<prompt> Human: I had two separate conversations this week where people suggested that it was basically unwise to pay off my student loans early. In fact, both of them suggested income-based repayment, because in their minds, the only reason Id worry about my loans is if I was having a hard time making the minimum payment. Also, both of them seems to hold the view that student loans are just a fact of life, like death and taxes. You just pay them until you die. Sadly, I know this is how most people feel. The horror! If anything, talking to these acquaintances has made me double down on my plan to pay off my student loans in the next two years.  <response>: I left law school in 2013 with 176k in student loans. The minimum payment was something like 2,500 and I wanted to die. I made a goal to pay them all off in 5 years, and while life has got in the way several times, I am happy to say that I am down to just 45k in loans left. I wont make the 5 years come this November, but Im hoping to have them paid off by the end of next year. I chose the snowball method because I needed to get the minimums under control. Everytime I cleared a loan, my payment stayed the same and the extra was allocated to the next lowest amount and so on. My minimum is now 750 but I still pay 2,500 a month.You can definitely do it! 