Are you in trouble with debt right now, but you have a decent amount of savings You might be tempted to just raid your savings account without really thinking things through. Since it’s a question that we get asked a lot, we wanted to go ahead and just weigh in.

You see, it’s all about making sure that you’re going to be able to take care of yourself the right way. If you have high interest debts, then we would suggest paying them off using your savings. It’s an instant boost to your cash flow, because you aren’t going to have to pay for that liability. On the other hand, low interest things like mortgages don’t need to be paid off early unless you have a better idea for that money. If your savings accounts are being funded in a healthy manner every single month, then there isn’t much else that you need to do.

If you don’t have a lot of savings, at least enough to cover your monthly expenses if something were to happen to you, then you really need to make sure that you’re taking the time to build up your savings account. The debt can usually be excused if you really have to look into bankruptcy, or bankruptcy alternatives. But you’re going to need something to live on, which is why we advise not to just run to your savings. Run to your savings for things that you can’t put on credit easily, or things that you need in a hurry. Emergencies happen, it’s a part of life.

As long as you’re thinking through all of your options, we don’t see why you would have any problems getting things underway properly.

Debt is something that we all have to face. There’s not always a bad lens over debt, of course. You can always make sure that you’re doing the right things in your life. Staying focused on your goals based on your financial blueprint is definitely the key. There’s no need to feel like you’re not going to be able to move forward — that would just be unpleasant, right?

Right. That’s why we think that it’s best to really look at your finances carefully before you touch your hard earned money. And if you are going to touch those funds, you need to have a plan in place to replace the money as soon as possible. It’s easy to think that you don’t have to replace the money, only to find that you were better off not messing with those funds at all.