<prompt> Human: As the title states, a friend of mine told me that Id be better off making minimum payments 69mo for me on my student loans instead of paying them off ASAP. They said that the age of the account would help my credit score more than paying it off and not owing the money. Or, that I could invest any extra money I would put towards paying down my student loans and get a higher rate of return. This surprised me a little bit because in my mind I want to pay the student loans off ASAP to minimize interest paid, as well as free up money for other things, like a car that Im going to need probably before the end of the year. I only have 1650 left to pay on my student loans, so I could knock that out very quickly if I wanted to. My student loans are the only thing I pay interest on for the time being, with interest rates of 4.25 and 3.15. I have an account with a furniture store that offers no interest if the balance is paid in full in X-months, and I have autopay set up to make sure my payments are as low as possible while still paying off the entire balance by the due date. I have a credit card but I pay that balance every month so Im not paying interest. My credit score is very good 750ish, but my weakest area is age of accounts, with the student loans being open 5yrs and my credit card and furniture store account at 1 year each. Should I coast on my student loan and let the age of the account buff my score, or would it be worth it to knock it out ASAP while working towards a car?  <response>: Loans continue to factor in your average age of accounts after they are closed until they are removed from your report, which usually happens at the 10 year mark for positive accounts. Your interest rate is borderline for the cut-off between investingpaying down the loan - if it were 6-8 it would be a clear decision in favor of paying down the debt. That said, unless you are genuinely going to invest every dollar you would have put into the loan into better performing investments, just pay off the loan for the reasons youve outlined above. Youll free up cash-flow and be free of the debt. 