Hi folks,
I'm a late bloomer education-wise and started an undergraduate degree at age 25 in Canada. I'm more than halfway through my "4" year degree taking a slightly reduced course load (3 classes/term in Fall & Winter, 2/term in Spring & Summer) and working 20 hours/week in a student services office.
I make enough money to pay all my expenses, but not enough to also cover tuition, fees, books & supplies out of pocket. For the past two years, I have taken out the maximum amount in student loans (including money for living expenses) because I was living with under-earning partners, but those crappy relationships are over now and I'm only responsible for myself! Therefore in future semesters, I will not be accepting the full loan amount and will instead only request what I need for tuition etc.
My mom has generously been throwing sporadic amounts of money into a chequing account designated for me to pay back my loans when I'm done, and I've taken to sending her the "excess" from my loan money to put in that account also. I don't know the exact amount in the account (my family is a little weird about talking money details - obviously I'm trying not to follow that path), but I would estimate it to be around $10,000 with my mom contributing up to $2,000/year.
My question at this point is: How can I make the best use of the money that is sitting there waiting to be put towards paying off my loans in 2-3 years? Is it worthwhile to try investing it (e.g. Tangerine in Canada), or should we just find a savings account with a decent interest rate and park it?
My projected total student loan debt once I'm graduated will be ~$30,000 and my estimated graduation date is either December 2017 or April 2018.
Thanks for any advice you can provide!
