Ross has a new job at a museum where he will work as a paleontologist. His salary will be $41,000 and he has a retirement plan (403(b)) provided by his employer that will provide a 5% match.

He wants to know what he should do about saving for retirement. In addition, he has more than $20,000 in student debt. He wants to know if he should even bother saving for retirement until his student loans are paid off.

Would you recommend that he start saving for retirement now while paying down his student loans or focus on paying off his student loans before he starts saving for retirement? Why?