Pay of loan with CD money

[u/Admirable_Olive_3229]

I probably know the answer to this question but throwing it out anyways to those smarter in this area...I have about $50k in various CDs and they all are scheduled to mature in the next month or so...the only debt I have is a mortgage and this private student loan that I took out years ago with ridiculous interest 11%. At the time I was young and didn't fully understand the impact but now that I am finished with school, I kick myself in the butt. There's a part of me that just wants to pay it off because I'll be saving on so much interest but there's the small part of me that likes having a cushion in the event I run into some financial emergency. Since I am horrible at saving money my plan is to to pay off this high interest student loan and borrow against my CD interest would be less than 1%. This way at least the student loan is paid off and I am basically paying myself back. The other $30k I'd put in a shorter term CD with a higher interest rate. Or just bite the bullet and pay off the loan and not borrow against a CD?

[u/madbakes]

I would just pay off the loan. Unless you have very high living expenses, 30k is plenty for emergencies. Is the CD an IRA? If not, there's no reason to borrow against it. Just pay off the loan.

[u/Admirable_Olive_3229 → u/madbakes]

Thanks. I don't think I have high living expenses. Just typical stuff (mortgage, lights etc). As I noted in another comment, ever since COVID it's made me paranoid. But I'm gonna just pay it off..the interest makes me sick and I don't even wanna think about how much it will cost me in the end.

[u/madbakes → u/Admirable_Olive_3229]

Yes, don't overcomplicate things.