Yeah, elance.com would be tough. You're competing against people in other countries who will work for almost nothing. The best opportunities would be likely to come through people you know.

My opinion on 401K's is that if your employer does matching, contribute enough to get the full match. That's instant profit. Always contributing something is also a good habit to have.

One thing's for sure, you'll probably never have more time, lower overhead, or more drive to start a business than now. I don't understand the whole hard-driving 40-something starting entrepreneur stereotype. If you have a family then, there aren't enough hours in the day to be great at both.

For business, all I can suggest is find something that's already making people money, that's not dominated by big players and do it. Doing what you agreed to do and just generally showing up will put you ahead of many of your otherwise peers.

I'd worry less about the student loan thing - if you own a successful, yet still completely non-famous business you can bank that number in a month or even a week. Not all businesses succeed of course, but I always say "be dumb enough to try and smart enough to make it happen."

I anguished over my negative net worth in my twenties. Don't read the Yahoo or other finance page articles, they'll make you feel like crap. Net Worth != Self Worth. If you eliminate risk too early in life you'll never get a chance to take advantage of opportunities that will inevitably present themselves. Give it time.

Thanks for listening. You'll do well for yourself.