Medical loan payoff. Mustachian decision or mistake?

[jv180]

First, my wife and I have the goal of having a child, but unfortunately we have medical obstacles to having one naturally.  We were forced to take out a loan of $25,000 for the a medical procedure not covered by insurance at 10.99% interest.  I was apprehensive about the loan, but it was something that was a priority to both of us. 

I had been secretly saving and had a $25,000 savings account and did not want to touch my "security blanket".  After re-evaluating, I decided that the added cost of paying 10.99% interest outweighed the risk of not having a large cash safety net, therefore I paid off the loan in full and extinguished my savings.  Was this a smart move, or should I have kept the savings?

My thought was that I was going to be paying roughly $150 a month in interest for the privilege of keeping a savings account, and to me that was stupid. 

[StangStache]

Although you will probably get varying opinions, I would have done the same in your position.  That high interest rate stings.  Assuming you have a steady income and can build that security blanket back up in a reasonable amount of time, you'll be good. 

[DollarsAndDissonance]

Sure seems like the right decision to me.  That's what emergency savings are for.

[abhe8]

secretly saving, as you hid this from your wife? thats weird.

[allergic2average]

I don't know what the prices are to adopt a child but if that was the cheaper route would you have done it? 25K sounds like a lot simply because you want a biological child. There are many children in this world with no parents, I think you should've adopted and never spent those 25K. But I think you did the smart thing in terms of paying off the loan, it's better to knock it out rather than have to pay the extra interest

[Calvawt]

I would absolutely have done the same thing.  10.99% interest would have just weighed on my every month as I watched the money leave my account.

[Must_Stash]

It's great that you had the foresight to save that money, and the good judgment to use it when needed!  10.99% was an emergency.

[Cassie]

You did the right thing!  If the OP wanted a baby they are not easy to adopt-more people want babies then babies available.  Also he is asking a financial question-not if he should adopt versus have their own.

[eyePod]

Debt over your head is always tough to handle. It's hard to fault anyone for paying debt off, even if the best financial decision is to keep something in the stock market for longer (really only applicable to low interest loans like a mortgage, not your situation). Must feel good to not have that debt!

[okashira]

11% no brainer. I'd run my saving ragged dry if I had an investment opportunity like that.