Retirement Planning Books - Page 3

Parlay Your IRA into a Family Fortune: 3 EASY STEPS for creating a lifetime supply of tax-deferred, even tax-free, wealth for you and your family

Ed Slott

Amazon Price: $10.88 List Price: $16.00 Not yet published By: Penguin (Non-Classics)

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Good IRA Reference, but Stretch IRA Wildly Overhyped 3 out of 5 stars.
14 of 17 people found this review helpful.

This is both a very good and very bad book. Slott is a CPA and his bio indicates that he specializes in IRA law and estate planning. The retirement column in the Wall St. Journal uses him as an IRA expert. If you've seen Slott on PBS, you know he is also a pitchman and showman. This book is a mixture of expert IRA info and advice and wild overselling.

On the plus side:
This book is full of IRA information and good IRA advice presented in a very readable manner. I made dozens of notes in the front cover while reading this book. An excellent IRA reference. And I think the book does a service by pointing out that the IRA code has (sort of) a loophole that allows the 'effective' taxes paid on the IRA to be greatly reduced if the IRA is passed on to younger family members who should (Slott recommends) only take out the minimum annually over their lifetimes. Slott calls this the 'stretch' IRA.

On the negative side:
Your IRA can grow into a FAMILY FORTUNE, he screams, with pages of tables showing a 100 thousand IRA growing to millions (in one case to nearly 300 million if left to grow into well into the 21 century!). Nonsense, what about the time value of money? Slott never heard of it (or pretends he never heard of it). The reality, of course, is that if your income tax rate is, say, 33% then when you withdraw IRA funds you lose 1/3rd of it to taxes. The best that even a perfect tax strategy can do is recover this 1/3rd. Nice, but hardly a fortune.

Slott provides a useful check list of features an IRA contract should have. You would think that maybe he would read the IRA contracts of top IRA providers (like Fidelity, Vanguard) and tell us how they stack up? Nope, that's our job, not his.

Convert to a Roth IRA and your money will grow TAX FREE he screams. Slott's very positive on Roth IRA's, too positive. I worked through a Roth conversion example and find that the extra shielding that a Roth IRA allows can boost your after-tax returns a little. (Calculation details are in 'Roth Primer' section of the 'Charity' essay on my home page.) I calculate in a 6% market environment that Roth IRA will yield 6% vs an after tax yield for a traditional IRA of approx 5.4%, or an extra 0.6%/yr investment gain. However, there can be a serious downside to doing a Roth conversion that Slott doesn't mention. A large Roth conversion will likely be taxed at a much higher incremental income tax rate than normal minimum withdrawals, and since Roth has only a tiny yield advantage over a traditional IRA it could easily take a decade or more just to get even.

Editorial Review:

“America ’s IRA expert”(Mutual Funds magazine) Ed Slott shows readers how to make the most out of their retirement plans.

• Achieve unlimited tax-free income after retirement and keep assets in the family
• Protect retirement funds from creditors, divorce, bankruptcy, lawsuits, or other problems that could expose it to loss
• Use a Roth IRA to build a tax-free fortune Slott’s three-step strategy cuts through the tax laws and provides simple, easy-to-follow instructions for managing IRAs and other retirement income.

Kiplinger's Estate Planning: The Complete Guide to Wills, Trusts, and Maximizing Your Legacy

John Ventura

Amazon Price: $14.93 List Price: $21.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Kaplan Publishing Amazon Marketplace: 35 new & used starting at $13.29

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

A complete and comprehensive guide to estate management 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

What happens to all of one's belongings if one is randomly and tragically killed in a bus accident? Kiplinger's Estate Planning: The Complete Guide to Wills, Trusts, and Maximizing Your Legacy is a complete and comprehensive guide to estate management, whether one carries an estate worth millions or worth less than thousand. It's a guide for anyone about how to make sure one's will is carried out when one makes a purchase of metaphorical agricultural land. Kiplinger's Estate Planning is a must for anyone worried about their friends and family and wants to leave them something when the time comes, and is also highly recommended for community library finance collections.

Editorial Review:

If I don't have an estate plan, what will happen when I die? Can I plan my own estate, or should I work with an estate attorney? How can I make sure that my estate isn't whittled away by state and federal taxes?

