I am quoted in this article on the website Credit.com. The writer makes some excellent points about how to prioritize saving for retirement vs. paying down student debt.

However, for many, the choices are not just between those short-term and long-term goals. Many younger families have to decide how to rank those goals with aspirations to own a home (not to mention saving for children’s college or paying private school costs). In the New York market, it can be extraordinarily difficult to shelter in a home of one’s own, let alone accelerate debt repayment.

But depending on one’s income level, paying down student debt may be required to qualify for a mortgage. Banks generally require one’s total debt payments not exceed 36 percent of one’s gross income, and that no more than 28 percent of one’s income goes toward home expenses (including mortgage principal and interest, insurance and property taxes/co-op condo fees).

For example, a person or a couple earning $120,000 per year would qualify for $2,800 per month for home payments and $3,600 per month for total debt payments. If they have student loan debt of $200,000 with a 6 percent rate of interest, that would absorb $1,000 of the $3,600 of allowable debt, bringing the maximum amount for home payments to $2,600 – below the $2,800 level that would be permissible without the education loans.

Of course retiring some other kinds of debt can work as well or better in clearing the way for a home purchase. Pay off the highest-rate debt first – usually credit cards – to help get your fiscal house in order.

Meanwhile, with home prices being so high in Brooklyn, Manhattan and other parts of the New York metro area, most of the greenbacks may have to be stockpiled to make a large down payment.

To help prioritize, consider consulting a financial planner who will work by the hour, including members of the Garrett Planning Network, of which I am one.