rewrite the following: With a $5,000 sign on bonus, I would first pay off my $3000 credit card debt. If you continued to make only minimum payments on your credit card, you could accumulate around $750 in interest just in 1 year (assuming the APR is 24.99%, which is about normal). Personally speaking, paying that debt off, knowing there is a $0 balance, the accomplishment of that, would make it more difficult to justify using the credit card for purchases in the future. I am going to assume this new job comes with 401k options where I am able to choose how much I contribute each paycheck; therefore, I will be investing in my retirement once I start working. But even if that isn't the case, my next step would be to search for a high return savings account and start my emergency fund with the remaining $2000. If I invest the money instead, I don't have immediate access to it in an emergency and would likely use the credit card I just paid off to cover the emergency cost, so starting an emergency fund seems like it would take priority over investing the remaining amount. However, once I have