Pay Off Debt or Build a Cash Buffer First? David Angway Answers 5 Rapid-Fire Money Questions

David Isaiah Angway, RFP, CWA, CTEP, on Follow the Money with Robert Tan, Billionaire News Channel

At the end of every episode of Follow the Money, Robert Tan runs a rapid fire round. Quick questions, one-line answers, no room to hedge. I like this format because it forces the real answer out, the one you'd actually give a friend at the kitchen table instead of the long version with ten caveats. Here are the five questions Robert asked me, and the answers I stand by.

Should You Pay Off Debt First or Build a Cash Buffer?

Build your cash buffer first. If something goes wrong and you have no buffer, where does the money come from? You end up borrowing again, often at worse terms, and then you're the one getting harassed by collectors. A buffer breaks that cycle before it starts.

Should Your Emergency Fund Be All Cash or Partly Invested?

It depends on the size of the fund. My rule: once you already have at least one million pesos sitting in true emergency cash, then it makes sense to invest part of it. Below that threshold, keep it liquid. The whole point of an emergency fund is that it's there the moment you need it, not three business days later.

Are Credit Cards a Wealth-Building Tool or a Wealth-Destroying Trap?

A wealth-building tool, used correctly. I believe debt is leverage. Not all debt is bad, you just have to know how to use it. A credit card that funds a business expense you can pay off in full is a tool. A credit card that funds a lifestyle you can't afford is the trap. The card doesn't decide which one you get. You do.

Should You Get a Home Loan or Keep Renting?

I'll give a different take than the usual advice. Keep renting until you're married. Your future spouse might not love the place you bought solo, and now you're stuck with it or selling at the wrong time. Once you're married, buying starts to make real sense, especially for the conjugal property and for what you're building for the next generation.

What Is the Biggest Scam in Personal Finance?

Attending a seminar and never applying what you learned. People spend three thousand pesos on a whole-day seminar, go back to their nine-to-five the next morning, and a week later can't tell you a single thing they actually changed. That's not the seminar's fault. If you don't apply it, that's on you. The real damage happens when people keep buying course after course and end up more overwhelmed than when they started, instead of actually executing on what they already paid to learn.

The Pattern Behind All Five Answers

Notice what these five answers have in common. None of them are about finding a shortcut. They're about sequencing: buffer before debt payoff, cash before investing, discipline before leverage, commitment before real estate, application before the next course. That's the same principle behind every piece of financial advice I give, whether we're talking about a rapid fire round or a full estate plan. Get the order right, and the rest gets easier.

If the home loan question hit close to home, or you're already married and still haven't put a formal plan in place for what you're building together, that's exactly the kind of gap an estate planning session is built to close.

Book a one-on-one estate planning session with David Isaiah Angway, RFP, CWA, CTEP, to make sure what you and your family are building actually has a plan behind it.

Visit davidangway.com to schedule your consultation.

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