In Kiplinger's Estate Planning, financial expert and attorney John Ventura offers straightforward guidance on all of the tools of estate planning, from wills, trusts, and custodial accounts to insurance, employee befits, and durable power of attorney for finance and health care.

In this easy-to-read guide, learn:

What you can and can't do with a will

How a living trust works

Your options for transferring assets to your spouse or partner

How to give your assets away while you are alive

How to use a durable power of attorney for health care -- and what will happen if you become incapacitated without one

Controlling your death with a living will

How to leave a personal legacy

How to complete the process on your own or work with an estate attorney

The Coming Generational Storm: What You Need to Know about America's Economic Future

Laurence J. Kotlikoff, Scott Burns

Amazon Price: $12.89 List Price: $18.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: The MIT Press Amazon Marketplace: 89 new & used starting at $2.99

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 44 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

One of Library Journal's Best Business Books of 2004, A Forbes.com Top Ten Business Book for 2004, One of Barron’s 25 Best Books of 2004, Winner in the category of Economics in the 2004 Professional/Scholarly Publishing Annual Awards Competition presented by the Association of American Publishers, Inc. and CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title for 2004

This paperback edition of The Coming Generational Storm has been revised and updated and includes a new foreword by the authors.

In 2030, as 77 million baby boomers hobble into old age, walkers will outnumber strollers; there will be twice as many retirees as there are today but only 18 percent more workers. How will Social Security and Medicare function with fewer working taxpayers to support these programs? According to Laurence Kotlikoff and Scott Burns, if our government continues on the course it has set, we'll see skyrocketing tax rates, drastically lower retirement and health benefits, high inflation, a rapidly depreciating dollar, unemployment, and political instability. The government has lost its compass, say Kotlikoff and Burns, and the Bush administration's spending and tax policies have charted a course straight into the coming generational storm.

Kotlikoff and Burns take us on a guided tour of our generational imbalance: There's the "fiscal child abuse" that will double the taxes paid by the next generation. There's also the "deficit delusion" of the under-reported national debt. And none of this, they say, will be solved by any of the popularly touted remedies: cutting taxes, technological progress, immigration, foreign investment, or the elimination of wasteful government spending. Kotlikoff and Burns propose bold new policies, including meaningful reforms of Social Security and Medicare, that are simple, straightforward, and geared to attract support from both political parties.

You've Earned It, Don't Lose It : Mistakes You Can't Afford to Make When You Retire

Suze Orman, Linda Mead

Amazon Price: $10.20 List Price: $15.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Newmarket Press Amazon Marketplace: 189 new & used starting at $0.01

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 27 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Super Interesting 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This book has sparked discussion and debate amongst my family, and clarification from my lawyer, and my desire to seek out more legal opinions and facts while I'm still young.

Highly recommended for anyone who owns property, and especially for those who are nonchalant about facing the responsibilities of their estates and assets.

Too dated 2 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Too dated to be useful in CT, but it did spur me to visit my attorney to get briefed on changes in estate planning.

you've earned it, don't lose it 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I am satisfied with the quality of the product and the quick delivery.

Don;t Lose It 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Good book for young people to plan the future and what information to compile to leave loved ones.

Editorial Review:

Covering such topics as investment advice, trusts vs. wills, joint tenancy and gifting, durable power of attorney for health care, long-term care insurance, and early retirement--all which need to be understood for a successful retirement--Suze Orman puts together financial advice in the friendliest, most caring, and dramatic way ever, using the stories of real people to demonstrate her points.

The Number: What Do You Need for the Rest of Your Life and What Will It Cost?

Lee Eisenberg

Amazon Price: $10.20 List Price: $15.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Free Press Amazon Marketplace: 103 new & used starting at $0.01

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 109 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

A Light-Hearted, Interesting Book 4 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Do not expect a typical "how to retire" book. The book is about a different way to look at your life. I really enjoyed the author's writing style and was surprised that there was a twist, which I have never seen in a non-fiction book. I usually get bored with books so I was surprised I had such an interest in this book. It was a fun read.

Every worker should read this book 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This is a great book for anyone 20+, who is working and thinking they have it made. As a recent early retiree baby boomer, everything in this book rang true. It's not about the "number", it's about how you spend it and how you need to be prudent in your working years.

