Also thanks to the CARD Act, credit card companies must apply payments to
high interest balances first.
Instead of paying off
high interest balances first, they start by attacking loans and credit cards with the smallest balances instead.
Most people say you should pay
your highest interest balance first, but Ramsey said that people tend to pay off their debt faster with the snowball method.
By law, lenders must now apply all your payments (over and above the minimum payment) to
the highest interest balances first.
Interest Adjustments Credit card issuers are now required to apply all additional payments to
the highest interest balance first.
If you're disciplined and unemotional about money, then paying
the highest interest balance first makes the most sense — obviously.
Not exact matches
Christensen says the best way to avoid
high credit card
interest in the
first place is to pay off your
balance in full and on time each month.
Similarly, the debt avalanche method requires you pay down the
highest interest rate loan
first while paying the minimum
balance on the rest of your loans.
EverBank offers a
higher introductory
interest rate for the
first year of 1.50 % APY, which drops to 1.15 % APY (or increases, depending on the account
balance) at the end of the introductory period.
A more cost - effective strategy is the debt avalanche method, under which you tackle the
balance with the
highest interest rate
first.
If some of your
balances are carrying an especially
high interest rate (anything over 10 % APR), you'll likely want to prioritize paying those debts off
first.
Common strategies include focusing
first on the
highest interest rate, the lowest
balance, or the somewhere in between.
If your
first concern is to find the strongest
interest rate on your checking
balance, there are several other online - only options with
higher APY.
It also makes card issuers apply payments to the
highest interest rate
balances first and give customers a 45 - day notice before raising rates on future charges.
Do you have any questions about whether you should pay off the
highest interest or
highest balance first?
In this article, we will answer the question: Should you pay off the
highest interest or
highest balance first?
Tackle the
high -
interest - rate debt
first, consolidate debts to a lower -
interest rate, or cut up your credit cards if you can't pay off total
balances each month.
Monthly payments are mostly
interest at
first (because the debt is
higher) and almost entirely principal in later years, when the loan
balance is small.
Choose to conquer lower
balances first or
higher interest; you can also shop strategies to see how paying the minimum, for example, lengthens your debt - paying plan as opposed to a more aggressive strategy.
These strategies range from tackling payments based on the
balance (lowest
first or
highest first), tackling the
highest interest first, or a strategy of your own concoction.
Paying off your
highest interest rate loans would reduce the amount of
interest you'll pay and save you money over the life of the loan, while paying off your lowest
balance loans
first could save you money on your monthly payment.
There are two main schools of thought when it comes to paying down debt quickly: Pay off the loan with the
highest interest rate
first (the Avalanche Method) and pay off the loan with the lowest
balance first (the Debt Snowball).
Mathematically it makes sense to attack the
highest rate of
interest that you have
first but I'm kind of inclined to the alternative to that which is to focus on the smallest debt
balance that you have because of the psychological effect.
Dave Ramsey does admit, though in passing, in Financial Peace University, that, yes, indeed, paying more on the credit card with the
highest interest rate does make more mathematical sense, but, yes, he attaches great emotional value to paying off a credit card, completely, and that is likely going to occur by paying off the lowest credit card
balance,
first.
Pay off your
highest interest rate card
first, and when that
balance is paid in full, apply the extra payment amount to the card with the next
highest interest rate.
When you avalanche your debt, you focus on paying off the debt with the
highest interest rate
first, regardless of the
balance.
It also makes card issuers apply payments to the
highest interest rate
balances first and give customers a 45 - day notice before raising rates on future charges.
If you withdraw the
balance in your CD to open a new one with a
higher rate, it would cost you half your
interest to that point, effectively reducing your APY for the
first year to about 1 %.
Con: Your
highest interest debts may also be your
highest balances, meaning it might be a long time before you actually pay off that
first debt.
You can choose from the debt snowball method (lowest
balance first), debt avalanche method (
highest interest rate
first), or even create a custom payoff plan.
How it works: Begin by paying off the
balance with the
highest interest rate
first.
However, one of the biggest complaints people have with the Debt Snowball technique is that it challenges people to pay off loans and credit cards with the lowest
balances first instead of loans with the
highest interest rates.
It comes with three payoff plans to choose from: lowest
balance first,
highest balance first, and
highest interest first.
Here's a few reasons (in my opinion) that paying off the account with the smallest
balance first is better than tackling the account with the
highest interest rate as our financial analysis suggests.
That's because banks are permitted to apply your minimum payment to the
balance with the lowest APR
first, while the rest of the
balance continues to accrue
interest at the
higher rate.
Or, instead of moving debt around, consider the old - fashioned strategy of attacking the
balance with the
highest interest rate
first.
So if a customer has a
balance of $ 2,000 with an APR of 14.99 % and a
balance of $ 500 with an APR of 25.99 %, the minimum payment will be applied to the $ 2,000
balance first, leaving the $ 500
balance to continue accruing
interest at the
higher rate.
Knowing which method to choose is dependent on your situation as there is no definitive answer to whether you should pay off
higher interest or
higher balance cards
first.
There is another option if you don't want to pay the
highest interest rate
first; you could tackle the card with the
highest balance first.
If you do carry a
balance regularly, you have no business getting a rewards credit card as the
interest rates are usually way
higher than normal and you should be focusing on getting out of credit card debt
first and foremost.
Your payments will be applied toward your low -
interest balance transfer
first, while the purchases you made at a
higher - rate APR accrue
interest.
One of the most powerful things about this spreadsheet is the ability to choose different debt reduction strategies, including the debt snowball effect (paying the lowest
balance first) or the debt avalanche (
highest -
interest first).
Account Description:
First IB Money Market Savings is a limited transaction account for those with
higher balances who want to earn a competitive
interest rate on their funds.
If you're saddled with debt, consider paying off the loan
balance with the
highest interest rate
first.
A variation on the «pay off your
higher interest debts
first» strategy is to transfer some or all of your
balance from a
high interest card to a low
interest card or line of credit.
And you can select if you want to pay them off using the avalanche (
highest interest loan
first) or snowball (lowest
balance loan
first) method.
The «
Highest Interest First» method fails to consider 1) that you may have a high interest rate on a low balance and are not losing that much money on that debt each month; 2) that you may have a low interest rate on a high balance and are losing a lot of money servicing that debt each month; 3) that your monthly payment amount on any one debt is taking that money away from paying down some oth
Interest First» method fails to consider 1) that you may have a
high interest rate on a low balance and are not losing that much money on that debt each month; 2) that you may have a low interest rate on a high balance and are losing a lot of money servicing that debt each month; 3) that your monthly payment amount on any one debt is taking that money away from paying down some oth
interest rate on a low
balance and are not losing that much money on that debt each month; 2) that you may have a low
interest rate on a high balance and are losing a lot of money servicing that debt each month; 3) that your monthly payment amount on any one debt is taking that money away from paying down some oth
interest rate on a
high balance and are losing a lot of money servicing that debt each month; 3) that your monthly payment amount on any one debt is taking that money away from paying down some other debt.
It doesn't matter what your
balances are — paying the
highest interest debt
first is always the quickest and cheapest approach mathematically.
I do not use the «lowest
balance first» idea endorsed specifically by Ramsey, I use an
interest order approach where I pay all of my extra money above the minimums to my
highest interest debt.
Despite paying the additional $ 4989.60 in
interest for the
first five years, the outstanding
balance at the end of the five - year term remains $ 1592.22
higher than would the mortgage
balance of a non-cashback mortgage with its lower effective
interest rate.