5 Books to Read while Social Distancing from the Coronavirus
With coronavirus and the nationwide push for “social distancing,” you may find yourself home a lot more often than you’re used to. While binging Netflix shows and old movies can be fun for a while, you may also find that you want to do something a little different or perhaps use some of your extra time to gain new insights. If that’s the case, here are 5 books about business, finance, and real estate that you may want to consider read while quarantining:
Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. This was one of the first books I read about finance and I can’t even articulate how good it is. Unlike most investment books that delve deep into the details of FICO scores and retirement accounts, this book is completely different. It actually tells of story of two fathers: one is well-educated and broke while the other is minimally educated but rich. In this book, Kiyosaki highlights the life lessons he picked up from both men. He also explains why accumulating wealth requires a shift in thinking and how pursuing a career in real estate or entrepreneurship can be the springboard we need to reach our monetary goals. While you may not agree with all of his life lessons, there is no doubt this book will cause a paradigm shift in the way you think about money, while entertaining you along the way.
The White Coat Investor by Jim Dahle. This is one of my favorite personal finance books. Besides the fact that it was written specifically for doctors like myself and other high-income earners, I like this book for a couple other reasons as well. First, it’s easy to understand. If you never read anything about personal finance or money management before, start with this one. It goes over the basics, easily defines terms in an interesting way, and starts off by answering the most basic question “why should I even care?.” Secondly, this book is easy to follow and gives you all the tools you need to know to get your life in order. You don’t have to go picking stocks or making complicated tax manipulations. Instead, he walks you through the most important things so that you don’t screw up in a major way. You’ll gain some student loan insight and get basic info on retirement plans, buying a house, building wealth, and protecting your assets. It’s a must-read for any doctor and a really good read for anyone else.
The ABCs of Real Estate Investing by Ken McElroy. After I read Rich Dad Poor Dad, I began to think about investing in real estate. Real estate investing is one ways many people accumulate wealth and since I didn’t have any personal experience in that area, I wanted to educate myself on the topic. Ken McElroy invests in real estate with Robert Kiyosaki, the author of Rich Dad Poor Dad, so I figured his book would be a great start. I’m so glad I got it. This book is like a beginner’s guide to real estate investing and does so in an informative, easy-to-understand manner. I learned a lot from this book including the benefits of real estate and how to properly evaluate a variety of deals. If you’re even the slightest bit interested in real estate investing, consider reading this book.
Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday. Those who know me personally have seen me post quotes and excerpts from this book since the start of the new year. Ego is the Enemy is a must-read for any one with even the slightest bit of ambition. In this classic, Holiday walks us through how to manage our ambition, properly handle our successes, and overcome our failures in a clear-cut way. Each chapter is fairly short and clearly delineates a character trait we either need to develop further or break entirely to become the best version of ourselves. This book will make you examine your habits and really think about what you can do differently to reach the level of success you desire.
Lean In by Sheryl Stanberg. Sheryl Stanberg is one of the most well-known female senior managers in the country. From her work at Google to her current role as the Chief Operating Officer at Facebook, she is a household name and an idol for women in corporate business. In this book, Stanberg challenges us women to seek leadership positions and “lean in” to push ourselves even further to succeed in our careers. Stanberg examines how she reached such a high level of success in her own life and pinpoints tips to help other women overcome some of the most common obstacles. She famously talks about the “competing” desire to have a successful career while nurturing a loving family and provides some advice on how she tackled handled both priorities. For females who desire a successful career and family, it’s definitely worth a read.
Want a Side Hustle? Try these ideas
Of note, this blog was initially written and published on Doximity Op-Med and can be found here.
It’s 2020 and many of us are more motivated than ever. We want to get fit, eat healthier, and continue to survive residency. While these are noteworthy goals, consider one more thing: making money doing something you love…outside of medicine. Aka, start a side hustle. If you’re unsure of where to start, here are a few side gigs to pursue as a resident:
Start a Blog
For those who love to write, consider starting a blog. Doing so has relatively low startup costs, if anything at all. Once you get a unique website domain, you can use a pre-formed template via platforms like Wordpress or SquareSpace to create a website or blog for little to no money. Although it can be daunting initially, starting a blog will allow you to create a platform and accumulate a following through which you can express yourself. I was very nervous when I started my own blog Career Money Moves, but I’m so glad I did. Doing so allowed me to garner a unique list of email subscribers that I can market to directly and communicate with on a regular basis. Plus, I eventually got approached by sponsors who offered to pay me for advertisements, allowing me to make money doing something I enjoyed.
