?Like with anything worth having such as a good relationship or a home, building a strong foundation is very important. This also applies to personal finance, and these are the building blocks to financial independence. These building block "rooms" make up a strong and resilient "home," such that you can comfortably live life on your own terms.

?Here is a comprehensive list of the building blocks:

?Money Mindset & Organization Room: Having the right money mindset and being organized with the process

?Budgeting Room: Understanding all of the money coming in and going out; automating the process

?Emergency Fund Room: 3-6 months of safety net when emergencies arise (outside of things not covered by insurance)

?High-Interest Debt Pay-Off/Refinance Room: Eliminating all credit card and high interest debt; refinancing loans or mortgage to the best interest rate

?Insurances Room (Term-life, disability, home/car, umbrella insurances): your "defense" in protecting your wealth from any major catastrophic event

?401K/403B Room: Tax-advantaged retirement accounts

?HSA Room: Tax-advantaged health and retirement account

?RothIRA/Backdoor RothIRA Room: Tax-advantaged retirement account

?Vanguard/Wealthfront Room: Taxable accounts to continue growing your wealth

?Estate Planning Room: Protecting your assets for your spouse, kids, and family from the probate process, with a focus on proper generational wealth transfer

?529 Room: Tax-advantaged college savings plan

?Cash-Flow+ Real Estate Room/Startup or Angel Investing: This is an option once everything else is taken care of, as a means to even shorten the time to reach FI, but proper steps must be put in place to achieve this well with a lot of time and research

⌚??‍♂️These steps take a lot of time and effort, with each step having more sub-steps.  And everyone will have a different starting, middle and ending point, but that is the beauty of it - that no two experiences are the same in personal finance. That is why it's called "personal" finance.