I built up the emergency fund for my own comfort
paying off the debt is one of my goals
$55K income
$4,400 emergency fund
~$60K in 401K
Student Loans - This is my only debt
$3,579.42 @5.8%
$6,827.88 @ 3.4%
$10,738.13 @ 5.8%
1) balance security/feelings against goals and best practices. imagine what would happen if you use your emergency fund to pay off debts, but needed the fund for something unexpected?
2) math - are you in the 25% marginal tax bracket? are all your 401K contributions decreasing your tax load? if so, keep getting this! 25% > 5.8%
3) payments and comfort. if you're already $1k+ in surplus per month, you don't need to wipe out those student loan payments right this instant.
What I would do:
Continue to contribute as much as you can towards the 401K (as long as there are tax advantages).
Focus on the smallest 5.8% loan first, as getting rid of that and removing that minimum payment will feel good and help you build momentum.
Hold onto the emergency fund unless you will sleep fine without it.
When I was in your position:
I liked having an emergency fund, but sometimes I just
needed to get some debt paid off to feel better, so I'd take a big chunk out of the fund and pay off some debt. Then I'd resume rebuilding the fund to my target. As others have said, maybe $1000 is enough (for now) so consider taking some out of there and getting the debt paid down.
Question: You mentioned weddings? Do you have a separate savings account, or were you planning on tapping the emergency fund? Consider separating these, mentally. An emergency fund should really be just that, for emergencies. If you need to build up savings for events, do that separately.