Rating: 
Summary: One of the best all round books on retirement planning!
Review: As a Certified Financial Planner, I recommend this book to many of my clients who are seriously planning their retirements. Warner has done a great job putting things in the proper perspective with a book that is an "easy read". While adequate money is important to a satisfactory retirement (and helping clients build a satisfactory net worth is how I make my living), I do find, as has Warner, that there are more important things such as health, friends, and a purpose (i.e., reasons to get up in the morning) when it comes to planning out one's retirement. I frequently ask clients what they plan to do when they retire. When they say "go fishing" or "play golf", I then ask them what they plan to do the second week/month/year. And I keep asking the question until they realize that its a serious one. Warner takes it further with discussion and clear examples. In short, a must read for anyone approaching retirement.
Rating: 
Summary: One of the best all round books on planning for retirement
Review: As a former Certified Financial Planner, I recommended this book to many of my clients who are seriously planning their retirements. Warner has done a great job putting things in the proper perspective with a book that is an "easy read". While adequate money is important to a satisfactory retirement (and helping clients build a satisfactory net worth was how I made my living), I do find, as has Warner, that there are more important things such as health, friends, and a purpose (i.e., reasons to get up in the morning) when it comes to planning out one's retirement. I frequently ask clients what they plan to do when they retire. When they say "go fishing" or "play golf", I then ask them what they plan to do the second week/month/year. And I keep asking the question until they realize that its a serious one. Warner takes it further with discussion and clear examples. In short, a must read for anyone approaching retirement.
Rating:
Summary: Change your thinking about retirement!
Review: As someone who will probably retire within the next dozen years, I was beginning to wonder whether the doom-sayers were right: I don't have a million bucks in savings or a fat stock portfolio, so was I being foolhardy in assuming that I'd have enough to live on comfortably in my old age? This book was tremendously reassuring. Some of the author's main points are: (1) The difference between a happy, fulfilling retirement and "waiting for the undertaker" is not money but quality of life -- family, friends, good health, and meaningful activities that give you a reason to get up in the morning. (2) It's possible to estimate fairly accurately how much money you'll need to live on after you retire, and in most cases it's nowhere near the "70% of your present income" that the doom-sayers insist that you need to maintain your present lifestyle. (3) The loudest doom-sayers are the ones who are trying to sell you retirement plans! The author tells readers how to access a free set of "retirement calculators" on the Nolo Press web site to assist them in financial planning, and that alone is worth the price of the book. But what really "made" the book for me was his many interviews with happily retired people from all sorts of backgrounds and economic levels -- just reading about them was a real upper. There are plenty of books on how to provide for your retirement financially, but this is the only one I know of that adequately addresses the REST of your life. Read it!!
Rating:
Summary: Change your thinking about retirement!
Review: As someone who will probably retire within the next dozen years, I was beginning to wonder whether the doom-sayers were right: I don't have a million bucks in savings or a fat stock portfolio, so was I being foolhardy in assuming that I'd have enough to live on comfortably in my old age? This book was tremendously reassuring. Some of the author's main points are: (1) The difference between a happy, fulfilling retirement and "waiting for the undertaker" is not money but quality of life -- family, friends, good health, and meaningful activities that give you a reason to get up in the morning. (2) It's possible to estimate fairly accurately how much money you'll need to live on after you retire, and in most cases it's nowhere near the "70% of your present income" that the doom-sayers insist that you need to maintain your present lifestyle. (3) The loudest doom-sayers are the ones who are trying to sell you retirement plans! The author tells readers how to access a free set of "retirement calculators" on the Nolo Press web site to assist them in financial planning, and that alone is worth the price of the book. But what really "made" the book for me was his many interviews with happily retired people from all sorts of backgrounds and economic levels -- just reading about them was a real upper. There are plenty of books on how to provide for your retirement financially, but this is the only one I know of that adequately addresses the REST of your life. Read it!!
Rating:
Summary: Original Viewpoint is Refreshing!
Review: At age 29, I consider this book pivitol in planning for my LIFE, not just retirement. Point: Look at the WHOLE person. It was so different to hear more than just what interest rates and inflation do to the value of money and thus, nobody has enough, blah, blah, blah. Sometimes it is too easy to focus on numbers instead of the big picture. I have recommended this book to my parents and grandparents, along with another fascinating book, "Die Broke." Highly recommend them both!
Rating:
Summary: Another valuable book from Nolo Press
Review: Get a Life Stresses the importance of planning ahead. It notes that older people who have happy marriages, plenty of friends and warm relationships with other members of their famlies live longer than older people who don't. So it tells how to improve family ties, make new friends to replace the ones who die and work at having a happy marriage. It has a useful chapter about health and fitness which you should supplement with three other books: Fats that Heal, Fats that Kill, by Udo Erasmus; The Healing Nutrients Within, by Eric Braverman and any book by Barry Sears about his Zone Diet. It tells how to avoid nursing homes or pay for them if you can't avoid them. It has tips about buying used cars and pre-paying mortgages. Chapter 8 surveys where your retirement money will come from. It tells how to save enough for retirement, even if you think it's impossible. And it presents what it calls the savvy peasant's investment guide. Here it covers bank savings accounts, bank certificates of deposit, money market accounts, U.S. Treasury bills, U.S. Government bonds and notes, municipal bonds, corporate bonds, stock, stock mutual funds, variable annuities, immediate or fixed annuities, real estate and precious metals and exotic investments.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best
Review: I read someones comments, that there is "too much deperveration" in this book. I think they need to re-read it. The whole point is NOT to have too little, but to have what's right. This book confirms my long held belief that you can save "too much" and miss what's good for the now. On the other hand, chances are you will live a good while, so you cannot neglict that either. This book shows how to do both. The mindset of many people is just plain wrong, and this book, even if you don't agree with it, shows another way of thinking. Based on the retired people I know, it rings VERY true. Health, Friends, Family are first, the money part can be managed. You should read this book. It's very good.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best
Review: I read someones comments, that there is "too much deperveration" in this book. I think they need to re-read it. The whole point is NOT to have too little, but to have what's right. This book confirms my long held belief that you can save "too much" and miss what's good for the now. On the other hand, chances are you will live a good while, so you cannot neglict that either. This book shows how to do both. The mindset of many people is just plain wrong, and this book, even if you don't agree with it, shows another way of thinking. Based on the retired people I know, it rings VERY true. Health, Friends, Family are first, the money part can be managed. You should read this book. It's very good.
Rating: 
Summary: Too much deprivation
Review: If you never spend money you won't have to worry about running out of money before you die. But who really wants to live that way? Isn't there some happy medium between this book's do-without message and the other books trying to tell us how to save and invest?
Rating:
Summary: Too much deprivation
Review: If you never spend money you won't have to worry about running out of money before you die. But who really wants to live that way? Isn't there some happy medium between this book's do-without message and the other books trying to tell us how to save and invest?
|
