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GOBankingRates’ editorial team is committed to bringing you unbiased reviews and information. We use data-driven methodologies to evaluate financial products and services – our reviews and ratings are not influenced by advertisers. You can read more about our editorial guidelines<\/a> and our products and services review methodology<\/a>.<\/p>\n 20 Years<\/strong> Trusted by<\/strong> 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 finances<\/a> than most. <\/p>\n In a recent video<\/a>, money expert George Kamel highlighted the key signs that show you\u2019re on the right track and building lasting stability<\/a>.<\/p>\n Not Living Paycheck to Paycheck<\/p>\n Kamel mentioned that 53% of Americans report that they are living paycheck to paycheck<\/a>.<\/p>\n 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 Some other ideas to avoid living paycheck to paycheck and 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 Not Stressing About Money Every Day<\/p>\n 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 financial stress<\/a>, according to Kamel.<\/p>\n 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 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 Actually Saving for Retirement<\/p>\n Investing at least 15% of household income in some type of retirement fund<\/a> like a Roth IRA or a 401(k) is what Kamel recommended.<\/p>\n According to LendingTree<\/a>, in the first quarter of 2025, Americans had an average unpaid credit card balance of $7,321. 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’ editorial team is committed to bringing you unbiased reviews and information. We…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":376689,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3093],"tags":[51,474,7123,20692,1232,2499,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-376688","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-finance","10":"tag-financial-planning","11":"tag-gobankingrates","12":"tag-money","13":"tag-personal-finance","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115098794456276860","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=376688"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376688\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/376689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=376688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=376688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=376688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.gobankingrates.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/icon-20.svg?webp=1&quality=75\"){kind=icon}
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