We are an independent, advertising-supported comparison service. Our goal is to help you make smarter financial decisions by providing you with interactive tools and financial calculators, publishing original and objective content, by enabling you to conduct research and compare information for free - so that you can make financial decisions with confidence. Bankrate has partnerships with issuers including, but not limited to, American Express, Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, Citi and Discover.
How We Make Money.
The offers that appear on this site are from companies that compensate us. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site, including, for example, the order in which they may appear within the listing categories. But this compensation does not influence the information we publish, or the reviews that you see on this site. We do not include the universe of companies or financial offers that may be available to you.
At Bankrate we strive to help you make smarter financial decisions. While we adhere to strict , this post may contain references to products from our partners. Here’s an explanation for .
Editorial Integrity
Bankrate follows a strict editorial policy, so you can trust that we’re putting your interests first. Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions.
Key Principles
We value your trust. Our mission is to provide readers with accurate and unbiased information, and we have editorial standards in place to ensure that happens. Our editors and reporters thoroughly fact-check editorial content to ensure the information you’re reading is accurate. We maintain a firewall between our advertisers and our editorial team. Our editorial team does not receive direct compensation from our advertisers.
Editorial Independence
Bankrate’s editorial team writes on behalf of YOU – the reader. Our goal is to give you the best advice to help you make smart personal finance decisions. We follow strict guidelines to ensure that our editorial content is not influenced by advertisers. Our editorial team receives no direct compensation from advertisers, and our content is thoroughly fact-checked to ensure accuracy. So, whether you’re reading an article or a review, you can trust that you’re getting credible and dependable information.
How We Make Money
You have money questions. Bankrate has answers. Our experts have been helping you master your money for over four decades. We continually strive to provide consumers with the expert advice and tools needed to succeed throughout life’s financial journey.
Bankrate follows a strict editorial policy, so you can trust that our content is honest and accurate. Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions. The content created by our editorial staff is objective, factual, and not influenced by our advertisers.
We’re transparent about how we are able to bring quality content, competitive rates, and useful tools to you by explaining how we make money.
Bankrate.com is an independent, advertising-supported publisher and comparison service. We are compensated in exchange for placement of sponsored products and, services, or by you clicking on certain links posted on our site. Therefore, this compensation may impact how, where and in what order products appear within listing categories. Other factors, such as our own proprietary website rules and whether a product is offered in your area or at your self-selected credit score range can also impact how and where products appear on this site. While we strive to provide a wide range offers, Bankrate does not include information about every financial or credit product or service.
It’s the Fourth of July. How close are you to achieving financial freedom?
If you look around at the people you know who appear to be happy in retirement, chances are many of them aren’t wealthy but they are free from financial hardship, and they have reached a point in their lives where money doesn’t drive their decision making.
Take these seven steps to put yourself on the retirement planning path to financial independence.
Pay off your debt. Some 41 percent of workers 55 and older told the Sloan Center on Aging and Work at Boston College that they had as much in credit card debt as they did in retirement savings; 30 percent said they had more credit card debt than savings. That kind of ratio makes freedom hard to achieve.
Commit to saving. The more money you put aside, the less you have to worry about running low.
Manage your Social Security. The age at which you decide to take Social Security is a very individual decision. But keep in mind that if you decide to take it at 62, the earliest point for most — when 41 percent of men and 46 percent of women claim — you’ll lock in the lowest payment for life. If Social Security is going to be a major part of your retirement income, think hard before you lock yourself into a financial straitjacket.
Learn to love your budget. Making and following a budget may seem restrictive at first, but it helps free you from ugly surprises and financial train wrecks that leave you without enough money to cover the basics.
Invest time in your passions. Continuing to get better at doing what you like to do best is always a good investment, and it could prove to be your ace in the hole.
Listen to good advice. Retirement planning isn’t easy. If you don’t understand something or you don’t feel in control of your finances, get some expert advice — and listen to it.
Get ready for a marathon, not a sprint. We’re living longer. Do what you can to keep yourself in the best shape possible — physically and financially — to enjoy life to the very end.
Here’s hoping your Independence Day is great.
Now that we’ve achieved financial freedom, here are some retirement issues worth worrying about.
Share