Student loan repayment vs. retirement savings?

Paying down student loans vs. saving for retirement: Here's how to prioritize

• Paying down student loans and saving for retirement are two competing goals that can take some individuals up to 30 years to accomplish.
• While your student loan balances may seem daunting, there are ways to evaluate where you will earn the best return for your money based on the terms of your debts and available investment opportunities.
• Keep in mind how your tax situation, ability to refinance your student loans and overall financial picture can determine your financial priorities.
• If your student loan balances are high and you have a long time until retirement, it can be difficult to decide which financial goal should be your priority. Should you sock all of your extra money toward getting those loan balances down?
  Or, should you instead focus on growing your money through your retirement savings?
  "In reality, most new graduates should probably be doing a little bit of both," said Christine Benz, director of personal finance at Morningstar.
  

  Evaluate your rates

  The first thing you want to look at when deciding where to focus your money is the interest rate you are paying on your student loans versus the return you would expect to earn on your investments.
  "Debt pay down is guaranteed," Benz said. "If you pay more on your debt, that means that you will be able to retire that interest rate that much sooner."
  If the interest on your student loans is 5 percent, it might be hard to match that return on an after-tax basis through your investments, she said.
  Quoted directly from source: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/27/paying-down-student-loans-vs-saving-for-retirement-heres-how-to-pri.html
  
  Keep in mind that you do NOT want to carry any credit card debt because the interest rates on cards far exceed government subsidized student loan rates (private loan rates are usually higher). So pay off those credit cards first!