In addition, the book reads like a novel. I couldn't put it down. Eisenberg's writing is phenomenal. B. Slomka

Editorial Review:

Do you know what your "number" is? It's the amount you need for your nest egg. Have you saved enough? Can you save enough? The Number offers an intriguing and entertaining tour -- of wealth gurus, life coaches, and financial advisers, and our hopes and fears for the future -- to explore the secrets of the Number. The result is a provocative field guide to your psyche and finances, and an urgently useful book for anyone over thirty.

The Number will help you think about the kind of life you want, and the kind of help you need to achieve it.

Retirement Places Rated: What You Need to Know to Plan the Retirement You Deserve (Places Rated series)

David Savageau

Amazon Price: $16.49 List Price: $24.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Frommers Amazon Marketplace: 44 new & used starting at $7.52

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 24 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

The bestselling guide to the best places to retire in the United States.

Completely revised and updated, Retirement Places Rated is an indispensable reference for the estimated 40 million Americans who will be 65 or older by 2010. Dividing the United States into 18 regions and 200 cities, towns, and   counties, retirement quality-of-life expert David Savageau draws a detailed statistical portrait of each locale, ranking each for cost of living, climate, crime, services, employment opportunities, and leisure and recreational amenities. A rundown of the top 30 overall retirement places along with assessment tools, easy-to-read graphs and charts, interpretive commentaries by the author, and extensive appendices help retirees evaluate their relocation choices and make the right move.

For the seventh edition, new features include:

• 22 new places
• A new chapter on housing, with   data on shelter choices (homes, condos, apartments, and mobile homes), plus home prices and property taxes
• An expanded   ambience chapter, and   new data on age, education, politics, and diversity
• An expanded services chapter, with new data on air travel, physician specialties, and hospital services
• Easy-to-use relocation resources, including Web sites, addresses, books, and other information
• David Savageau Washington DC has traveled throughout the country since 1982, visiting locations that attract older adults. He wrote the "Quality of Life" column for Expansion Management magazine, and has been a featured speaker at the U.S. Department of State’s quarterly seminars on retirement.

Grown-up's Guide to Running Away From Home: Making a New Life Abroad

Rosanne Knorr

Amazon Price: $10.17 List Price: $14.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Ten Speed Press Amazon Marketplace: 36 new & used starting at $8.99

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

You name it, she thought of it. 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

When I first happened upon this book I was immediately attracted to the title. As a person who had left the comforts of an active career 4 years earlier to see what I could build in Europe, I thought this book might be amusing and thought it might enlighten me about situations I had yet to encounter.

It turned out to be a great deal more than that and I wish I had read it before I'd made the leap. It would have saved me a lot of hand wringing on various subjects and helped me think through a number of topics in advance.

The book addresses those who want a few months' getaway in a different environment as well as those who want to pull up stakes completely for a more `long term' change of scenery. Although written to some degree from an American perspective, the issues and questions raised apply no matter what your departure point.

Knorr raises subjects ranging from how to choose your destination, the family planning that's required, health care and medical coverage, insurance, passports, visas, bureaucracy, safety, financial considerations when operating away from home, what to take and what to leave behind, how to deal with the property you own, settling in, networking in your new environment as well as how to find a home, car, doctor, you name it, she thought of it.

Knorr gives you the facts but also addresses the emotional upheaval that can accompany such a move and helps you think through the permutations that always accompany a big decision! She writes with the wisdom of somehow who has passed this way and wants to save the reader some of the headaches she encountered while navigating the waters of setting up home in a new location. Her style is engaging, straight forward and very well informed .

If this book inspires you to take the leap, all the better, but even if I doesn't, it's a great read and will acquaint you with the adventure and challenges that await those who do. It is an easy read and jam packed with good information on virtually every aspect of making this kind of decision. If she missed anything, I'm not sure what it is.

Editorial Review:

For empty-nesters, early retirees, and even established executives, midlife is the ideal time to turn travel fantasies into real and rewarding experiences. This second edition of THE GROWN-UP'S GUIDE covers estimating cost-of-living expenses, the dos and don'ts of international health care, the boom in online travel resources, and much more. Whether planning a monthlong escape or a whole new life in another country, this empowering guide will encourage mature would-be expats to pursue the overseas adventure they've been craving.

