<prompt> Human: Is there a calculator or any way to determine what point its better to pay the minimum monthly payments and get the tax deduction instead of trying to pay off as fast as possible? Is it ever more beneficial to do the former?  <response>: Its never beneficial to get a tax deduction on interest. The deduction value will never exceed the amount of the interest you are paying. For example, if you pay 1,000 in interest, you wont ever save more than 1,000 on your taxes when you claim it.Should paying down a student loan as fast you can be the 1 priority? No, of course not--you need to make sure you at least match your 401k, concentrate on higher-interest loans you may have, and consider that student loans are very easy to defer if something comes up which means theyre safer than most loans to have hanging around. But if you can pay them down and everything else is handled, do so. 