Launch a Podcast
It’s 2020 and many people believe podcasting is the new blogging. There may be limited times where we are free enough or focused enough to read an entire book or blog post, but there are plenty of places where we can listen to a podcast. Since you can record episodes on the smartphone you already own, the startup costs are quite low. Why not launch one of your own? Doing so will allow you to curate an audience of people through which you can share your views on a growing platform. There’s no rule dictating how frequently you have to record. You can do it on your own time, whenever you have time. AND, you can talk about whatever you want, whether that’s your career, your hobbies, or your personal take on various issues and life events.
Write a Book
If publishing blogs or recording podcasts on a regular basis sounds like too big of a commitment, why not consider an alternative: writing a book. Although this can seem impractical, it may not be as difficult as you think, especially if you break it up into sections and have a goal of writing one chapter a month. Some people have found it manageable to work on a book during their down time at work or late at night as they unwind from their day. Writing on a topic you enjoy will likely make the writing process even more enjoyable. If you’ve managed to find peace in your life despite many commitments, write about work-life balance. If you managed to stay sane while raising toddlers, write about parenting in medicine. If you’ve managed to successfully create a business, build a high net worth, practice medicine through locums, or do something unique in your specialty, write about that. Being able to author something you love and sell the finished product may result in an additional income and lead to other lucrative opportunities such as paid speaking engagements, television appearances, or exclusive business groups.
Leverage Business on Social Media
If writing isn’t your thing and launching a podcast seems like too much work, consider making money from social media. Many of us are on Instagram or Facebook for free already, so why not get paid to use these platforms? If you like making videos, consider starting a YouTube channel. If you love beauty and fashion, why not review products on Instagram? If you’re passionate about a particular industry or topic, consider setting up your own Facebook group to discuss various topics of interest. Either one of these ideas allows you to create a platform by which you can build a network of people. You can then leverage that network to attract companies or advertisers that will pay you money for access and influence.
Start Consulting
A consultant is someone who charges a fee to provide advice or guidance in a particular area. While you may not consider yourself an “expert,” you certainly have life experiences and higher education in areas others do not. Why not leverage that knowledge in a way that brings you more income? As a doctor, you can tutor pre-med students taking the MCAT or charge to proofread personal statements. If you are good with technology or have studied computer science, create software programs or website templates for new business owners. If you work in sales, provide specialized marketing strategies for new authors and young entrepreneurs.
Freelance Work in the Arts
I’m very analytical, but there are many people who are extremely creative. If you are one of those people, use your creativity to establish an additional revenue stream. Maybe you like to paint and can create art to sell at various shows and exhibits. If you like to cook, consider hosting cooking classes for young couples, selling recipes on various forums, or even making your own cookbook. If you love to take pictures, you could become the go-to photographer for your colleagues’ holiday functions, weddings, or family Christmas cards. If you love to do hair and makeup, you can lend your services to those of us who struggle with our hair or desire different looks for fancy events.
Moral of the story? Find something you’re interested in and enjoy doing outside of medicine. Then figure out how to leverage that interest in a way that brings you money. Although many people could work overtime at their job to make more money, doing so may not be as enjoyable and may even cause them to burn out from their career unexpectedly. The great thing about establishing a side gig or lucrative hobby is that oftentimes it’s something we enjoy. When you are paid to do things you love and enjoy, the “work” is less stressful, you’re happier, and your pockets are fuller.
5 Steps To Take As You Get Started in Real Estate
1. Determine your niche or area of interest. When it comes to real estate investing there are many different types. Some people choose to buy old homes, renovate them, then resell them at a higher price. Others choose to purchase single family homes and rent them out to tenants for years. While a few others may choose to pool their money together and invest in an apartment building over a certain length of time. Whether it’s one of these 3 methods or another one, the first step to take before you actually invest in real estate is to determine which area of real estate investing would be best for you.
