Hi, I’m a 23 year old earning £42k working in the NHS. I’m in a relatively comfortable financial position apart from the fact I have around £6000 in credit card debt. I have recently transferred the balances of two credit cards to a zero interest card (12 months) to make paying them off easier. However, with my current take home pay of around £2,300 I can only afford to pay £300 off a month. I really want to be debt free by the end of 2024.
I was looking at my payslip and I noticed that my pension contributions at the moment are 9.8%, roughly £340 a month. I had the idea of opting out for just one year to help pay off the debt. I figured if I could use my pension contributions to up my repayments to £600 a month.
Here’s where I’m unsure. Whilst becoming free of credit card debt is super important to me, I would be missing out on around £5k from my employer towards my pension pot. However, I’m still young and intend on working in the NHS for a long time - how much of a difference will one year make?
I’d really appreciate any advice that you have!
I was looking at my payslip and I noticed that my pension contributions at the moment are 9.8%, roughly £340 a month. I had the idea of opting out for just one year to help pay off the debt. I figured if I could use my pension contributions to up my repayments to £600 a month.
Here’s where I’m unsure. Whilst becoming free of credit card debt is super important to me, I would be missing out on around £5k from my employer towards my pension pot. However, I’m still young and intend on working in the NHS for a long time - how much of a difference will one year make?
I’d really appreciate any advice that you have!