Things I did to grow my net worth to $400k & payoff $169k of debt

Contrary to some advice out there debt payoff is part of building net worth. Your net worth might start out negative if you have a significant amount of debt to pay off but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be building your long term assets in the meantime because time in the market does matter. 1. If possible, continue contributing to your 401k the entire debt payoff journey You should at least be contributing up to your company match to get that free money. I contribute 12% which maxes out my account annually. I started at the match and went up 1% a year. You will not notice money than never hit the bank account. 2. It’s 2026, please for the love of everything open a high yield savings account! Money sitting in a checking account or regular savings is doing nothing. 🔗 on my page for recs so you can start earning that interest! 3. Speaking of savings, you need to automate it! You can do it directly through payroll or set up a transfer for a specific $ amount of % on payday to transfer $ into savings & sinking funds automatically. Don’t give yourself a chance to think about spending the money another way. 4. If you’re in debt & trying to build your net worth…you need to increase your income. Try everything to see what works. Start posting content, resell items you don’t use, try side hustles, get a part time job. You cannot cut or budget your way out of debt. 5. Educate yourself on the types of retirement accounts and open the ones that are fit for your lifestyle and goals (ex: Roth IRA, traditional IRA, HSA, FSA, brokerage account are a few to research to get you started) 6. Invest early and often. Don’t miss time in the market because you don’t think you have enough. $5, $10, $25 a month MATTERS because it grows. If you invest $5/month every month for 30 years in an index fund tracking the S&P 500, w/ an avg 10% return, it would grow to over $11k and you only put in $1800 bucks 🤯 (this is not financial advice) 7. Payoff your high interest debt as quick as you can. Follow whatever payoff method you can commit to (snowball, avalanche, both, micro payments) and get after it! I’ve got a couple of debt & budgeting tools 🔗 in my profile if you need a place to start! #networth #investing #debt #debtoayoff #PersonalFinance