This is an excellent comment, I want to second every single thing said here. To follow up this point: > - Once you've built up an 8 to 12 month nest egg of re

This is an excellent comment, I want to second every single thing said here. To follow up this point: > - Once you've built up an 8 to 12 month nest egg of reserve cash, start allocating the rest in a diversified portfolio. Pick securities from the trading company that don't have transaction costs (large discount brokers usually have in house mirrors of popular ETFs for this). Here are a couple of simple, low-cost all-in-one options that get you that diversified portfolio without you having to think about it. Pick one: https://investor.vanguard.com/mutual-funds/target-retirement/#/ https://investor.vanguard.com/mutual-funds/target-retirement... https://www.fidelity.com/mutual-funds/fidelity-fund-portfolios/freedom-funds https://www.fidelity.com/mutual-funds/fidelity-fund-portfoli... There are plenty of others, but those are two that I'd recommend in a heartbeat.