If you have credit card debt at 15 percent, you are getting a guaranteed return of 15 percent by paying down this debt. I know of no other investment that delivers these types of guaranteed returns.

How Long Will This Phase Take? Who knows? My guess is 8 to 15 years, but it depends on so many factors. That is why I focus on debt instead of income. To me, life is a lot like the games Sorry, Monopoly, and Chutes and Ladders—a few steps forward and a few steps backward. The best we can do is control the things we can control. You can control your

Renting protects your liquidity. You don't have to tie up assets! Renting is a form of insurance. It protects you from a wide range of outcomes. It is much easier to get out of a lease than it is to get out of a house in a down market.

I consider these foundational facts for your financial journey, the boundaries to keep us on course: All debt is not equal: There are different types of debt. Your rate of return for paying down debt is exactly equal to your after-tax cost of debt. Sh*t happens—Value liquidity.

More often than not, math will show not only that consistent returns are better, but also that slightly lower consistent returns are better than slightly higher but much riskier returns.14

might be for retirement or for some unforeseen event 10 years from now. You need to put your money into different accounts based on your needs. If you need it in less than 5 years, put it all into savings. If you need it in more than 10 years, invest it. If you need it in 5 to 10 years, carefully weigh the risk of loss versus the potential gain.

The only way to be prepared for an unknown future is to have enough liquidity.

Aggressive investments should account for 0 to 30 percent of your total portfolio. A 4 percent position is ideal because if you hit a winner and it goes up by 100 percent, the portfolio goes up by 4 percent. If you pick a dud and it drops by 50 percent, the portfolio goes down by only 2 percent. If the choice is a complete disaster and goes to

The problem with small positions, such as a 1 percent position, is that if you're right and the asset goes up 100 percent the portfolio only goes up by 1 percent. There's no point in taking that risk for a 1 percent increase. At the same time, if you make an Aggressive investment worth more than 10 percent of your holdings, you could lose 10