<prompt> Human: Hi Personal Finance,Summary:I have 46K in student debt, and 140 shares of AAPL stock. My minimum payments each month, which I always make and try to pay over, are 792. Were you in my shoes, would you divest yourself of the stock in order to save approximately 7K in interest and pay off my loans nearly four years early?More info:After school, I worked for Apple for several years and immediately enrolled in their ESPP plan as well as their 401k. After realizing that I didnt really like working there much anymore, I quit that job and started a long, horrific job search that depleted my emergency fund. Finally, I scored a job in another country that I knew could end up with a lot of growth. The gamble has really paid off, and Ive been offered a 40 raise and the opportunity to work back in the US. Im very excited about this, but I also know that my company may not be able to succeed in the US, so Im not confident in long-term security. I have to plan for this job not lasting particularly long, so I feel like I should be as aggressive as I can with debt elimination. If the job ends up not working out, I have a family safety net in place and I can resume job hunting. If I hold onto the stock, Ill still be making enough every month to bulk up my emergency fund and restart my retirement investments.Ive been trying to become more financially literate in the past month, so I think many of you will agree with me that I should sell the stock. If I do sell, I will probably do it this year around the fall, when the stock prices have historically risen in conjunction with the new phone release. I do not want to sell next year, because it will pop me into a higher tax bracket. On the other hand, it makes me feel a bit sick to get rid of this asset. I personally know many people who have held onto their AAPL stock throughout the years and have reaped huge profits; I also cant tell you how many times Ive been told by people who sold their shares how much they regret it. Ive personally been thinking of this stock as a down payment on a house, and its very comforting to know that I have money there and available if I need it.Would you:1 Sell the whole lot and make a huge payment on my loans reserving some of the proceeds of the sale to cover tax?2 Sell only a partial amount to be more conservative but still impact the loan?3 Keep the stock?Assets:My emergency fund is very low, about 3000.401k: 8,200AAPL stock: 140 shares, currently valued around 13,400Debt break down:26,721 at 7.918,857 at 6.8465 at 5TL;DR: Is it a smart or stupid move to decrease some of my assets in order to kill a significant portion of my high-interest debt.P.s. How do taxes work when you sell preferredESPP stock? Since the money I bought the shares with was pretax, do I pay more tax? Ive read some on it, but I need someone to ELI5.  <response>: 1. Get rid of the stock. Save some for taxes. Pay debt down.You can always buy AAPL later on.You will never be able to recover the interest paid on debt. Its not like you own an asset with that debt. 