Pioneering Portfolio Management: An Unconventional Approach to Institutional Investment, Fully Revised and Updated

David F. Swensen

Amazon Price: $23.10 List Price: $35.00 Not yet published By: Free Press

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Editorial Review:

In the years since the now-classic Pioneering Portfolio Management was first published, the global investment landscape has changed dramatically -- but the results of David Swensen's investment strategy for the Yale University endowment have remained as impressive as ever. Year after year, Yale's portfolio has trumped the marketplace by a wide margin, and, with over $20 billion added to the endowment under his twenty-three-year tenure, Swensen has contributed more to Yale's finances than anyone ever has to any university in the country. What may have seemed like one among many success stories in the era before the Internet bubble burst emerges now as a completely unprecedented institutional investment achievement.

In this fully revised and updated edition, Swensen, author of the bestselling personal finance guide Unconventional Success, describes the investment process that underpins Yale's endowment. He provides lucid and penetrating insight into the world of institutional funds management, illuminating topics ranging from asset-allocation structures to active fund management. Swensen employs an array of vivid real-world examples, many drawn from his own formidable experience, to address critical concepts such as handling risk, selecting advisors, and weathering market pitfalls.

Swensen offers clear and incisive advice, especially when describing a counterintuitive path. Conventional investing too often leads to buying high and selling low. Trust is more important than flash-in-the-pan success. Expertise, fortitude, and the long view produce positive results where gimmicks and trend following do not.

The original Pioneering Portfolio Management outlined a commonsense template for structuring a well-diversified equity-oriented portfolio. This new edition provides fund managers and students of the market an up-to-date guide for actively managed investment portfolios.

Your Retirement, Your Way: Why It Takes More Than Money to Live Your Dream

Alan Bernstein, John Trauth

Amazon Price: $11.53 List Price: $16.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: McGraw-Hill Amazon Marketplace: 56 new & used starting at $4.24

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Create a new life plan to thrive in your retirement

"In Your Retirement, Your Way, Alan and John lead the way to a new and dynamic definition of retirement. They begin with this exciting premise: the more you clearly identify your own personal style, the more you will experience a powerful and fulfilling next chapter in your life. With the variety of guides and road maps they provide, including a sample version of the Birkman® (a mini-Birkman®), readers can navigate their way to a more confident phase of life that offers both purpose and renewal."
--Dr. Roger W. Birkman, Chairman, Birkman International, Inc.

After years of focusing on career and family, most of us embark on the next phase of life with only a vague idea of what will make us happy. But you can guarantee yourself a long and successful retirement with Your Retirement, Your Way!

Its revolutionary retirement planning approach combines a powerful self-assessment system based on the Birkman Method®--a personality assessment system used by companies and government agencies worldwide--with sophisticated financial planning tools and step-by-step guidelines that allow you to:

• Define your ideal retirement environment
• Determine where you are now, financially, and where you want to be
• Map out a solid plan for realizing your dreams in the shortest time possible

IRA Wealth: Revolutionary IRA Strategies for Real Estate Investment

Patrick Rice

Amazon Price: $16.15 List Price: $16.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Square One Publishers Amazon Marketplace: 47 new & used starting at $6.06

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 16 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

For decades, banks and brokerage houses have effectively convinced us that IRA holdings can be invested only in stocks and CDs. Then, with the sharp decline in the stock market, most of us could only stand by and watch as our retirement savings lost their accumulated value. Few knew that there was an alternative which offered both safety and growth. That alternative is real estate. That’s right. Contrary to what you may have believed, it is perfectly legal to hold real estate investments in an IRA account—and to enjoy unprecedented returns. For nearly twenty years, IRA investment expert Patrick W. Rice has taught thousands of men and women his revolutionary strategies for using an IRA to create wealth based on real estate. In his new book, Mr. Rice shares all his moneymaking strategies with you. Within the pages of IRA Wealth, you will learn how to:

• Turn your old IRA into a self-directed account that puts you in charge.

• Buy income-producing properties, from rental houses to commercial buildings.

• Purchase high-yielding real estate-backed notes.

• Buy your dream retirement home now.

• Loan money to family and friends while building your IRA.

• Form limited liability companies that multiply your investment power.

• Buy yourself a thriving business—or a great job.

• Reduce your risks while boosting your returns.

Although it may be a little late to avoid the volatility of the stock market, the lesson has been simple: Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. IRA Wealth offers an entirely new basket—one that holds golden eggs for a bright and rewarding future.