<prompt> Human: Im finishing my MBA this year and will graduate with about 40k in government loans. Im 35 with 2 kids, a decent size mortgage...the last thing I need is additional monthly payments so Im considering using my ROTH IRA to pay them off. My Roth has about 30k. Between that and some loose change I can clear the loans immediately. Any advice of this os the right move? Edit: Im operating under the assumption that there is no penalty for early withdrawal from a ROTH IRA to pay back government school loans. The loans average 6 interest rate and payment can be deferred to 6 months post graduation.  <response>: Bad plan. Youre better off just using your wage increase from now having an MBA, or bonus, or whatever you earned from it more than subsidize your loans. Consider refinancing to below 4, which should be possible as the last MBA candidate that I talked to had like 3 APR on his and also his wifes loans. 