2. Educate yourself on the struggles and achievements of people in that industry. Once you pick a type of real estate investment to focus on, your next step is to educate yourself on the pros and cons of people in that industry. Learn about common mistakes to avoid and hurdles you may have to overcome. If you’re going to invest money into a deal you want to know as much as you can about it and be prepared for the good and bad that may occur. It’s hard to adequately fix an issue you didn’t expect or prepare for, so be proactive. Listen to podcasts, read books, skim blogs, and network with people who have experience in that area so that you can learn from their experiences and increase your chance of success when you start making your own investments.
3. Determine your goals and criteria. Despite our best intentions, not every deal within your target real estate niche will be good investment for you. In order to determine which deals you should invest in and which ones you should pass up, you need some objective investment criteria. For example, some people who focus on single family homes decide to only purchase houses in cities that are close to where they currently live so that managing tenants is a bit easier. Other people who focus on multifamily properties choose to only focus on apartments that are in a certain condition or have a minimum amount of units. Yet and still, other people may be open to different kinds of deals but choose to only invest with certain established investors. Whichever investment criteria you choose make sure you have good evaluation standards as well. Ie. You will only invest if the cap rate is “X” percent or if you have “Y” amount of dollars in cash flow or have an internal rate of return of “Z” or more on your money. Do some research and determine you investment and evaluation criteria.
4. Write down how you’ll gather money for this investment. Just like it’s important to pick your niche and evaluate the investment correctly, it’s also imperative that you know where you’re going to get the money. Do you have enough saved on your own or will you need to pay the seller in money installments via seller financing? Do you plan to get a mortgage from the bank and pay back the loan over many years or do you plan to use private funds that require repayment much sooner? Do you have friends and family who can help you out or do you have some loan you plan to take out from something else you’ve purchased? There are plenty of options, but you need to at least think about which ones may make sense for you depending on the type of investment you want to make and the appropriate amount of risk you plan to take.
5. Start identifying potential deals and practice analyzing them. Lastly, you need to practice evaluating deals. No one wants to invest a ton of money then lose it all in a bad deal. Practice picking out good deals and evaluating smart investments with people who are more experienced. Ask questions about what made a deal good or bad so you can learn how to more efficiently evaluate deals on your own and reduce that chance that you’ll lose money in an investment. This practice will also make you a little less nervous when you finally do invest money for the first time.
What do you think? Are you going to take these steps as you get started in real estate?
4 Reasons you should start a side hustle
As young professionals we have a lot on our plate. We work crazy hours under high-stress conditions with limited time off. Although getting better at our jobs and making time for our families can be a feat in and of itself, I challenge you to consider 1 more thing this year: start a side hustle.
Starting a side hustle allows you to:
1. Explore one of your interests which may add balance to your life. Outside of our careers, many of us have hobbies we enjoy and other skills we are good at. Instead of keeping these interests a secret or putting them on the back burner, why not explore them even more? Many of us know people who were working full time in their career, but launched a successful podcast on the side or started a coaching business. Perhaps some of our colleagues also work as weekend photographers or hair stylists in their free time. Some of the people we knew in college may have even dabbled in real estate, become public speakers, or authored a book. You can do something like that too. Whatever it is you choose, these additional things, outside of our careers, allow us to explore other interests and may add more balance to our lives.
2. Relieve stress and prevent burnout. As our careers become even more demanding and the work hours pile up, we can find ourselves feeling over-burdened. Although no job is completely void of stress, there are things we could do to decrease the stress we feel or at least lower its impact on our overall health. Oftentimes exploring our other interests, whether its art, photography, music, writing, speaking, or even exercising allows us to gain a new skill or explore a hobby that can decrease the stress we feel at our job.
3. Standout from other young professionals and make yourself more marketable. As we enter this new decade in the age of social media and internet marketing, good branding is essential. While being competent at your day job is important, having multiple skills and things that you do well can help differentiate you from others. As you begin to stand out, you will likely garner more interest from other clients and patients which can lead to even more opportunities and higher levels of influence in both your main career and your side hustles.
4. Add additional revenue stream(s). One of the best things about exploring other hobbies and become skilled in multiple areas is that it could put extra money in your pocket. With the proper marketing, these skills and hobbies can open up additional doors for us and lead to lucrative opportunities and sponsorships that could be a reliable second or third source of income. Although your day job may pay you well, creating an additional revenue stream from a hobby or task you enjoy can increase your monthly income and make you less reliant on your day job. Plus, getting paid to do something you enjoy, and are good at, can make you even happier and increase your overall life satisfaction.
