<prompt> Human: A friend told me to defer my student loans since I make less than 30 k and it wont hurt my credit. Even if that is true wont it be be better for my credit and interest later on to keep paying it now since I can afford the monthly payments?  <response>: Your friend is giving you bad advice. Pay your loans. Deferring will let interest accrue and cost you more over the life of the loan. Depending on the loan type the deferment can be of limited duration, so you dont want to waste it now and be screwed if you lost your job. 