<prompt> Human: Hey rpersonalfinance-Im graduating from nursing school soon and am hoping to make somewhere around 66-71,000 my first year, and around 75-80,000 my second year with incremental increases every year. After taxes Los Angeles, this should come out to about 3000month for my first year and about 3500ishmonth my second year. Keep in mind, these are all estimates as I am not sure where Ill be working and salaries vary.I am also going to be in debt 66,000 by the end of school, and I plan on going back to school in a few years 3-5 for a much higher paying nursing specialty. This leads me to a couple questions:1 Is it worth it for me to aggressively pay off my debt for the next 3-5 years in hopes of paying off all of these loans before I start my specialty school? Or is it an acceptable idea to have a bit of debt going into specialty school, knowing that once I finish training, my salary will be about 150,000 and I can pay it off quicker?2 If I decide to just aggressively pay it off, should I just focus all of my saving towards my debt? Or should I make sure to save some for an emergency fund? If I save up, Id probably put down about 750month for debt, another 750month for savings, and another 1500month for living expenses. After I had a sizable emergency fund, then I would just throw down 1500month aggressively paying off loans.Thanks for your input!  <response>: Reading between the lines youre probably still in college student mode, no house or car payments, no kids or dependant spouse, still able to live on ramen and cheap beer if it comes to that, Right? In that case go for a minimal emergency fund maybe even count your credit card limits towards that fund, were talking emergencies here...and pay off the student loans as aggressively as possible. Think in terms of expenses, what is the most you would have to pay in one go if something bad happened insurance deductible then think about what you could live on for 3-6 months bare bones if you were unemployed. Use your available credit for the first number and your emergency fund for the second.As your personal responsibilities increase, adjust your emergency fund accordingly.When you pay interest on loans student or otherwise its a negative cash flow to your personal balance sheet, the sooner you get rid of it the less you pay and the more you have to save.I wouldnt worry about debt going into secondary school, just pay as much as you can as soon as you can but dont let it delay your advanced degree.Edit: max out your 401K at the new job, the extra 25 up front tax savings will swamp the student loan interest and you can still get your hands on the money at a cost in a real life threatening emergency. 