<prompt> Human: I finished pharmacy school last May and have been working for a retail chain since shortly before graduation. Having no money before starting school, every dime of tuition and living expenses for the 6-year degree came from loans. A rough estimate is about 230,000.I earn 117,000 annually. The bulk of these are federal loans, which are mostly at 6.8. Rates range from 5.0 very few to 7.9 about 40,000 worth.Ive been putting about 2,500 per month toward the loans, with the excess above the minimum 1,850 per month being added to the 7.9 loans first.My employer matches 401k contributions 100 up to 5 of income. Im currently investing just 5 of my income to the 401k to get the match. 401k investments are about 70 aggressive, 20 moderate and 10 conservative.I have been and continue to be approached by multiple financial advisors. Other pharmacy graduates repeatedly tell me a good advisor is a must! - and I had one for a while, but hes left his company so Im getting ready to bail on his plan for me, which was to sell me insurance. Thanks for reading this far. Now some questions.IS a financial advisor a must for someone in my situation, as other graduates say? FAQ says not likely, and my gut tells me my current path is pretty straightforward: pay off loans ASAP, starting with highest rates.Is any sort of debt consolidation a feasible option for federal loans? I have heard they are significantly harder to reduce via methods that private loans would have, but I am clueless as to what any of these mechanisms may be anyway.Do I need to be looking into other investment vehicles at this time, considering my current loan burden and that Im not maxing out my 401k? Should I be maxing my 401k contributions if its at the expense of putting extra money into loan repayment?Are there any other key financial aspects Im missing altogether? Edit: Thanks for all the replies! Lots of solid advice to go off of, and now I can comfortably shrug off all these financial planners advances without feeling like I have to pick one. Will also be looking to cut back expenses to get some extra money into the loans to principal!.  <response>: You dont need a financial advisor. Id pick up personal finance for dummies and similar books. Thats at the very least least 20 for great advice on several subjects, where a financial advisor would cost who knows how many thousands of dollars. You dont need those salesmen because they arent there to help you, theyre the to SELL to you. 