Retirement is a goal most Americans share, but reaching it comfortably requires planning that starts long before you hand in your badge. Finance expert Suze Orman has spent decades distilling that planning into actionable guidance. Here are the six principles she returns to most often.
No. 1: Save Early and Consistently
Compound interest is the single most powerful tool available to retirement savers, and it only delivers results if you give it time. Every year you delay getting serious about saving is a year that compounding cannot work in your favor.
Consider a simple example: put $5,000 into a savings account earning 5% annually, and in year one you collect $250, leaving you with $5,250. In year two, that same 5% applies to the larger balance, netting $262.50. The growth accelerates from there. Leave the original $5,000 untouched for 30 years at that same rate, and the account grows to $21,609.71 without a single additional deposit. Starting early turns modest contributions into a significant nest egg over time.
Orman’s broader message is consistent: as she wrote in a 2025 post on her website, “The earlier you start, the better prepared you’ll be to enjoy the retirement you deserve.”
No. 2: Know Your Retirement Needs
Your spending in retirement depends entirely on how you plan to live. A globetrotting retirement looks very different on paper than one spent close to home. Whatever vision you have, projecting those costs realistically is the essential first step.
One widely used starting point is the 4% annual withdrawal rule: drawing no more than 4% of your portfolio each year gives you a high probability of not outliving your savings. That figure is a helpful baseline, though individual circumstances vary. Consulting a financial advisor before committing to any specific withdrawal strategy is strongly recommended, and Orman herself has suggested the 4% rule may be too aggressive in a high-inflation environment.
No. 3: Max Out Your Retirement Account Contributions
Tax-advantaged accounts are among the most efficient vehicles for building retirement wealth. A traditional IRA lets you invest on a tax-deferred basis, and contributions are often deductible from your taxable income. A Roth IRA works in reverse: contributions come from after-tax dollars, but growth and qualified withdrawals are tax-free. Your financial advisor can help you weigh which structure fits your situation best.
For the self-employed, the Solo 401(k) offers especially generous limits. In 2025, the combined employee-plus-employer contribution cap sits at $70,000 for those under 50. Savers aged 50 to 59 or 64 and older can add a $7,500 catch-up contribution, raising their ceiling to $77,500. Participants aged 60 to 63 qualify for a higher “super catch-up” of $11,250 under SECURE 2.0, bringing their 2025 total to $81,250. For 2026, the base cap rises to $72,000, with the standard catch-up increasing to $8,000 for those 50 and older. Participants aged 60 to 63 in 2026 still qualify for the $11,250 super catch-up, pushing their combined ceiling to $83,250. One additional wrinkle effective 2026: savers who earned more than $150,000 in prior-year FICA wages must make their catch-up contributions on a Roth basis rather than pre-tax. Orman’s core advice remains straightforward: maximize these accounts before directing money elsewhere.
Even if you have access to a workplace 401(k), Orman recommends the Roth option when available. As she has said publicly, contributing just enough to a traditional 401(k) to capture any employer match, then directing additional retirement savings into a Roth IRA, is a tax-smart combination worth considering.
No. 4: Diversify Your Portfolio
Spreading investments across multiple asset classes reduces the risk that any single holding can derail your retirement timeline. Orman recommends blending stocks, bonds, and other assets such as real estate to smooth out volatility over the long run. Stocks provide the growth needed to outpace inflation, while bonds offer stability when markets swing. The right allocation shifts as retirement draws closer, which is why Orman consistently urges savers to revisit their portfolio regularly and work with a financial advisor as the target date approaches.
No. 5: Pay Off High-Interest Debt
Carrying a credit card balance into retirement is a serious financial hazard. According to Federal Reserve data, the average credit card interest rate stood at approximately 21% in early 2026, and rates can run significantly higher for those with lower credit scores. Orman has long noted that paying that kind of interest while living on fixed income creates a heavy and unnecessary burden. The goal is to enter retirement debt-free, or as close to it as possible.
Three approaches can help. First, tackle the smallest balances first: eliminating them frees up cash flow that can then be redirected toward larger, higher-rate balances. Second, make minimum payments on all accounts while directing every available dollar toward the balance carrying the highest interest rate. Third, consider a debt consolidation loan to roll multiple balances into one, which simplifies repayment and may free up room to start building an emergency reserve.
On emergency savings, Orman is notably conservative. She recommends keeping eight months of living expenses in a dedicated savings account, separate from checking, to protect retirement investments from having to be tapped during an unexpected financial setback. Her more recent guidance adds a second layer for those already in retirement: keeping two to three years of living expenses not covered by Social Security in a separate cash position, specifically designed to prevent selling investments during a market downturn.
No. 6: Consider Delaying Social Security
For anyone born in 1960 or later, full retirement age (FRA) is 67. Claiming at exactly that age locks in the standard benefit. Waiting past FRA is where the meaningful upside lies. According to the Social Security Administration, benefits grow by approximately 8% for each full year you delay past FRA, up to age 70. For a retiree with an FRA of 67 who waits until 70, that translates to a 24% larger monthly check for life. Claiming as early as age 62, by contrast, permanently locks in just 70% of the earned benefit, a 30% reduction that can never be reversed and that compounds against you over a long retirement.
In a June 2026 blog post, Orman pushed back sharply on social media voices urging Americans to claim at 62, calling that advice a permanent pay cut for most people. Her position: the math favors waiting in nearly every scenario except a serious health condition or a genuine cash need. For married couples, the calculus is even clearer. The higher earner should wait as long as possible, ideally to age 70, because the surviving spouse inherits the larger of the two benefits. Maximizing the higher earner’s check is, in effect, buying the longest-living spouse a bigger inflation-adjusted income for life.
Orman has also acknowledged that working until 70 is not realistic for everyone. If leaving the workforce in your early or mid-60s makes sense, she recommends a “bridge strategy”: draw from IRA or 401(k) assets in those early retirement years to avoid tapping Social Security, preserving the larger future benefit. Part-time income during the bridge period can reduce how much you need to pull from savings. One firm rule: do not delay past 70. The 8% annual credit stops accruing at that point, so there is no financial reason to wait any longer.
Editor’s note: This version corrects the 2026 Solo 401(k) total contribution ceiling for savers aged 60 to 63, raising it to $83,250 (from the previously stated $81,250) to reflect the $72,000 base cap plus the $11,250 SECURE 2.0 super catch-up. It also notes the new 2026 Roth catch-up mandate for earners above $150,000 in prior-year FICA wages, updates the credit card average rate to approximately 21% per Federal Reserve data, adds Orman’s February 2026 recommendation that retirees keep a separate two-to-three-year cash buffer beyond the standard emergency fund, and incorporates her June 2026 blog post reaffirming the case against claiming Social Security at age 62.
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