<prompt> Human: Sorry if the question is too vague, but I dont really know much about his student loan debt situation, like his interest .I was hoping to just get some general advice on how much I can help him, compared to how much I should save for myself, and how to go about it.Edit: When I say I want to give him money, I only want to give him money to pay off his student loans.Assistant: If you give him money do you expect to ever get it back? If so, dont! After that I guess if you had to you give him 500 a month and not kill yourself. But that is 500 less each month you have in retirement.Human: No, I dont want money back. I just want my brother to be debt-free.  <response>: Take care of yourself first, and then find a number that youre comfortable giving to him.You need to make sure that you cover your expenses, that you have an emergency fund, and that you are saving enough for retirement. Once thats done, you can look at whether you can afford to give him extra for his student loans. I can imagine a scenario where you continue to give him money for his student loans, and he continues to spend his extra money on toys, eating out, etc. I can also imagine that this scenario may cause some irritation to you, no matter how much you want to help him. Giving money to family and friends is always tough, no matter whether you expect repayment or not. 