13th Salary in Brazil: Pay Off Debt or Invest? Decide with Numbers

Updated October 27, 2026

The 2nd instalment of Brazil's 13th salary must be paid by 20 December — in 2026, as that is a Sunday, by Friday 18/12. Before deciding what to do with it, compare two rates: how much your debt charges per month and how much a safe investment pays per month. Debt almost always wins by a wide margin.

1. The rule: compare monthly rates

Where the money is	Approximate rate
Overdraft (cheque especial)	up to 8% a month (National Monetary Council cap) — about 152% a year
Credit card revolving (rotativo)	often above 10% a month; interest and charges capped at 100% of the debt (Law 14,690/2023)
CDB at 100% of CDI or Tesouro Selic	about 1.07% a month before income tax, with the Selic rate at 13.75% a year
Savings account (poupança)	0.5% a month + TR (about 6.2% a year), tax-free

Paying off a debt is an "investment" that returns exactly the interest you stop paying, with no risk and no tax. If the debt costs more per month than the investment pays, paying it off comes out ahead.

2. Example with R$ 2,000

You owe R$ 2,000 on your overdraft and receive R$ 2,000 of 13th salary. Over 3 months:

Keep the debt and invest: the overdraft at 8% a month charges R$ 519.42 in interest; the CDB earns about R$ 65.01 gross, R$ 50.38 after the 22.5% income tax. A loss of almost R$ 470.
Pay off the debt: you save the R$ 519.42 of interest.

On card revolving credit the gap is even wider: at 12% a month, the same R$ 2,000 costs R$ 809.86 in 3 months.

3. The order that usually makes sense

Overdue bills and the most expensive debts: card revolving, overdraft, bills with fines and interest.
Expensive instalment debts: personal loans, card bill instalments. Paying early entitles you to a proportional cut in interest (Consumer Protection Code, art. 52, §2).
Emergency fund: 3 to 6 months of expenses, in an investment you can withdraw any day (Tesouro Selic, a daily-liquidity CDB from a large bank, or savings).
Invest for longer-term goals.

Cheap debts — such as a mortgage or a low-rate payroll loan (consignado) — can wait: the investment earns about what they cost, and keeping money available has value too.

4. Before you pay: negotiate

Look up all your debts in Registrato, the Central Bank's free system.
Ask for a discount for paying in full — banks and stores often waive interest and fines on overdue debt, especially in renegotiation drives.
For a long debt, consider credit portability: another bank can take over the balance at a lower rate, at no cost to you.
Swap revolving or overdraft debt for cheaper credit only to clear it for good, without using the limit again.

Do the maths

In the fixed income calculator, see what the 13th salary would earn in a CDB, Tesouro Selic, LCI or savings, after income tax. To compare with an instalment debt, use the loan calculator to see how much interest is still to come. And check your 2nd instalment in the 13th salary calculator.

This guide is educational and is not investment advice. Rates change: the Selic is October 2026's, and each bank's rates are on the Central Bank website.

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