How to Achieve Financial Independence | TD Bank

Financial independence includes enjoying some of your hard-earned money today while designating a portion of your earnings for your future happiness. Once you' ... CloseMenu TD:Personal PersonalSelected SmallBusiness Commercial Investing&Wealth AboutUs Home Checking Savings CDs CreditCards HomeEquityLoans&Lines Mortgage PersonalLoans IRAs DebitCards GiftCards SpecialOffers Services OnlineBanking MobileBanking StudentBanking CrossBorder TravelTips ForeignExchangeServices OverdraftServices NewtoTDChecking Learning FindUs Help Country:US Canada USSelected LogIn Close Logintoyourotheraccounts BankingandInvesting OnlineBanking EasyWeb TDWealth TDPrivateClientWealth TDInvestmentServices(US) Cards CreditCard GiftCard TDGoCard TDConnectCard TDCommercialPlusCard Other TDeTreasury TDFX TDBankTrade AssetBasedLending TDDigitalExpress MyDocuments EnEspañol Achievefinancialindependence Financialindependencemeansdifferentthingstodifferentpeople.Somebelieveit'smakingendsmeetwithoutassistancefromothers.Somebelieveit'smeetingtoday'sfinancialobligationswhilesavingenoughtocomfortablyretire.Stillothersbelievebotharenecessarytoachievetruefinancialindependence.Whicheverbeliefholdstrueforyou,therearehabitsyoucanadoptnowtohelpyouachievefinancialindependence.Breakthepaycheck-to-paycheckcycle Reviewwhatyou'respendingmoneyoneachmonth(e.g.,diningout,movies,eventhatdailycupofcoffeecanaddup.).Askyourself,"WherecanIcutback?"Reducingexpenseshelpsfreeupcashtopayoffdebts,saveandinvest.Ifreducingexpensesisn'tenoughtobreakthecycle,considerfindinganadditionalsourceofincome–evenforashorttime.Apart-timejob,forexample,canhelpgetyourfinancesbackontrackandmayevenhelpyougetahead.Leaveyouregginthenest Financialindependenceincludesenjoyingsomeofyourhard-earnedmoneytodaywhiledesignatingaportionofyourearningsforyourfuturehappiness.Onceyou'vecreatedanestegg,resistalltemptationtoborrowfromit.Youdon'twanttopostponeorpreventfutureplanssuchasbuyingahomeorretirement.Makeyourmoneyworkforyou Ifyou'vebrokenthepaycheck-to-paycheckcycleandyou'vebuiltasmallnestegg,consideraddinginvestmentstoyourfinancialplan.Investmentsincludethepurchaseofsomethingyoubelievewillincreaseinvalue,orproduceapositivereturn,overtime.Examplesinclude,butarenotlimitedto,stocks,bonds,CertificatesofDeposit(CDs)andmutualfunds.Investmentsmayhelpyourmoneygrowmorethanregularsavingsaccounts,butthereisnoguarantee.Diversification(i.e.,spreadingyourmoneyovermanytypesofinvestments)canhelpincreasethelikelihoodofpositivereturnsandminimizetheimpactofbothpoorperformanceandinflation.FindoutmoreaboutinflationInshort,thesehabitscanhelpyouspendwiselyandsavewithapurpose.Makefinancialindependenceanongoingpriority–you'reworthit. Getoutofdebt Ifyou'restrugglingwithdebt,followingthestepsbelowcanhelpyougetbackontheroadtofinancialindependence. Createabudget Calculateyourtotaldebtanddetermineyourmonthlyincomeandexpenses.Createabudgetthateliminatesunnecessaryspending,meetsexpensesandpaysdowndebt Developadebtreductionplan Carefullyanalyzeyourspendinghabitsandsetrealisticpaymentamountsandtimeframesforpayingoffyourdebt.(Adeadlineoftenhelpsyoustayontrack) Reviewandadjustplansperiodically Whenincomeand/orexpenseschange,adjustyourbudgetanddebtreductionplansaccordingly.Usesalaryincreases,bonusesandtaxrefundstohelppaydowndebtfaster Rewardyourself Celebrateyourprogresstowardfinancialindependencewithoccasionalsmallrewards(e.g.,goingouttodinner,upgradinganelectronicdevice).Incentiveshelpyoustayontrack Additionalresources TDBankInvesting TDoffersintegrated,comprehensiveandcustomizedfinancialsolutions Getdetails CDs101 Learnhowtoearnmoreonyoursavingstoday Readthearticle TDbudgetworksheet Trackyourexpensesandcreateabudgettohelpyoureachyourfinancialgoals Downloadnow ImportantDisclosures ThisarticleisbasedoninformationavailableinJanuary2018.Itisforgeneralinformationalpurposesonly.Itisnotintendedtoprovidespecificfinancial,investment,tax,legal,accounting,orotheradviceandshouldnotbeactedorrelieduponwithouttheadviceofaprofessionaladvisor.Aprofessionaladvisorwillrecommendactionbasedonyourpersonalcircumstancesandthemostrecentinformationavailable.ThisarticleisbasedoninformationavailableinJanuary2018.Itisforgeneralinformationalpurposesonly.Itisnotintendedtoprovidespecificfinancial,investment,tax,legal,accounting,orotheradviceandshouldnotbeactedorrelieduponwithouttheadviceofaprofessionaladvisor.Aprofessionaladvisorwillrecommendactionbasedonyourpersonalcircumstancesandthemostrecentinformationavailable. Sharethisarticle Twitter Twitter Facebook Facebook backtotop Top SiteIndex MyTD Learning LearningOverview Finance101 Security TaxResourceCenter Products SpecialOffers Checking Savings/MM/CD IRAs CreditCards PrePaidCards HomeLending PersonalLoans Services OnlineBanking StudentServices CrossBorder TravelTips OverdraftServices