<prompt> Human: Forewarning, I have somewhat of a business background but this topic is a little over my head which is why I came to the experts here.Anyways, I am going to graduate dental school in a few years with about 275,000 in student loans. I should be able to get a job paying minimally about 110,000 a year. The interest rates on the student loans are broken up into two categories the Stafford loan at 6.8 interest and the Grad plus loan with 7.9 interest. I obviously know that I should pay off the loan with the higher interest rate first and foremost, but how fast should I try to repay these loans? Here are the things that are pulling me one way or the other:1. Dave Ramseys belief that you should pay off all debt as soon as possible 2. If I invest more now wouldnt the future yields outweigh the extra interest Ill have to pay on the student loans? Ive read that the diversified portfolio will most likely have a return range of 5-6 for the next 10 years. So on the surface it looks like this would favor fast repayment, but lets say it takes me 20 years to pay off all my student loans as opposed to 3 with a fast repayment plan but I allow my investments and continued investments to grow for 30 years wouldnt those yields offset the extra money paid towards the student loan interest? 3. Inflation. If inflation continues to rise for the foreseeable future wouldnt it be better to invest earlier and pay back student loans later on? Thank you very much for all your help!  <response>: Most likely, paying off your loans quicker especially the 7.9 ones is a better option. You have a certainty of return on your investment and dont have to pay capital gains taxes.However, there may be some things which are a better return on investment. For instance, if your employer has good 401k matching, it might mean a 50-100 return on investment. 