What’s the most important thing you can do to safeguard your retirement security? Contribute regularly to an employer-sponsored savings plan such as a 401(k). That’s the verdict of a July 2024 study from Morningstar’s Center for Retirement & Policy Studies that projected retirement outcomes based on factors such as longevity, health care costs and participation in a workplace plan. Researchers found that 57 percent of Gen X, millennial and Gen Z workers who don’t contribute to a plan risk...

Affiliate links for the products on this page are from partners that compensate us (see our advertiser disclosure with our list of partners for more details). However, our opinions are our own. See how we rate insurance products to write unbiased product reviews. Dependent life insurance offers a payment, known as a death benefit, if a covered spouse or child dies. Dependent life insurance covers funeral expenses and costs of losing a non-income-earning spouse. Dependent life insurance is...

5. Prioritize debt to pay off Many retirees primarily rely on a fixed income, and carrying debt means less of that income is available for meeting day-to-day expenses and living the retirement you want, says Jack Wallace, director of government and lender relations at Yrefy, a national lender focusing on student loan refinancing. Wallace recommends chipping away at debt by paying off high-interest loans first. For most consumers, that means credit card bills. One way to tackle big balances is...