<prompt> Human: I was laid off in October - really I was traded to another company. I do the same job but as a consultant instead of an employee. I knew I got stock options but I didnt really know what that meant until Merrill Lynch called and said they would expire soon. I decided to cash them out because I didnt really know what else to do with them and the deadline was coming up. They are sending me a check for 20,000. This is unexpected and like free money. When I was traded I was laid off one day and started work at the new company the next day so there was no lapse in my employment. I did get 4 weeks severance so I already have extra money than normal. Here is my question. What should I do with this money?My car is paid off but my husbands car has about 5000 left on it. I have about 11,000 in my checking and 5,500 in the savings. I save 600 a month and pay things like my sons private school tuition out of savings. I also had to pay for some expensive car repairs on my husbands car recently. I do have an ETRADE account that I opened 15 years ago and it has very little money in it and I dont do anything with it. I have student loans still but Im not sure how much. I would guess less than 10,000. We have a mortgage on our house and would like to sell it but there are some things we would need to do like fix the boiler leak, redo the carpets and fix the downstairs floor along with paint. We try to keep the credit cards paid off but Id say we are carrying about 3000-4000 after Christmas. What is the best thing to do with this money? We are youngish mid 30s and we are doing good on our 401ks. I put in 10 and get a 4 match and my husband puts in 5 and gets a 7 match.  <response>: Shoot, pay off the car and loans. Why not?The only argument against this would be if the interest rates for both are very low; 4 or less. If so, then it could make more sense to throw this into an IRA and continue making your payments on the loans.Honestly though, Id probably go ahead and just knock out the debts regardless. Increase your cash flow, lower your overall liabilityrisk. 