Opinions needed about my school loan. I'm near debt free. Single mom/income. I have a small savings account. I have life insurance, a trust with my house in it for kiddo, and have a solid mortgage with equity. I have an older car (2005) that's still going strong but showing age. I send my kiddo to private school (non negotiable). From experience, I think its sooo important to have a robust savings. I don't have that yet. I also have an old $26k school loan. It feels like a nag. I also know from experience that underwriters are pretty forgiving about school loans being on your credit. It would be neat to pay the school loan off some day and get that monkey off my report. It has about zero effect on my finances. I barely pay on it now but enough to keep it in good standing or defer it because I resent it. It came from a defunct school and I dont use it. It's not eligible for forgiveness because it's not in violation bit should be. If I were to really make an impact, I'd personally feel like I would need to pay minimum of $500 a month. Besides it being a financial and moral obligation to pay it would you: 1. Pay minimums forever and pump up the savings account? 2. Pay it off for 60 months and treat it as if I had a car loan? And then essentially be debt free by the time kiddo is 10yrs old barring any surprises? I will need another car in those 5 years. 3. Is there a known option for a settlement if I paid, say $15k today? I get that the non paid would be taxable as income. It's a Government loan. 4. Other. please explain.