Show Notes:

A great getting started guide from Reddit:

https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics

A graphical flowchart on how to get started:

https://i.imgur.com/lSoUQr2.png

My suggested approach:

1. Budget

2. Emergency fund - $1000 or 1 month of expenses (refer to your budget to get your real monthly expenses)

3. If your employer offers a 401(k) match, contribute only enough to get the full match

4. Pay off high interest rate debt (>10%)

5. Increase emergency fund to 3-6 months of expenses

6. Pay off moderate interest rate debt (4-6%+)

7. Hack your Health Savings Account (HSA) if you’re eligible

8. Save for upcoming large purchases (car, home, college, etc)

9. Evaluate your personal retirement account options (traditional vs roth, 401(k), 403(b), IRA, etc) and save AT LEAST 15% of your income (more if you’re over 30 and haven’t saved much)

10. Congratulations! Now you have some great options. Consider some of the following:

    1. Max out tax advantaged retirement accounts

    2. Pay off your mortgage

    3. Invest in real estate

    4. Invest in the stock market through taxable accounts (after tax advantaged accounts are maxed)