[Josiah]

Let’s be honest, my wife has been right more times then I care to admit 😉 That being said, I’m curious how to go about medical debt, I’ve got no other debt besides some medical bills, I’m close to paying off, my wife wants to save more for a house/roth IRA and just pay the bills as we can, but I’m more of a mindset to knock out the debt hard and fast, that being said I’m starting to have some more medical issues and may need to pay some more bills in future, just curious how we should handle this, should we take the bills as they come?

or pause the investment and house savings and just focus on bills till we are in the clear?

Emergency fund is in place but will quickly deplete depending on stuff needed.

[Monica]

You need to focus on knocking out your debt. Always, take the company match in your 401K. Always ask for a discount on medical bills. Sometimes, they will give you a discount if you can pay it off at once.

[Alan]

Ok – one thing you are missing is that you can’t catch up with Roth IRA – you get a set saving amount per year. The catch up is much later. Also many retirement have ERISA protections.

[Monica]

I would get rid of all my debts before buying a house. Home ownership comes with an entire new set of potential “emergency” expenses. Before you take that on, you want to have a strong financial footing in place.

[Mar]

Medical debt doesn’t count against you now due to new laws and many hospitals have payment plans at 0% interest. I have some too and pay a set amount each month while prioritizing long-term investment goals. Your wife is right.

[Julianne]

It’s always good to ask “where will I get the biggest return for my money?” If your medical debt is costing you more money than just the total, then consider repaying quickly (for example if it was charged on an 18% credit card). If not, it’s ok to take your time to pay it IF you don’t get behind where it ends up costing significantly more. The Roth is often a great investment because of the returns to come. A house depends but is traditionally a good return.

[Mar]

Since you are self-employed I’d save first and take medical bills as they come. I’d probably make sure I put what I can in a Roth and then dole out the rest to different buckets since the Roth can be used for a down payment on a house too. As long as the medical debt interest is low.

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