This is outstanding advice. Interest you gain is taxed while interest you owe is not. There's also risk involved. Debt at 8% costs you far more than investments at 15%.

Debt first, a nicely funded Roth IRA, 401k, 6 months or so of living expenses in a money-market account then park the rest in a mix of stock market funds with a nice 10+ year track history. This is THE time to buy stocks and real-estate.

This guy does it right: http://www.daveramsey.com/etc/cms/baby_steps_2867.htmlc