<prompt> Human: I am a graduate student. I am married and my wife has a pretty good job, but she is paying off her student loans. I could just pay it off to have one less thing to worry about, or I could just continue paying them, having 12 payments left. The interest rate is 4.5, and the monthly payments are about 230. I have no credit card debt, but have student loans. Being in school still, they are being deferred at the moment.From this sub I learned that having a few months salary saved up is important, as well as paying of all debts. Im a tad conflicted on what to do and would appreciate any insights.  <response>: One big way to help avoid future debt via credit cards is to have 3 to 6 months expenses saved. Thats a great emergency fund. If you dont already have an emergency fund, then hang on to your 4 months of salary. What this does is reduce risk. It reduces your risk of having to borrow money for emergencies. While you could use that money to reduce debt, you would increase your risk. 