Pension contributions/Paying off debt

iforwms

I use this site on a nearly daily basis, but am rarely posting on here, but when I have I've had very useful advice, so thank you!

I have just come back from travelling and start my first real job on the 7th of Sep. As a result of the travelling I have a couple of credit cards to pay off (one of which is accumulating interest and 2 others which have interest free periods ending in Feb and May next year respectively). I also have a couple of other debts from utility bills etc.

With my first paycheck I will be able to pay off most of the other debts and the credit card accruing interest..

Within a few weeks of starting work I will need to decide on my pension contributions, and I was wondering whether it would be best to take the max contribution available (the company match your contribution up to a certain % of your salary) and take longer to pay off my debts, OR pay a lower contribution, if any, to pay off my debts quicker, then increase my pension contribution once I'm debt-free?

Also the should I defer signing up for Private Medical Insurance until I'm debt-free?

Thanks in advance for your help!

-Ifor

GeorgeUK

I suppose it depends on the amount of the debt and how tight things are. For now i would forget about the medical insurance and only do the minimum pension through work with a view to increasing it - possibly on an annual basis.