Your Car Is Finally Paid Off — Should You Keep Making the Payment to Yourself?

A paid-off car can free up money each month, but redirecting that money toward savings, repairs, debt, or retirement can give the former payment a useful second job – Shutterstock

Your car is finally paid off, and that monthly payment just vanished from the budget. Instead of letting the money disappear into restaurants, subscriptions, impulse purchases, and whatever else seems to multiply inside a checking account, some drivers keep making the payment themselves.

That does not mean sending money to the old lender. It means moving roughly the same amount into savings, investments, or another financial goal every month. The approach can work remarkably well, but only if the money gets a specific assignment.