<prompt> Human: Ive been lurking on PF for a while and Ive learned the general rule of a small emergency fund, paying off all high interest debt, and opening a Roth IRA. My general question would be what exactly is considered high interest debt? And are there any benefits to opening a Roth before having all debt paid off? Here is a look into my current debt:2,600 at 6.812,500 at 53,000 at 4.55,800 at 3.867,500 at 3.4This is all student loan debt except about 9,200 on my car loan which is in the 5 category. Id like to have this all paid off within 5 years, but at that point Ill be 29 and feel like Id already be far behind in investments other than my 401k. Thoughts?  <response>: My rules are: minimize debt and keep it simple. In that vein, Id pay off the loans before investing. 