<prompt> Human: I graduated with 31,000 in unsubsidized stafford student loans in 2012. The interest rate on these loans is 6.8. I was discussing my student loan repayment angst with my boss whom happens to be our CFO. I was subsequently discussing with him my roth IRA and 401k contributions. He asked me if I was getting better than 6.8 annual return on those savings, which I am not. The obvious point he was making is that my excess income should be applied to more quickly relieving myself of a 6.8 debt rather than saving the money at a 6.8 rate. TL;DR Unless you have a crystal ball that will allow you to earn more than 5 return on your retirement savings, pay off your student loans first. Edit: As user zonination pointed out, if your employer matches your contributions up to a certain percent, invest up to that percent to get the immediate 100 ROI. However, dont go beyond that until your loans are paid off.  <response>: Caveat - if youre on IBR, and your payments are so low relative to your debt that youre not even keeping up with accruing interest, maxing 401k can help lower your AGI and thus monthly payments. 