Paying off debt vs savings

[Banyan_FL]

Most of my debt is very low interest < 5% student loan dept, and a 0% penalty debt (from a house short sale) Is it Best to focus on savings or paying down first? It is not likely that a savings account will get near 5% interest, so I'm guessing focus fire those first, and pay minimum only on the 0% loan and save instead?

[gecko10x]

I think the answer will depend on a number of things: your income level, "free" cash flow, income stability, risk averse-ness, etc.

Based on what you've provided, I'll say this: if it's between putting the money in a bank account and paying down debt, pay down the debt (assuming you have some emergency funds already).

[Zaga]

Our debt is 5%, we're going the middle road.  We set a payment plan for the debt that will get it paid off in 5 more years, and the rest for retirement and large purchase savings.