First of all, you’re the man. Thats awesome you’re already educating yourself and working hard. This would be my advice to you: -Keep working a job and saving/budgeting money. I say budget, not just save, because you should still budget for fun things in life at your age. Enjoy the fruits of your labor while still stacking some savings. -You asked about compounding assets - keep that mindset when it comes to investing. When you’re young it can be very tempting for you to take the bait of some higher risk or get-rich-quick opportunity. I made some dumb financial decisions hoping to win big - NFTs, individual stocks, even trends like dropshipping. Would have been much better off focusing on long term. Starting at your age compounding is huge. And a monthly contribution of some sort is a good habit to develop at your age.