Rebecca Lake Expertise: Banking, financial products and services, investing, budgeting, retirement, loans Title: Personal finance writer Education: University of South Carolina, Charleston Southern University Location: Shallotte, North Carolina Highlights Over a decade of experience researching and writing articles on retirement, investing, banking, loans, budgeting, and moreHas written hundreds of articles for online publications including Forbes, SoFi, Chime, CreditCards.com, U.S. News & World Report, Investopedia, SmartAsset, and moreHas worked with major banks, like Citi and Discover, to create personal finance content Experience Rebecca Lake has over a decade of experience as a money expert, researching and writing hundreds of articles on retirement, investing, budgeting, banking, loans, saving money, and more. She has been published in over 20 online finance publications, including SoFi, Forbes, Chime, CreditCards.com, Investopedia, SmartAsset, Nerdwallet, Credit Sesame, LendingTree, and more.Rebecca also assists with content strategy for a number of highly visible brands in the financial services industry, including Citibank, Discover Bank, and AIG Insurance. She also worked in the communications industry prior to pursuing a full-time career as a financial writer.The Balance Product Review Editorial Guidelines & Mission Education Rebecca has a bachelor's in political science and government from the University of South Carolina, Columbia. During her undergraduate years, she was a writer for the student newspaper, The Gamecock. Rebecca also has a master's in criminal justice and corrections from Charleston Southern University. About The Balance The Balance, a Dotdash Meredith brand, makes money easy to understand. We give people tools they need to not only make smart financial decisions but also prepare for the experiences they will have along the way. Our team of expert writers and editors have extensive qualifications in the topics they cover, and many of them have MBAs, PhDs, CFPs, and other advanced degrees and professional certifications. We require our writers to use primary sources in their articles, which are also approved by our Financial Review Board and fact-checked. You can learn more about the standards we follow in producing accurate, unbiased content in our editorial policy.