<prompt> Human: I was under the assumption that the faster I pay these federal student loans off, the less I pay in interest, and there for I save money in the long term. But not Ive heard from multiple people, that it turns out cheaper in the long run to make smaller payments due to being able to claim the interest as tax deductible? Im a little lost as to what they mean, but I just want to know of that Im making the smartest decision by paying as much as I can off per month.  <response>: NO.1st, Tax deductible just means you dont pay tax on that amount. Student loan interest up to 2,500 is tax deductible. Lets say you are in a high federal tax bracket and pay 25 tax. So, in that case you pay 2,500 in interest, and reduce your tax burden by 625. No one would pay 2,500 of additional money to save 625. 2nd, they arent always, forever, infinitely deductible. If you make over about 80,000 single they arent deductible. They are only deductible up to 2,500. If you are going to pay 3,000 in interest each year to save 625, it is an even WORSE deal. Or, if you make too much, and pay 2,500 in interest and save NOTHING, that is also a bad deal. What people MAY be talking about is income based IBR or income contingent repayment ICR with public service loan forgiveness PSLF. If you make very little money, and pay based on your income and work in public service for 10 years, it can be less than paying off. Say you have 100,000 in loans. Your income is about 25,000 a year. Your loan payment might be 61 a month. If you pay for 120 months, you pay 7,320. If you do everything right, then your loans are forgiven. You have to pay a huge amount of taxes possibly on the forgiveness Perhaps 25,000. However, even paying that you still paid only 33,320. If you had been paying as much as you could and paid 300 a month you would pay 36,000 in loan payments, had about 75,000 forgiven and still paid about 15,000 in taxes. It would make more sense to pay the minimum and save the rest for the tax bill. I heard rumors about the tax issue being resolved, but Im not sure. Talk to your CPA!The problem with this is that you can screw up the PSLF terms. If you do that, then you have to pay the loan for 25 years anyway. The 