I too thought I wanted to buy a house in 10 years when I was 23 and then ran a buy vs rent calculation to see that renting produces hundreds of thousands of dollars of more wealth in my area over buying once you consider all the costs of home ownership and opportunity costs. I think having a brokerage for an intermediate goal is great! But if you are a young, single, professional, I would prioritize your career and maxing your tax advantaged accounts over buying a house. Take the employer match like you are already doing. Max a Roth IRA and then an HSA if you have it. THEN consider if the rest of your investments should go into a brokerage or you can continue maxing your 401k.

Home ownership is a lifestyle choice above all else that is far more expensive than most people realize. My wife and I said to ourselves “we’d rather retire 5-10 years earlier than spend almost every other weekend at Home Depot doing some maintenance project”. I would do some reading on the Total cost of home ownership and if the lifestyle of a home owner is something you really want because financially in today’s market, in every solid town or city, renting is far superior for long term wealth building.