I agree, but here is my situation. Most of the debt is my husband's, who is SEVERAL years older than me. I am happy to help him pay off the debt, but want to start putting some money back for when he is eventually gone. I agree that I should help pay down debt first so I'm not stuck with that in the event he passes, but I also worry about loss of his income. I don't know if that makes sense. Still seems like I should pay the debt down first.