On July 4, we shoot fireworks, attend picnics, watch parades and otherwise celebrate our nation’s independence and the many freedoms we enjoy. But as you go through life, you’ll find out how important it is to work towards another type of freedom — financial freedom. That’s why you need to put strategies in place to help you work towards your own Financial Independence Day.

You can do a great deal to work towards financial freedom during your retirement years. Here are some suggestions that can help:

4 Save and invest more. Obviously, the younger you are, the greater the benefit you’ll get by increasing your savings and investments. But whatever your age, you’ll find that it pays to save and invest more. During difficult economic times, of course, it’s not always easy to boost your savings and investments, but try to find ways that are as “automatic” as possible.

4 Rebalance your portfolio. It’s always a good idea to periodically rebalance your investments to make sure they are still aligned with your goals and risk tolerance. But it’s especially important to rebalance as you get older and you near retirement. At this stage, you’ll want to decrease the volatility in your portfolio and lock in what gains you’ve achieved, so you may want to move some (but certainly not all) of your more aggressive investments into less volatile ones.

4 Cut down on debts. It’s easier said than done, but anything you can do to reduce your debt load will free up money to invest for your retirement. Work diligently to pay off whatever debts you can and examine your lifestyle to find areas in which you can reduce spending.

4Consider working part-time during retirement. Many Americans are now living longer and enjoying happy, healthy retirements. In fact, the concept of “retirement” has changed so that it now includes any number of activities — including part-time work in a completely different area from one’s previous career.

The 4th of July comes and goes quickly. So put strategies in place now to help you work towards your own Financial Independence Day.

Tommy McDonald is a financial advisor at Edward Jones Investments in Natchez.