<prompt> Human: I have about 40k in student loan debt. I am on an IBR Income Based Repayment plan. I pay 106 a month which does not cover the interest. After speaking with Fedloan, I found out that after 220 qualified payments, the remaining balance is forgiven. At the amount I am paying now, after 220 payments, it would be less than paying them off now. My payments will change of course over the years, but even at about 180 a month I would break even. What is the incentive to pay the debt off early if I would pay less over time than paying it off now? I feel like I am missing a vital piece of information here. EDIT: I will be paying this without fail. Edited the question to include early to clear up any misconceptions. Also, I was trying to determine whether it would be more beneficial to pay more on my car or more on the student loans? Seems my car having a worse interest rate than the student loans would be better. Not to mention the depreciation of said car vs. what I owe on it.  <response>: What is the incentive to pay the debt off if I would pay less over time than paying it off now?There are two types of student loan debt forgiveness - one is Public Service Loan Forgiveness PSLF and the other is the regular IBR plan.With PSLF you pay for 10 years and at the end any remaining balance is forgiven, tax free.With IBR you pay for 20 years and at the end any remaining balance is forgiven, but taxed.So if you pay less than the interest accruing, then the loan balance continues to grow. In 20 years, it could be quite sizeable. The IRS will count all of that forgiven debt as income and charge you income taxes on that amount. 