My point? Although our jobs are noble and can be rewarding in and of themselves, consider branching out a little. Think of other hobbies you enjoy or skills you possess and explore them even more. Doing so might add more enjoyment to your life and prevent you from burning out in your career. It could also help you stand out from others and may even lead to bigger and more lucrative opportunities in the future.
Tell me, would you consider pursuing a side hustle in 2020?
5 Money Tips I Learned from My Parents
As we head into the holiday season, many of us will reflect on the things and people for which we are most grateful. For me, that’d be my parents. Not only were they kind enough to have me, their 3rd child after my two older brothers nearly drove them insane, but they also loved me unconditionally and attempted to teach me several life lessons that can be applied to my finances. Here are 5 money tips learned from my parents:
1. You don’t need to be rich to be happy. Unlike many of my physician colleagues who grew up in a family full of medical professionals, my upbringing was much different. With my mother working as a teacher and my father spending the early years of my life working as a non-tenured professor at the local community college, I didn’t grow up rich. Nevertheless, my childhood was amazing. I had plenty of friends in our neighborhood and school. I was extremely involved in our local church and a plethora of after-school activities. The bills were paid, my parents collaborated as a cohesive unit, and I had very few complaints. Finding contentment without being rich, isn’t that strange of a concept. A large analysis done a couple years ago showed that the ideal amount of money for emotional well-being is $75,000 per year. Most people reach peak satisfaction by making around $95,000 a year, but making more money than that can actually decrease your happiness.
2. Making more money may require you to sacrifice time with your family. Before my father started working as a professor, he was very involved in business. He was the general manager of a large department store by the age of 22 and was quickly moving up the corporate ladder soon afterwards. Despite the high pay and rapid promotions, 5 years later, he gave it all up. He liked the work and got along well with his coworkers, but he quit to spend more time with his family. As he climbed the corporate ladder, he started spending more and more time away from home, away from my mother, and away from his children. He resented the fact that his own father was never home as he grew up and had vowed to more present with his own kids. After saving up a nice nest egg in a “transition account,” he quit his job. My father became a stay-at-home dad for 3 years while he launched his own small business and did some accounting work for his brother’s businesses. While I’m sure our family’s finances took a huge hit, my father will tell you it’s the best decision he ever made. He helped me do my homework each night, picked my brothers up from baseball practice each day, and ate dinner with us each night. He realized that quality time with family can make you happier than money ever will.
3. Live below your means. When I was about 12 years old, my father started working as an auditor within the federal government. With this job, came a substantial increase in pay. Within a few years he had paid off our home, our cars, and built up his retirement savings. Despite this increase in income, our lives didn’t change much. My father only allowed us to get new clothes once a year, he refused to take us to restaurants with entrée prices over $25, and total Christmas gift spending was still capped at $150 per kid. We kept living in our 3 bedroom 2 bathroom house with furniture we’d had for well over 10 years. I thought this was crazy since we could afford to live more elaborately, but my father refused to budge. He believed in the art of saving for a rainy day and did not want his family to become materialistic or spoiled.
4. Invest in your kids and give to others. My parents wanted to make sure my brothers and I had a fulfilling childhood. We were involved in several sports, played band instruments, and spent a great deal of time forging strong bonds with our extended family. I’m sure many of these things were not cheap but instead of keeping it all to themselves, my parents choose to invest in their children. Along with using money on us, they were also firm believers in the virtue of generosity. As Christians, they gave 10% of their income to the church and donated additional money to various charities and organizations. Again, I’m sure this is money my parents could have used on a bigger home or fancier cars but instead they chose to invest in their kids and give to others. While my parents had fewer material things, they definitely gained more life satisfaction and appreciation for what they had by investing in their children and giving money to others.
5. Everyone’s definition of success is different. As I was deciding what field of medicine to specialize in, I faced a dilemma. The specialty I liked most (family medicine) wasn’t the one that was going to make me seem as smart and accomplished in front of others. It also wasn’t the one that was going to pay me the most money in comparison to other fields. After hearing me vent to him for nearly an hour about my “impossible decision,” my father said something I’ll never forget: “At some point, you have to let go of the opinions of others. At some point, you have to define happiness and success for yourself.” His words helped me see that success isn’t about having the most prestigious job and happiness doesn’t come from making the most money. We each have to determine what success means for us and find happiness in the simple things that fill us with joy, even if it looks different from someone else.
