‘Buy yourself a buffer’: Amplifi CEO Braiden Shaw’s 5-step plan for where your money should be invested

A cash cushion gives you options. It lets you leave a job you've outgrown or get through a rough month without carrying a card balance you can't pay off.

That's the case Amplifi LLC Chief Executive Officer Braiden Shaw makes for where your money should go first in 2026.

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"If you lose your job or want to switch your job, you don't want to be constrained because you have $10 in the bank account," he said in a TikTok video (1). "Buy yourself a buffer, put it in there, you'll thank me later."

His five-step order, from basic to advanced, is a high-yield savings account, a 401(k) up to the employer match, an individual retirement account (IRA), a taxable brokerage account and finally investing in yourself.

The cash buffer, and where it grows

Step one is your emergency fund. It's there, so one setback doesn't throw you off course.

Where you keep that money matters because it affects how much it earns. A high-yield savings account works like a traditional savings account, but it usually pays a much higher interest rate. It's also federally insured up to $250,000 and easy to access, making it a good place for cash you want to keep close but not spend.

That matters because the national average savings rate was just 0.38% as of June 15, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) (2), while some of the top high-yield accounts were paying as much as 5% as of July 2 (3). You're still keeping the same federally insured cash, but earning more while it sits there.

The match, and the account you control

Step two is a 401(k), but only up to your employer's match. A match is money your employer puts in alongside yours, usually as a set share of your pay, and it only happens when you contribute.

That makes the match feel like an instant return on your investment, which is why Shaw says it's too valuable to skip.

He stops there if there's no employer match.

"If your employer does not have a match, you are skipping your 401(k)," he said (1), calling it "generally speaking a poorer performing asset than an IRA" because an IRA gives you more control over what you invest in.

A few other points matter. A 401(k) is the account that holds your investments, so the same mutual fund or ETF performs the same whether it's inside a 401(k) or an IRA. The contribution limits are also different. In 2026, you can contribute up to $24,500 to a 401(k) and up to $7,500 to an IRA, according to the (4)Internal Revenue Service (IRS) (4). That means a 401(k) allows you to save more, even if an IRA offers greater investment flexibility. Many employers also offer a Roth 401(k), which uses the same tax treatment Shaw recommends in the next step.