I am sure about what I should do with my money

[daveblax]

Edit* I am NOT sure about what I should do with my money

I am a teacher in China and have been saving up my money here doing a lot of part time jobs at night and on the weekends. By the time I leave China this summer, I should have around 35-40K saved up.

All of my money is deposited into my Chinese bank account. I am not sure how I should transfer my money back to the United States. Should I use Paypal? Western Union? Bank wire transfer? I feel like they all have their advantages and disadvantages.

Another option could be to leave a large portion on my money in my Chinese bank account. The Chinese Yuan has been appreciating, and I believe it will continue to do so.

When I return to the United States, I will be student teaching and finishing my masters degree. This is a huge time commitment, and will not allow me to earn a lot of money during this time.

My biggest problem is that I have a massive amounts of student debt. How much of it should I pay off? I enrolled in the income based repayment program, so at this time my payments are really low. I know debt is terrible, but I am not sure if I should use all of my money towards this. I would love to save up for a house sometime within the next five years.

Any advice for me would be greatly appreciated.

[lorraineb]

Unless you plan to live in China in the future, it really makes no sense to leave the money there, especially since it may be difficult to get access to it from the US. I think your main issue is figuring out how to reduce the amount of student loans you'll be taking out and if the degree you are seeking will pay for the loans that you need to take. Few people do this and everyone really should. if the degree pays you more, but not enough to cover the loans you need to take out, then it isn't worth getting from a financial perspective.

[97guns]

i thought everyone in china buys gold