Debt: What to Kill First

Not all debt is the same problem. A mortgage at 5% and a credit card at 22% are not the same emergency, even if both show up as "debt" on paper.

• High-interest debt (credit cards, most personal loans, payday loans) — this is the stuff to attack first. The interest compounds against you the same way it compounds for you in an investment — same math, opposite direction
• "Good" debt (a mortgage, sometimes a low-interest student loan) — usually attached to something building value or earning potential, at a rate low enough that aggressively paying it off isn't always the best use of extra money compared to investing

The line isn't always clean, and "good debt" doesn't mean "ignore it forever" — it means it's not usually the fire to put out first.