Money decision

Debt vs Save

Attack the balance or grow the cushion?

Low confidence 0 of 6 inputs yours

Your numbers

Anything you leave alone is treated as an assumption.

Debt balance assumed

Debt APR assumed

Savings / investment APY assumed

Extra money per month assumed

Current emergency savings assumed

Monthly essential expenses assumed

What matters to you

Weight each factor from 0 to 10. The score moves immediately.

Effective return 10

What your extra money earns in each place. Weighted 10 of 10 — Pearto's default. Pearto's default is 10 of 10.

Net gain over the payoff period 9

Which path leaves you better off once the interest is counted. Weighted 9 of 10 — Pearto's default. Pearto's default is 9 of 10.

Emergency cushion 8

Pearto's default is 8 of 10.

Time to clear the balance 7

How quickly the debt disappears at your extra payment. Weighted 7 of 10 — Pearto's default. Pearto's default is 7 of 10.

What Pearto assumed

Nothing below was invented silently. Change any of them above.

Minimum payment modeled as 2% of balance (min $25).
Savings APY held constant; no taxes on interest included.
No new charges added to the debt.

Pearto Score

44.7 / 100

PAY DEBT is the better fit

PAY DEBT scores 44.70 against SAVE's 37.57 — a 7.13-point lead across 4 weighted factors.

Confidence Low

Some important inputs are still assumptions rather than your own numbers.

PAY DEBT better fit

Effective return 91.6

Net gain over the payoff period 0

Emergency cushion 17.9

Time to clear the balance 65.8

SAVE

Effective return 16

Net gain over the payoff period 0

Emergency cushion 100

Time to clear the balance 45.3

PAY DEBT SAVE Higher is better for that option. Ratings out of 100.

These factors are computed from your own numbers rather than fixed ratings, so they change when you change an input.

How this score was built

Raw rating × your weight ÷ total weight = the points each factor contributed.

Contributions sum to each option's Pearto Score. Nothing is rounded away.
Factor	Weight	PAY DEBT	Points	SAVE	Points
Effective return	10	91.6	26.94	16	4.71
Net gain over the payoff period	9	0	0	0	0
Emergency cushion	8	17.9	4.21	100	23.53
Time to clear the balance	7	65.8	13.55	45.3	9.33
Pearto Score	—	—	44.70	—	37.57

Scenarios

PAY DEBT stays ahead in every scenario tested. The recommendation survives a uniform change in your inputs.

Scenario	PAY DEBT	SAVE	Result
Your numbers now	44.7	37.6	PAY DEBT
Optimistic	47.2	38.0	PAY DEBT
Likely	43.4	37.3	PAY DEBT
Pessimistic	40.7	36.9	PAY DEBT

These are uniform shocks to every number you entered, not forecasts. They test how much the recommendation depends on your inputs being exactly right.

Why PAY DEBT

Effective return: PAY DEBT 91.6 to SAVE 16, worth 22.2 points.
Time to clear the balance: PAY DEBT 65.8 to SAVE 45.3, worth 4.2 points.

What works against it

Emergency cushion: SAVE 100 to PAY DEBT 17.9, costing 19.3 points.

What would change the answer

PAY DEBT leads now, and 3 thresholds would reverse it. The closest is debt apr: below 16.8 and Save first takes over.

your number

If debt apr goes below 16.8%, Save first becomes the better option.

You are at 22.9%; the threshold is 16.8%.
your priority

Set the importance of Effective return below 6.8 out of 10 and SAVE becomes the recommendation.

You are at 10 out of 10; the threshold is 6.8 out of 10.
your number

If savings / investment apy goes above 10.1%, Save first becomes the better option.

You are at 4%; the threshold is 10.1%.

Financial break-even points

From this calculator's own cost model, which answers a different question from the Pearto Score.

If your debt APR falls below 4.0% → SAVING FIRST becomes the better option.
If you can only pay less than $164/mo → the minimum, talk to a counselor before deciding.
Once savings exceed $8,400 (3 months of expenses) → shift all extra to debt.

Confidence

Some important inputs are still assumptions rather than your own numbers.

How much you told us 0%

How far apart the options are 36%

How hard the answer is to flip 100%

How to improve it

Pearto is not yet citing live published data for this decision, so confidence is capped.
Replace the assumed values that matter most: debtAPR, savingsAPY, debtBalance.

Risks to watch

With a thin emergency fund, one surprise can force new high-interest debt.
Balance-transfer and payoff math assumes no new spending on the card.

Where this comes from

The cost figures are calculated from the numbers you entered using Pearto's tested formulas. The factor ratings are Pearto's editorial judgement, weighted by the priorities you set.

No live external data feeds are connected in this build, which is why confidence is capped. See the source policy.

PAY DEBT 44.7 Change inputs