Debt is an interesting animal. Most of us get into debt because we WANT something we cannot afford. We want a private school education so we borrow $50,000 to learn something we can learn for free on the internet. We want to live a fabulous lifestyle in our 20s so we put everything from fine dining to designer clothes on our credit cards. We want to stop paying rent, so we leverage up 4:1 to own a property that will crush our finances if we need to sell in a down market.
Make no mistake about it. Debt is a manifestation of greed. Which means I’m one greedy bastard! I wanted to live a nicer lifestyle and I wanted to get rich as young as I possibly could. In my 20s and early 30s, the biggest risk I feared was not taking enough risk.
Some of you might be thinking you aren’t greedy for having debt. But deep down, you know what I’m saying is true. Not only are you greedy, you’re impetuous to boot. But don’t be ashamed. If managed properly, greed can often be good when it comes to reaching financial independence sooner.
In this post, I share with you my debt history followed by a debt optimization framework to help you build wealth faster while minimizing the chances of a financial blowup.