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Justin McGee Odger had a number of different part-time and summer jobs throughout high school and university, including working at various restaurants, a crane company warehouse and driving an ice-company delivery truck.
While the money he earned helped to support him through school, Mr. McGee Odger still graduated from Wilfrid Laurier University in 2013 with roughly $35,000 of debt. About $8,000 of that was a student line of credit from the bank. The remainder was in government student loans.
"I wish I had saved more money going into university," says the 24-year-old Waterloo, Ont., resident, who now works at Sun Life Financial Inc. as a long-term disability case manager, and before that with a group of the company's financial advisers.
"I wish I had learned what I know now before going into school. It would've helped me manage my money better in those years."
Mr. McGee Odger's first order of business after getting a full-time job was to pay off the line of credit, which he did within about a year.
"Even though the interest rate was a little lower on that one [compared to the student loan], I aggressively paid that off just to get it off my mind," he says. He then tackled the student debt by having money taken from his paycheque every two weeks.
What's left today is about $19,000 in student loans, at an interest rate of 5.35 per cent. Mr. McGee Odger could pay it off more quickly, but has decided to also invest some of his money in the markets through a tax free savings account (TFSA).
"Right now it seems to be working. I'm making more on my investments than I'm paying in interest on my student loans," Mr. McGee Odger says. For the past two years, he says his TSFA has returned about 8 per cent, and includes mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and stocks. He's also maximizing his contributions to the employee pension and stock-matching programs offered at Sun Life, which he describes as "free money."
His goal is to save for a house, and build a good retirement fund.
"Right now my priority is to maximize my TFSAs and take advantage of compound interest," says Mr. McGee Odger. "I would be able to pay off the student loan, but like having the liquid assets."
His plan is to pay off the student loan in two to five years.
Carrying the debt has meant some sacrifices to his lifestyle, including having roommates, driving a used car, bringing his lunch to work, and spending less on entertainment, such as concerts and movies. Instead, he opts for free outdoor activities, such as hiking and biking.
"These are certain things I've had to do, but I think I would keep doing if I didn't have debt," he says. Except maybe having roommates: While they are "really helpful" for keeping rent low, he'd like his own space.
Bruce Sellery, a personal finance expert and author, says Mr. McGee Odger's strategy looks good, and appears to be working for him, which is key. "He sounds like he's doing pretty well."
However, Mr. Sellery says choosing to invest instead of paying down debt is risky, especially given recent market volatility.
For young investors trying to decide how to save, Mr. Sellery often recommends an RRSP over a TFSA, not just for the tax credit and potential tax-free growth, but the retirement savings habit it creates.
"Mindset trumps math, most of the time," says Mr. Sellery, author of The Moolala Guide to Rockin' Your RRSP. "It's harder to take money out of an RRSP."
Millennials saving in an RRSP and looking to buy a home can take advantage of the Home Buyers' Plan, which allows people to withdraw money from their RRSP, tax-free, and use it towards a down payment, Mr. Sellery says.
Although the TFSA has advantages in that you can access money easily, for some investors it doesn't offer enough room to save, especially now that the maximum is falling back down to $5,500 in 2016, he says.
It dropped from $10,000 in 2015, where it was for a year, before the new Liberal government reduced it to the previous level.
Have you, or are you in the process of, repaying a sizable debt load? To share your debt-reduction journey with the Globe, send us an e-mail.