Hello, friends. This is Tyler Gardner, welcoming you to another episode of your money guide on the side,

where it is my job to simplify what seems complex, add nuance to what seems simple, and learn from

and alongside some of the brightest minds in money, finance, and investing. So let's get started

and get you one step closer to where you need to be. In this episode, we are going to tackle the universally applicable topic of debt.

Rich, poor, old, young, we will all face it.

Or we have already faced moments in which we are either in debt or are thinking about going into debt or struggling

daily trying to climb out of debt and wondering how the heck anybody manages to do so while

still being able to put food on the table. So let me start here as a lifelong reminder. If you are

experiencing debt or have experienced it in the past, you are not a bum and you're not somehow

less than someone sitting next to you who has not experienced debt or who has less debt.

More frequently than not, those of us who experience debt early in our lives experience it

because of the good old birth lottery. You know, that thing over which we had no control,

no choice, that random chaos that created me at birth to parents who were unchosen by me,

to a place that was unknown by me, and to a money situation and environment that certainly

had nothing to do with me or my vain attempts to sell lemonade at 10 years

old to the neighbors. Early debt, particularly, is often a product of our environment, just as early

privilege is often a part of our environment. But that does not give us an excuse to not learn more

about debt, to think critically about debt, and to do everything

we can to understand our own personal and optimal relationships with debt.

Because to spoil one punchline early, all debt is not created equal, and all those in debt

are not experiencing the same response to debt. I know people who have

zero assets and are wildly in debt. And I know multi-millionaires who take on immense amounts

...