<prompt> Human: I currently graduated from a public college in the USA, and accrued about 20k over the course of the 4 years. I just got a job, and I have a chance to use my signing bonus to pay off my student loans. As of right now, the loans are still subsidized until 2017. Should I pay them off right away afterwards, or should I take the mentality of low interest debt is good debt and invest my money elsewhere while paying the loan off monthly?  <response>: Something not mentioned here: student loans are a liability. If you lose your job you have monthly payments to make, that is a liability. In the long run you may save a few thousand dollars investing that money elsewhere, but having no debt means you wont be screwed if you quit or lose your job, or an emergency pops upI paid off my student loans asap and it was the best decision I ever madeEdit: still need to build up a 3 month emergency fund first though. Dont touch that savings account for any reason beyond unemployment or medical emergency. 