Tell me, what tips and words of advice did you learn from your parents or loved ones?
5 Pro Tips I'd Give My Younger Self:
Realize personal finance is important. Despite what we may have been told about our careers and future high incomes, how we manage our money now matters a lot more than we may think. A lot of us are falling into a danger zone of being okay with rapidly accumulating student loans, credit card debt, and never-ending car payments which is a very VERY scary place to be.
How we spend our money today, can drastically alter our quality of life a few years from now. The last thing you want to do is be in your mid-40s still complaining about the student loan debt your friends and family forgot you had, picking up extra shifts at a job you hate to avoid racking up even more credit card debt than you already have. DO BETTER.
Figure out how much you spend each month. I cannot stress how much my life changed when I actually set down and tried to create a monthly budget. Regardless of how “simple” it is, I can tell you that 90% of my med school classmates didn’t have one.
As a med student life was so stressful studying for organ systems tests, clinical rotation exams, or Step 1 of the US Medical Licensing Exam that you barely have time to wash dishes, let alone try to understand finance. Most of my us just filled out a FAFSA form each year and magically received money from the government that covered our tuition and basic living expenses. We’d pay our rent, buy the food we wanted, and then realize we’re suddenly broke when the semester was about to end and our account balance dwindled. We’d sweat it out for a month trying to make ends meet, then fill out another finance form (aka FAFSA) and “magically” more money appeared in our bank account. Rinse. Wash. Repeat.
No one told me not to over-spend my loan money on the post-board exam vacation I felt I deserved. No one stressed the importance of resisting the urge to “treat yo’self” during happy hour or a colleague’s birthday dinner.
I am not saying you can’t do these things, but I want to stress making a budget because I’d bet that most graduate students and young professionals have no idea how much money they are actually spending each month. I know I didn’t. I mean I knew I was broke because I kept filling out loan applications every year, but I honestly couldn’t tell you my overall loan balance. Heck, I couldn’t even tell you my debit card balance. Don’t be as naïve as I was, DO BETTER.
Minimize the interest rates on the loans you have. The money you borrow now will cost you much more in the future. Let that sink in. The higher the interest rate, the more money you will pay back later. When you borrow $30,000 for school, you pay back closer to $40,000 later (assuming a 7% interest rate that you pay back over 10 years). That’s $10,000 extra you’re paying just in interest.
You can minimize this by not borrowing as much in the first place and by lowering the interest rate on the loans you currently have. If you have credit card debt, simply call your bank and ask if they can lower the interest rate on your credit card. Yes, it really is that easy.
Spend less! We all want to look good, feel well, and vacation like a champ. Trust me I get it. I get envious when I see the Instagram photos of my med school classmates or work colleagues taking another extravagant vacation I cannot afford. It’s hard not to let the positive balance in my bank account distract me from the big fat NEGATIVE sitting in front of my net worth.
As a med student, the student loan money sitting in my debit account was fictitious. It tricked me into believing I was richer than I was or that I can afford things I knew I couldn’t. When I finally had to face the big fat loan balance alongside my car payment and expanding credit card debt, I realized I needed to make a change.
I knew I didn’t have much self-discipline so I had to stay far away from the malls. I deleted the text alerts of new “sales” from my favorite clothing stores, resisted the urge to buy a new outfit for weekend outings, and started cooking more meals at home. Before I knew it, I had changed my spending habits and paid off my car.
Practice self-discipline and delayed gratification. For the love of God and all things man please break your expensive habits. Mine was wine and lots of it. I liked it red, aged, and expensive. It just tasted better. But man was it costing me.
I was spending at least $15 a week on wine, which doesn’t sound like much but when spread that across 52 weeks a year that amounts to $780. I mean I was spending nearly $800 on alcohol! This was going to cost me closer to $1000 when I paid it all back, since I was buying the wine with my student loan money. What a waste.
Every year for Lent I tried to give it up and the day Lent ended I picked back up the habit. Don’t be me. Curve your habits. Do not waste money you don’t have on things you don’t need. Granted there is a balance, but graduate school is not the time to be treating yo’self to wine and fancy dinners every other week. Face it. We aren’t rich…yet. Quit pretending you have more money than you actually do. Practice self-discipline so you can get out of debt and start building your net worth.
