<prompt> Human: My better half is a dentist that is making around 110 - 120k a year. However, she had 176k remaining on an original amount of 250k in student loans. 166K of that is at a interest rate of 6.5 she was smart and targeted the higher interest rate loans first. Shes paying roughly 2100 a month on a minimum payment of 1100.The problem she has, aside from not being able to deduct the student loan interest, is that once she pays for her fixed costs medical insurance, liability insurance, licensing, rent, loans etc. shes left with 750 a month to split between food, gas, any classes she needs to take, and any incidentals.She has 60k in savings that she believes she needs when receiving a loan to start a practice at some point in the coming years. My question is this, how does she go about lowering her interest rate on these loans? Weve checked out the major players--sofi, common bond, etc., but even if she becomes approved the interest rate is at beast .25 lower.tl;dr Whats the best way to go about refinancing student loans?  <response>: Its difficult to strategize without knowing the details of her cash needs when she starts a practice, but hypothetically lets assume she needs exactly the 60,000 in five years. Right now shes paying 1000mo above the minimum loan payments. Over the next 5 years, this adds up to 60,000. Thus she can spend 60,000 today to repay her loan balance, then redirect the money she was previously planning to spend paying down the loan into a savings account, and in 5 years have the 60,000 she needs. Shell also have saved 10,000 on interest - 60,000 6.5 2.5 years 2.5 years represents the average balance over the period.The caveat here is that this assumes the 60,000 is currently sitting uninvested. If you were willing to invest in the stock market you could potentially receive higher returns than the 6.5, however for short-term needs its going to be very difficult to beat a guaranteed 6.5 return.If she needs the money sooner than 5 years or she needs more than 60,000, adjust the math as such. If she needs it in 4 years, for example, only use 48,000. 