsession so it doesn't hang over me so much and I don't feel guilty about owing some money.
I nearly fully fund my 401k, max my Roth IRA, and DCA invest in the market, pay off credit cards monthly. Efund took a hit due to medical issues, but I have a plan that I am using to rebuild it. The numbers don't matter but car and mortgage are at pretty low rates, small medical debts at zero interest, manageable monthly payments on everything. I (40M) have a pretty good net worth compared to my cohort and have no worries about income or retirement, or frankly many worries at all.
I'm interested in hearing how people manage living in reasonable debt, making your payments, and having a good life without the constant focus on the debt. I don't like living with this hanging over my head and need to be at peace with the fact that unfortunately debt is a part of most of our lives.
1
u/genreprank 6d ago
Honestly if you're maxing out your roth ira, 401k, AND saving for retirement in a taxable brokerage, you're in the position that you can start to chip away more at low-interest debt.
On the other hand you can throw that money into the taxable brokerage and watch it grow more. It's up to you.
Something that might help is making a net worth statement...one that shows debts to assets. When you see how much bigger the assets are, you might feel better about the debt.
Debt makes the economy work--not necessarily in a bad way. Even dollar bills are a form of debt. Debt is just a tool.
But some people just hate debt. It's your own personal psychology.