For baby boomers looking to retire and leave the workforce on their own terms, it’s never too late to begin or adjust retirement plans. I’m living that reality, having adjusted my retirement plans in my 40s. A recent study by the Filene Research Institute, “Financial Capability Near Retirement: A Profile of Pre-Retirees”, analyzes data from the 2012 National Financial Capability Study to assess the financial state of boomers and pre-retirees (51-61 years old). The findings paint a pretty bleak picture for us boomers. For instance, a lot of us are:

• Planning to work longer. 65% of boomers plan to work past age 65 or not retire at all, in an effort to preserve their income and health benefits.
• Struggling with long-term debt. 60% of pre-retirees have at least one source of long-term debt.
• Using alternative financial services. One-fifth of pre-retirees have used services like payday loans or pawnshops within the past five years.
• Not saving enough. Nearly 30% do not have a retirement plan or account, and less than half of boomers have made provisions for rainy-day funds to help with unexpected expenses.

Although the insights aren’t the most promising, there are steps that we can take as individuals to head for a successful retirement: educate ourselves and look for opportunities to save money right now.

A great place to start with education is at a credit union, such as Afena. I’ve talked about my experience with my financial advisor, and it’s true that having a professional with an unbiased view take a look at your finances and your retirement goals is a valuable, but sometimes painful, experience. But it’s a lot more painful to make it to retirement and then realize that you don’t have enough saved to live the way you want to live. So my advice is to bite the bullet, take an honest look at your situation, and then decide how to get to your goals.

And while you’re at Afena, you should take a look at refinancing your high interest debt into a lower payment with a set payback period. Another startling statistic about boomers? We love our credit cards. But that high interest credit card debt will eat up your saving potential pretty fast, and that means less money to put towards retirement. Using payday lenders to finance your life right now is a pretty vicious cycle, because of their extraordinarily high interest rates that make it very difficult to “even up”. There’s no harm in asking your credit union if they can help you weather a rough spot, and it could possibly save you hundreds of dollars in interest. That little bit of time is worth it.

With so much going on in our country on a political and economic level, it’s easy to get sidetracked from steering our own financial ship. But when it comes to retirement, getting to that destination is totally up to us. Are you heading in the right direction? Now is the best time to find out. Remember, it’s not too late to start planning your retirement.