I'm Finished with my Car Loan... What Now?
Congratulations! Completing payments on your vehicle loan is a great accomplishment-- it's one less payment to worry about. But now you may be wondering... what can you do now?
Request Your Documents from Your Lender
The first step to take after paying off your vehicle loan is to call your former lender and request documents such as the car's title and a payoff statement. These documents can serve as proof that you now have full ownership of the car. Sometimes your lender will send these documents automatically-- but it still doesn't hurt to check in with them anyways.
PS: If you had automatic payments set up to pay your loan every month, you may want to double check that they've been cancelled.
Adjust Your Insurance
Cars are expensive to buy, and to make matters worse, the required insurance isn't included. It may be difficult paying for better insurance policies with higher coverage when still dealing with a car payment and the added insterest. Now that the car is paid off, you no longer need to worry about one of those payments. Now would be a great time to redo your budget and upgrade your vehicle's insurance policy to better coverage. After all, you just paid off your car-- you want to take good care of it now that it's fully yours!
Continue to Save
You may be tempted to up your "fun" spending now that you have one less bill to pay. However, it may be better to put that money back in your bank account to save for another time. Consider opening a high yield savings account, IRA, or a Share Certificate to make the best use of your money for the future!
« Return to "Vehicle Loans"