<prompt> Human: US, Married, 30, no kids. Both of us work full time, we have 6 months emergency fund saved up, 401k is on target and Im adding at employer match limit. We have 40k of student loan debt under 4, which were paying down aggressively 2kmonth. We rent. We are looking to buy a house in cash in a few years, and savings towards that end are aggressive and on target. Weve received 23k of unexpected income through wedding gifts and bonuses this month. Were planning to put 13k towards our loans, and to begin non-retirement investing with the remaining 10k. We would not plan to touch this for at least 7 years, but less than 20.After considering our risk tolerance and goals, weve decided to go with a basic three-fund portfolio in the following allocations:40 VTSMX Vanguard Total Stock Market Index35 VGTSX Vanguard Total International Stock Market Index25 VBMFX Vanguard Total Bond Market IndexSince buy in for vanguard index funds starts at 3k, and I only have 10k to play with, I cant get the intended distribution yet with the cash we set aside for investing 4.8k 4.2k 3k 12k. My questions and perceived options:1. Should we buy into the stocks as close as we can to our allocation plan and then adjust monthly until we reach our target? e.g., start at 4k VTSMX, 3k VGSTX, 3k VBMFX and adjust by 100mo til met?2. Should we put 12k into index funds so that we can buy in at our intended distribution, and just put 11k into loans?3. Should put the entire 23k towards loans?4. Should we forget the distribution entirely for now, and put the whole 10k into an admiral fund version of one of these funds VTSAX? for the low expense ratio?5. Do you have a better suggestion that you can convince me I should go with? edit: Thanks everyone for your advice! After reading over comments and thinking it over a bit more, weve decided to be a bit more conservative and pay off our two highest-interest loans. Were going to use the remaining 6k to invest in Bonds and Intl Stock now and even out the allocation when we finish paying off student loans completely.  <response>: OK, so right now you are in a pretty enviable position based on what youve laid out. You are DINKs with a 6 mo emergency fund and you are contributing to your 401ks. Here are my random thoughts 40K in student loans at 4 interest rate with a 2K monthly payment is paid off in 21 months. You put 13K into it and it is 27K which will be paid off in 14 months Put all 23K into it and it will be gone in 9 months timeMy own personal predilection right now is to avoid debt, because debt can be limiting at times. In this case it looks like good debt at a cheap rate but it is still debt. Here would be my own personal plan with the bias that I wouldnt want debt right now: Pay down the student loan by the full 23K After the last payment is made 9 months from now, take the 2K I was funneling towards the student loan and invest in VTSAX bc I am lazy and want to keep it simpleThats what I would do if I was in your fairly comfortable shoes. I would eschew all debts first and then invest aggressively after debts are paid off. Assuming that this is money you are saving for retirement purposes since you mention that you are saving for a house with other funds then this is what I would do. Plus, it is one less thing to worry about when you go to qualify for a mortgage in a few years.Like I said, I am biased against debt, and you could do worse than your current plan of paying down part and investing the rest. These are just my own personal thoughts. 