Growing up, I didn’t really have anyone giving me financial advice, so here’s one thing I wish someone had told me much earlier:
Build **accessible wealth**, not just retirement wealth.
Get the full 401(k) match, then automatically invest at least 5% of gross income into a taxable brokerage account, preferably broad, low-cost index ETFs.
As your income grows, increase both.
Retirement accounts matter, HSA accounts matter, but so does having invested money you can access for a home, career change, business opportunity, or just flexibility.
I wish I had understood those as two separate buckets much earlier.