<prompt> Human: So I have a US DOE Stafford Loan with a balance of 15,378.My monthly payment is 201.The Total to Repay Estimated: 20,243.Total Interest: 4,865Payoff Date: 082023Would it be smart to pay off the loan now at around 15,400 or keep making payments till 2023 for the interest write off every year?I have enough to pay it off, but the monthly payments arent killing me either. I just dont know what would be the best decision; 2023 sounds so far away... Any sound advice would help.  <response>: I believe the tax write-off is a bad reason to keep making payments;If it is the same in the US as it is where I am, which I am uncertain, you only really get about 15 of that interest paid back the lowest tax bracket.This means that if you pay 500 in interest in the year, the write-off only gets you 75. You still end up losing 425.The real question would be, can you put that money somewhere where itll generate more than the interest you pay on your loans? If your loan interest rate is 4 and you can get a 7-8 return on investments, Id say invest that money and keep making monthly payments even if you have to pay interest. 