Make sure you are taken care of first financially, whether it is investments, savings, or having cash on hand for a rainy day before everything else. If you do not pay yourself first, then you are creating a system where you are making everyone else surrounding you a little wealthier, but at the end of the day you are out of money, and nothing left for you. This is a perfect formula for restricting your financial freedom because if you do not have your own finances in order first, it is hard to help everyone else around you in the long-term

I like to think of this as a snowball effect and a consolidation technique. Starting off small and compounding to a large payoff, and eliminating the small debt early on so you can focus on tackling the larger ones. By taking care of the smaller debts first, you are setting small, but achievable goals to pay off your debt without being overwhelmed with focusing on paying off the larger debts first, potentially hurting your morale. Working to consolidate as few debts as possible also helps to clear your mind and focus more.

Most people that have any investments most likely have just a 401k and nothing else. While it is a great resource to have, it puts you in a high-risk situation because you are at the mercy of the stock market. It is especially tragic to hear about a couple investing in their 401k for 40+ years and when the time comes to draw off of it, the market crashes. Diversifying in multiple investments, better protects you from experiencing this sudden loss. In addition to a 401k, having a real estates fund, such as Fundrise, or a cryptocurrency investment.

At the end of the day, cash is still the best form of payment whenever possible. Cash also helps you manage your money better because it is physically on hand and this is what you have to work with. If you can only buy what you can afford in hand, you are more likely to make smarter purchases. By relying on a credit or debit card, most people do not pay close attention to where their money is going and they are more likely to make impulse purchases because they do not have the physical money in hand. Money that is out of sight is out of mind and is usually more costly.