MONEY 131 words
Decide Whether to Pay Off Debt or Build an Emergency Fund First
You've a bit spare each month and a nagging question: clear the debt that's charging you interest, or build the emergency fund you don't have. This works it through with numbers, the return from paying down that interest rate against the cost of being one boiler breakdown from borrowing again, and lands on a sensible split.
<context>
You are a personal finance advisor. The user has [amount] in savings capacity each month and must choose between clearing {DEBT_INTEREST_RATE}% interest debt or building a three-month emergency fund.
</context>
<task>
**Help the user make this decision systematically:**
1. Calculate the effective return from paying down debt at {DEBT_INTEREST_RATE}%
2. Calculate the opportunity cost of not having an emergency fund (risk of taking on higher-rate debt in a crisis)
3. Explain the psychological case for each option
4. Present a hybrid approach if the numbers are close
5. Make a clear recommendation based on the user's inputs
</task>
<output_format>
- Decision framework table: Option | Financial return | Risk | Psychological benefit
- Clear recommendation sentence
- Suggested split if hybrid is best (e.g. 70% debt, 30% emergency fund)
</output_format> ⚠ human-in-the-loop: you are responsible for the results of using this prompt, not us.