[Cubswin]

Heres the deal... i recently got a nice raise. I know myself so i immediately set it up so that the percentage increase of the raise would be deducted from my paycheck and sent to my savings account. I know people adjust their spending when their income rises and i was already living quite comfortably and did not want to fall into this trap. So my paycheck is the same and i now have some money building in my savings account. Additionally, i put my excess poker money into my savings account.

I have a decent 401k... 100% match on the first 3% and 50% match on 3-5%. I take advantage of this nice deposit bonus and put 5% of my paycheck toward it. I laugh at the people who i work with that dont take full advantage of this.

Now, I have about 14k in student loans remaining and about 7 years left of payments. I guess i was sleeping for the last 3 months because i didnt realize that student loan rates were set to increse...FUG. So instead of the 3% APR im now paying 5ish. Lesson learned. Beside my student laons, i am 100% debt free.

I am 27 and would like to buy a house by the time i am 30. Should i be paying down my student loan now that my rate increased? Is it reasonable to get a 5+% return without too much risk? I dont have the boku bucks to invest in bonds and get those nice 6%+ returns so i am left to ponder whether to pay down my laons or attempt to find a return of greater then 5% to outpace them. Also, as a 27 y/o who is looking to buy a house within the next few years, should i even bother to put anything more then 5% of my income into some sort of retirement account?

I know I have lots of questions but i really need to plan for the future... i just dont know what to do and dont feel like contacting suze the money nazi.

thanks in advance,
cubs