I advise a different rank of priorities. If you can start a company now, do it, even if you have a ton of credit card debt or are way under water on a mortgage. This is exactly what bankruptcy is for. It does society no damn good to have you working for the next ten years to stay current on a mortgage for more than your house is worth. That mortgage represents misallocated capital - this is both your fault and the bank's fault. Dedicating the next ten years of your productive life to paying it off doesn't make that capital any less misallocated from the societal perspective. Much better to build something valuable for people in that time. This is what bankruptcy is for.
