<prompt> Human: I will have an educational debt of 150k upon graduating from school in 2 years. The interest is about 5.5 for these loans, and its being generated right now. Should I use my money right now to make payments on the loans, or use it to make contributions to a roth IRA? OR, should I go the route of taking out an additional 5,500 in loans per year so I can invest it all into a yearly roth IRA contribution?Also, when I begin making payments on my loans, should I pay the accrued interest, or pay the principle? I noticed these are the 2 options on the website.Thanks guys!  <response>: Pay off the loan! 5.5 return on an investment isnt bad so you definitely dont want to be paying that in interest. If you have a job with a 401k match program, definitely do the minimum required to get the maximum match. Thats free money. 