 Most of us can't save our way to financial independence. We have to invest. Savings is the money you put in the bank. In your savings account, your checking account, money market, CDs, a bank. And almost uniformly, the interest rates you're getting on bank savings products are pretty much comparable or less than the going rate of inflation. If you want to outpace the rate of inflation, then you have to invest for the long term. And for most of us, that means common stocks.