<prompt> Human: My parents recently gave me about 7000 they had been investing in a mutual fund for me. I put all of it straight into my own mutual fund, but now Im wondering if I would be better off paying down my 5,000 in private student loan balances at an average interest rate of 8 percent. I dont expect the market to return greater than 8 percent over the next few years, so it seems like I will be getting a better value from my money by paying off the student loans first, and then socking cash back into the mutual fund as quickly as I can. I have another 3000 in savings as well as 4700 in available credit as my emergency fund.  <response>: If you can cash out of your mutual funds with minimal tax implications then paying down your loan at 8 is the way to go, in my opinion. 