Avoid debt wherever you can. The “debt is your friend” mantra that characterized much of the past fifty years is about to end. The new reality will be “debt destroys!” And, while I’m at it, avoid real estate. I am not talking about your ownership of your house, but the mentality that real estate is a good place for speculation. The coming debt crunch will devastate that notion and wipe out hundreds of thousands of excessively leveraged second and third homeowners, along with the banks that hold the mortgages.