{"id":99542,"date":"2025-08-27T00:20:08","date_gmt":"2025-08-27T00:20:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/99542\/"},"modified":"2025-08-27T00:20:08","modified_gmt":"2025-08-27T00:20:08","slug":"3-signs-youre-financially-ahead-of-most","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/99542\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Signs You&#8217;re Financially Ahead of Most"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>                    <img src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/retirement-savings-concept-shutterstock_263144462.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full wp-post-image main-post-image\" alt=\"A jar of $100 dollar bills next to a jar of coins labeled \" retirement.=\"\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\" \/>                <\/p>\n<p>\n                    \u00a9Shutterstock.com                <\/p>\n<p>Commitment to Our Readers<\/p>\n<p class=\"Font--Poppins Font--Body-l\">GOBankingRates&#8217; editorial team is committed to bringing you unbiased reviews and information. We use data-driven methodologies to evaluate financial products and services &#8211; our reviews and ratings are not influenced by advertisers. You can read more about our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gobankingrates.com\/about\/editorial-guidelines\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">editorial guidelines<\/a> and our products and services <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gobankingrates.com\/about\/review-methodology\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">review methodology<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.gobankingrates.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/icon-20.svg?webp=1&amp;quality=75\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1994546\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"Font--Poppins Font--Body-l\">20 Years<br \/>Helping You Live Richer<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.gobankingrates.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/icon-experts-review.svg?webp=1&amp;quality=75\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1989830\"\/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.gobankingrates.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/icon__trusted.svg?webp=1&amp;quality=75\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1994547\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"Font--Poppins Font--Body-l\">Trusted by <br \/>Millions of Readers<\/p>\n<p>Being financially ahead of the average American isn\u2019t always obvious. Certain habits and choices can reveal you\u2019re in a stronger position with your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gobankingrates.com\/money\/financial-planning\/pillars-of-personal-finance\/\" data-is-dynamic-hyperlink=\"false\" data-link-type=\"first-link\" data-link-position=\"1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">finances<\/a> than most. <\/p>\n<p>In <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=BwPYoamkrQc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">a recent video<\/a>, money expert George Kamel highlighted the key signs that show you\u2019re on the right track and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gobankingrates.com\/money\/financial-planning\/why-consistency-is-key-to-financial-stability\/\" data-is-dynamic-hyperlink=\"false\" data-link-type=\"money-link\" data-link-position=\"2\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">building lasting stability<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Not Living Paycheck to Paycheck<\/p>\n<p>Kamel mentioned that 53% of Americans report that they are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gobankingrates.com\/money\/financial-planning\/how-to-stop-living-paycheck-to-paycheck-when-you-make-plenty-of-money\/\" data-is-dynamic-hyperlink=\"false\" data-link-position=\"3\" data-link-type=\"incontent_link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">living paycheck to paycheck<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Having money left over at the end of the month from a paycheck or having other sources of income means that there is extra money to put aside for retirement, an emergency fund, savings or other investments.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Some other ideas to avoid living paycheck to paycheck and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gobankingrates.com\/money\/side-gigs\/i-asked-chatgpt-best-side-gigs-2025-actually-work\/\" data-is-dynamic-hyperlink=\"false\" data-link-position=\"4\" data-link-type=\"incontent_link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">earn money on the side<\/a> are investing, starting a YouTube channel, cashing in on collectibles, or even doing minor repairs to household appliances or electronics as a part-time job.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Not Stressing About Money Every Day<\/p>\n<p>Out of people living in the U.S., 40% said that their finances cause them to lose sleep, and a third admitted that they are distracted at work due to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gobankingrates.com\/banking\/banks\/suffering-from-financial-stress-here-are-ways-bank-services-can-help\/\" data-is-dynamic-hyperlink=\"false\" data-link-position=\"5\" data-link-type=\"incontent_link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">financial stress<\/a>, according to Kamel.<\/p>\n<p>Controlling expenses and living within your means is a good way to be less financially stressed. Having three to six months\u2019 worth of expenses saved for an emergency fund helps to provide a financial cushion and worry less about finances.<\/p>\n<p>When a person is able to watch where the money is going, it helps them be able to stick to a budget. And sticking to a budget takes away the stress of worrying because the bills will get paid.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Actually Saving for Retirement<\/p>\n<p>Investing at least 15% of household income in some type of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gobankingrates.com\/retirement\/planning\/how-to-set-up-a-recession-proof-retirement-fund\/\" data-is-dynamic-hyperlink=\"false\" data-link-position=\"6\" data-link-type=\"incontent_link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">retirement fund<\/a> like a Roth IRA or a 401(k) is what Kamel recommended.<\/p>\n<p>According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lendingtree.com\/credit-cards\/study\/credit-card-debt-statistics\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">LendingTree<\/a>, in the first quarter of 2025, Americans had an average unpaid credit card balance of $7,321. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gobankingrates.com\/net-worth\/debt\/most-effective-ways-to-eliminate-high-interest-debt\/\" data-is-dynamic-hyperlink=\"false\" data-link-position=\"7\" data-link-type=\"incontent_link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Reducing high-interest debt<\/a>, which includes paying off credit cards and loans, will help free up available funds to put toward a retirement fund and is an indicator that one is in a better money position than most.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u00a9Shutterstock.com Commitment to Our Readers GOBankingRates&#8217; editorial team is committed to bringing you unbiased reviews and information. We&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":99543,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[45,49,48,133,2518,11915,134,131,132],"class_list":["post-99542","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-business","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-finance","tag-financial-planning","tag-gobankingrates","tag-money","tag-personal-finance","tag-personalfinance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99542","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99542"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99542\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}