Tell me, what ways have you started practicing self-discipline? What things are you going to try to spend less on this month?
How to pay off your loans: Debt Snowball vs Debt Avalanche
Those of us who took out student loans for school or weren’t as diligent about our finances in our younger years, may have accumulated some debt. Now that we have started our careers and are trying to follow a budget, one of the things on our to-do-list is paying off debt (or at least making payments towards it). When it comes to paying down debt, there are 2 main ways to do it: the debt snowball and the debt avalanche.
Debt Snowball:
With the debt snowball method, you organize your debt by the amount you owe on each loan and prioritize paying off the loan with the smallest amount first. One you pay off the loan with the smallest amount, you use the money you were putting towards that loan and stack it onto what you were paying on the next highest loan until you pay that one off too. You keep stacking payments and paying off loans until all of your debt is gone.
Example of the Debt Snowball:
Let’s say you owed $5,000 on a credit card, had $20,000 left on your car loan, and $40,000 in school loans. With the debt snowball method, you would prioritize paying off the credit card debt first, then the car loan, then your student loans. Specifically speaking, you would make the minimum amounts on all loans (say $100 each) and any leftover money you have (say $500) would go towards the smallest loan (in this case it would be your $5,000 credit card debt). Once you pay off the credit card debt, you would stack the money that went to that debt onto the next highest loan, which in this example is the $20,000 you still owe on your car. Once you pay off the car loan, you would take the money you were paying on that loan and add it to what you were already paying towards your $40,000 student loans. With the debt snowball, you end up stacking money on each payment as you pay off each debt (like you creating a snowball that stacks ice as it rolls).
Why the Debt Snowball works:
Paying off debt is mental. When you see yourself pay off the small loan, you may be even more encouraged to pay off the larger loans and more likely to eventually eliminate all your debt. The disadvantage of this method is that paying off loans with the smallest amounts first may cost you more money overall (since there may be other loans with higher interest rates). Despite this disadvantage, there are many advocates of the debt snowball method. Supporters of the debt snowball say that most people don’t end up paying off all of their debt because they get discouraged along the way. However, when they see themselves pay off one of their loans, they are more likely to pay off additional loans and eliminate their debt altogether. Thier point? People may pay more money overall with the debt snowball method, but they will eventually get it all paid off.
Debt Avalanche:
With the debt avalanche method, you organize your debt by the interest rate on each loan, (not by the amount you owe on each loan). You prioritize paying off the loan with the highest interest rate first (even if you have other loans of smaller amounts).
Example of the Debt Avalanche:
If you had the same loans from the previous example: $5,000 from your credit card with a 15% interest rate, $20,000 from your car loan with an 5% interest rate, and $40,000 in student loans with an 8% interest rate, then you would organize your loans by their interest rates and prioritize paying off the loan with the largest interest rate first. In this case, you would pay off the $5,000 loan, then the $40,000 loan, and end with the $20,000 loan (as if you are an avalanche that starts at the top of mountain and increases in speed as it travels downward).
Why the Debt Avalanche works:
The advantage of this method is that you end up paying less money overall because you get rid of loans with higher interest rates first. The disadvantage of this method is that oftentimes the loans with the highest interest rates are some of our larger loans. Thus, it may take awhile to actually pay the loan off. It may be harder to feel as though you are making progress towards debt repayment since paying off that first loan could take years. Many people may lose their zeal for paying off debt and get tempted to use that money for other things. Nevertheless, many financial advisors still recommend the debt avalanche for people who are dedicated to becoming debt-free, since it saves them hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars in the long-run.
Which method is better?
It depends. There are pros and cons to each method so you should choose the method you think you can stick to the best. If you know you are the type of person who needs to see small victories to stay encouraged along the way to becoming debt-free, then perhaps the debt snowball method is right for you. If you are the type of person who is more diligent about paying off debt, doesn’t rely on small victories, and has fully committed to paying off debt in the shortest amount of time, then perhaps you would do well with the debt avalanche method. I myself, have used each of these methods in the past and they both have worked well. For example, I used the snowball method when paying off my car note and credit card bills. I then used the debt avalanche method when paying my student loans.
Which method do you think would work best for you?