<prompt> Human: Hope this isnt too general of a question, but here it goes... The company I am working for just shut down and had to lay everyone off effective immediately. I am in a relatively decent position as I have around 40k in savings not including retirement accounts and almost no dept. The only exception is my car, on which I currently owe around 2,000 through VW credit. Should try to I pay this off in a lump sum or keep making my monthly payments for the next 4 months or so? Are there any repercussions in paying it off ahead of time, either through fees or a negative impact on my credit score? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!  <response>: Until you have a new job, conserve cash. Once you are employed you should pay this off, and indeed you probably should have years ago, but NOT NOW. Now you should hold cash and make minimal payments on everything until you know how long you will be out of work, which means until you have your new job. 