Very often, life doesn’t play out like we planned it. Your master plan may have been to be totally debt free, retire at age 62 and use some of your savings to travel the world. But let’s face it, life can throw us some curve balls and 2020 threw one at the entire world.

Maybe you’re 55 years old, still have a mortgage, a child in college and haven’t reached your retirement savings target. If the opportunity to take early retirement arises, you might not be sure if the timing is right. So what are your best steps forward?

Make a plan.

First of all, everyone needs a financial plan – a roadmap to get you to and through retirement. Benjamin Franklin said it best, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail!” If you don’t have a financial plan, you need to work with a trusted financial advisor to help develop one.

Get back on course.

Life events – such as death, divorce, illness and layoffs – can knock you off course. Now we can add a pandemic to that list. Your challenge is to determine what you’re going to do to get back up and retire on your terms.

Decide what’s right for you.

Everyone has their own unique needs. One size does NOT fit all, especially when it comes to your retirement. As life expectancies continue to rise, you need to calculate whether you’ll have enough savings to support yourself and your family completely throughout your retirement.

Making the judgment call as to whether or not to take early retirement is never easy and retirement is too big a deal to just “wing it.” Find a partner you can trust who’ll work as hard to manage your investments and future retirement funds as you did to earn them. The experienced advisors at Flagship Financial Group (FFG), located at American Airlines Federal Credit Union, can develop a custom financial plan specific to you and the needs of your family.

They can help you perform a retirement-needs assessment to determine how much money you’ll need in order to retire comfortably. As part of this calculation, your financial advisor will focus on:

• Calculating the cost of retirement

• Developing sources of retirement income

• Determining your retirement goals

• Implementing strategies for retirement investing

• Managing your retirement portfolio in light of market volatility

• Potentially safeguarding assets from the unexpected

If you don’t have a financial plan, FFG will help you get one. If you have a plan, but you don’t think it will support you completely through your retirement years, let them examine it with you.

To schedule a complimentary consultation with an FFG advisor, click here to find an advisor near you or call (877) TEAM FFG.

Your future is in your hands, but that doesn’t mean you have to go it alone.

Securities and advisory services are offered through LPL Financial (LPL), a registered investment advisor and broker-dealer (member FINRA/SIPC). Insurance products are offered through LPL or its licensed affiliates. American Airlines Federal Credit Union and Flagship Financial Group are not registered as a broker-dealer or investment advisor. Registered representatives of LPL offer products and services using Flagship Financial Group, and may also be employees of American Airlines Federal Credit Union. These products and services are being offered through LPL or its affiliates, which are separate entities from, and not affiliates of, American Airlines Federal Credit Union or Flagship Financial Group. Securities and insurance offered through LPL or its affiliates are:

Not Insured by NCUA or Any Other Government Agency | Not Credit Union Guaranteed | Not Credit Union Deposits or Obligations | May Lose Value