Yes. Paying off debts is always in your best interests.

Not necessarily. Unless the debt is substantial, it's far better to pay off the debt with money outside of a retirement account. Otherwise you are sacrificing your retirement and years of compound interest that can't be replaced. Your retirement accounts aren't a piggybank--if you aren't of retirement age, they should only be tapped in the case of an emergency, and just having a debt isn't an emergency.

No.

NO.

Debt retirement refers to the paying off of a debt in order to avoid future interest payments, this can only be done if the current funds available are able to clear the outstanding balance of the debt.

Debt forgiveness on the other hand can be considered to be an amnesty by lending institution for countries who are heavily indebted, this is usually done to help alleviate the debt burden faced by such countries.

Therefore the difference between debt retirement and debt forgiveness is that one is paid off by the country who is able to pay off the debt and the other is an amnesty given to remove the debt for countries who cannot afford to pay it off.

No. All SS, VA, RRB and private pensions are exempt from garnishment for creditor debt in all states.