<prompt> Human: Hello everyone,I have just graduated from law school and started work at a big law firm. I exited the program with 150k in student loan debt, but have a 120k per year job. I am currently renting a house with my fiancee, but would of course like to eventually buy my own. The interest rate on the student loans ranges from 4.25 to 6.8 per year. The average across 150k is approximately 4.8 the 6.8 part is a small portion of the total. I can set aside approximately 4,000 per month to either go towards paying off my student loans or saving up for a mortgage down payment. I am leaning towards making a big dent in my student loans first, as I cant help but prefer to spend money to pay down an outstanding debt rather than put it in a savings account to buy a house when I still have those outstanding student loans. On the other hand, I also know that money spent on rent is gone forever, whereas money put into a house has at least a decent chance of coming back to me when I sell the house yearsdecades later. My fiancee and I are actually pretty happy renting the house we are in now good deal, good area, etc and are not in a hurry to move for any reason other than to enter a better financial situation. The rent for our current house is 1600 per month, which my fiancee and I split evenly she has a separate income stream of approximately 32k per year after taxes. What percentage of the 4,000 I can save per month would you recommend putting into paying off my student loans, and what percentage should I save for a house down payment? Houses in my area are easily 400k to 600k, so even a 10 down payment will take a while to save up. Should I start out paying a lot more into my student loans, and then switch after a year or a few years? What would you recommend?Thanks for your advice, it is much appreciated!  <response>: On the other hand, I also know that money spent on rent is gone forever, whereas money put into a house has at least a decent chance of coming back to me when I sell the house yearsdecades later.You have no guarantee at all that youre getting any money back from selling your home, especially in todays economy. Weve had a couple dozen posts this week alone where people have bought homes that are now underwater, or are not worth anything near what they paid and then put into them over the years.I say if youre happy right now renting, I would focus hard on paying off my student debt, then address your housing if you choose to own a home then.Renting is not throwing money away each month. You are trading money for a place to live. You are gaining opportunity cost and can uproot whenever you feel like it, as is typically spelled out in your lease. That alone can be much more valuable than owning a home in the short term. 