Should i put my bonus towards my roth or car loan?
30M. In the first couple weeks of October I'll be getting a bonus check from work. I expect it to be between $3-4k. I am on the fence where to allocate it. I have budgeted an extra $600 that I have been putting towards my car the past 4-5 months. Car loan is the only debt I have.
$1,944.43 left that I can contribute this year to my Roth for this year. I just opened the account about a month ago. Sold stock that I got through ESPP and put that money into the Roth. Over the past 2 years I only got roughly $80 through dividends and didn't see it as viable to hold onto. None of the stock was less than a year old.
$10,155.07 left on car loan (at the time of writing this post). 6.59% interest. Payments are $339.89 a month.
The thought I am having is that the faster I pay off my car loan, the easier Ill be able to hit the 7k next year towards Roth. I know I should hit the 7k this year as I cant backtrack the payments, so the other half of me is to max out my Roth and put the rest towards my car. Which I think would add on a few months of paying next year.
What do you advisors think I should do? Im torn between splitting and putting my full bonus towards my car
Posted Sep 11, 2025, 5:04 PM UTC