Many of you may be thinking more seriously about your retirement and your financial future, and how you can achieve financial freedom.
What is financial freedom?
Financial freedom means you get to make life decisions without being overly stressed about the financial fallout of those decisions.
That’s because you’re financially prepared for whatever life throws your way—you have no debt, you have money in the bank, and you’re investing for the future.
In other words, you control your finances instead of them controlling you. When you have financial freedom, you have options.
With retirement on the horizon, you may now be envisioning what that might actually look like for you, researching your options and getting serious about laying the groundwork for this next chapter of your life.
Here are 5 tips to help you achieve financial freedom:
1. Determine the timing for when you'll begin claiming your Social Security benefit and what impact that will have on it.
2. Revisit your Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) to confirm your asset allocation still supports your retirement goals and is aligned with your overall time horizon and risk tolerance.
3. Explore working longer or finding part-time work to help accumulate more savings, explore other interests, and stay active—both mentally and socially.
4. Check in on your emergency savings fund. If you want to avoid tapping your nest egg to pay for unexpected expenses in retirement or plan to live on a fixed income, make sure you have money earmarked for emergencies.
5. Meet with a financial professional to determine how much your retirement will cost, review your income sources, identify any gaps and develop a retirement income strategy.
Use these tips to identify actionable steps that can help you feel more financially stable and better prepared for retirement.
Different people interpret the term “financial freedom” in different ways. Some people interpret financial freedom as the freedom to buy what they want and when they want.
For many, it could mean not worrying about how they will pay their bills or sudden expenses. For some people, it could simply mean becoming debt-free, while for others it could mean being rich enough to retire.
Financial Freedom in Retirement
For more insights, be sure to listen to this podcast episode on “Striving for Financial Freedom in Retirement,” where I'll share how taking certain steps early can help you to retire with confidence.
If you’re ready to get serious about planning for your retirement from federal service, register to attend a workshop today!
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