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[quote=Anonymous]I am not a believer in throwing everything you have at student loan debt.  Also, contrary to the PP's advice, it does not make sense to pay off all debt before you start saving for retirement.  If you lose your job, you can't eat your paid-off loans and they aren't going to keep a roof over your head.  Also, student loans are easily deferred or put in forbearance in a financial crunch.  Finally, because of compound interest, your retirement savings in your twenties when you are still juggling debt will go much further than equivalent savings later in life when you've paid off the student loans and the mortgage.  In contrast, your payments on fixed rate student loans will feel smaller over time based on inflation.

I would suggest keeping your current savings as an emergency fund in the high interest savings account.  After that, if your company has a 401(k), figure out a way to contribute at least as much as you need to contribute to max out the company match or contribution.  Contribute the maximum if you can possibly afford to do so.  These are pretax dollars so you will feel less squeezed by every dollar you put in a 401(K) than you will feel by putting the same after-tax dollar toward your loans.

If you are not eligible for a 401(K), open a Roth IRA and contribute a fixed amount each month via electronic transfer.  It will be tough, but see if you can make the maximum contribution by year's end.  Roth contributions might be tax deductible at your income level--check that out to be sure, though.

After you've maxed out your Roth for the year, if you get a bonus or birthday money or start accumulating chunks of extra cash in your main operating account, put it toward your loans.  Be sure to pay off any variable rate private student loans before you start paying extra toward the federal loans.

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