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Get a Life: You Don't Need a Million to Retire Well, Fourth Edition

Get a Life: You Don't Need a Million to Retire Well, Fourth Edition

List Price: $24.99
Your Price: $24.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: It's OK...
Review: It is just that I thought it would have more financial information. Instead I thought it leaned too heavily on the social aspect of retirement, and how to be frugal.
Everyone wants friends and hobbies, but as a 35 year old person, trying to save for retirement, I was looking for financial stuff.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: My favorite retirement book.
Review: Lawyer/consumer advocate Ralph "Jake" Warner thinks the popular advice that implores Americans to save piles of money for retirement is hugely exaggerated. Jake urges us to have built a life worth living by middle age, and tells the stories of seniors who have done just that. He offers advice on many issues, such as deciding what a reasonable nest egg should be and developing a healthy lifestyle. This book will help you find your way to a more fulfilling retirement, while it eases your current stress level.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Great Read
Review: My wife and I are preparing for retirement in our mid-fifties -- twelve years from now. (Yes, we like to start planning early.) The title and summary on Amazon intrigued me so I purchased this one along with some other books that specialize in the non-financial aspects of retirement. This book was the best we found. Well written and enjoyable, I strongly recommend this for any who is looking for non-financial retirement advice. (The financial aspects of the book are adequate but far from unique -- strictly a good overview -- and I wasn't looking for financial advice).

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Only some general information
Review: Please note that I write this review from the perspective of someone who won't be retiring for at least two more decades. I think by the time I retire, the state of the world will be quite different. Hopefully al Queda or the greedy pigs on Wall Street haven't destroyed our beautiful country by then...

I got this book in e-book format as part of my Quick WillMaker Plus 2005 software package. It only has some mostly general information, and I don't think it's worth the full price of the printed version. The author promotes the idea that you don't need a lot of money to retire; all you need is a loving family. Sure, and we can just count on social security (which is to be privatized and feeding the greedy Wall Street pigs) and our kids. This guy must be living in some utopian pipe dream.

If you want a feel-happy book, this may be for you. Otherwise, get a book that offers practical advice on how to save and what government benefits programs are (still) available.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Retirment planning -- focus on the whole person
Review: This book presents a view that is difficult to find in print It's easy these days to find books that advocate the wisdom of investing/saving for retirement. Purveyors of investment vehicles often make us feel guilty for not saving every last cent of our disposable income.

The view that this author presents is rarely expressed -- namely that we can live on less than we think and that there are ways that we need to prepare for retirement besides focusing on money. I welcome this refreshing view.

Warner wants us to think about the "whole person" and not just about money. Now I find myself asking whether I've planned adequately for friends, family, activities, and interests.

This book makes me think of a good friend of mine who retired two years ago. She and her husband hadn't planned enough in terms of the "whole person." They're thinking about moving back. If they had read this book, I wonder whether they would have moved in the first place.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Excellent Contrarian Viewpoint
Review: This book should be required reading for anyone who thinks about retirement, from those just starting out in their 20's and 30's to those nearing retirement. The book is a refreshing, contrarian view to the conventional wisdom of "save tons of money for retirement", "you'll need 70-100% of your current income in retirement", etc., etc., etc. The traditional retirement literature is focused almost exclusively on money, with which Warner takes exception.

Warner's focus is on the whole person - he makes a very compelling argument that money is a FACTOR in a good retirement, but that it is also important to cultivate health, outside interests, friendships and family. He believes these latter factors have a FAR greater influence on a successful retirement than money. He bases this viewpoint on research among those enjoying active, successful retirements.

Warner is not a Pollyanna, saying not to even think about retirement savings (as some critics seem to suggest). The book contains some common sense ideas on savings and admits that having SOME money may help. Warner's point, however, is that money alone isn't going to make you have a successful retirement if you neglected your family, friends, outside interests, spirituality and health in order to get the money.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who ever thinks about retirement. You may not agree with the proposition, but the book will really help expand your view of the elements of a good retirement and may help you plan a more enjoyable life.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A common sense approach to planning for retirement.
Review: This book should be required reading for people in their 30's and 40's. It emphasizes keeping active, having a wide variety of interests, and developing friends of all ages. It's a good antidote to all those financial planners who try to make you feel guilty about not having "X" millions of dollars invested so they can make commissions off your money. A good gift for middle age yuppies.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Outstanding book.
Review: This is an outstanding book for anyone who is already retired or soon will be. It shows you that money alone will not provide a secure or happy retirement. A refreshing point of view in this age of greed

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: This is the best retirement planning book I've ever read!
Review: This is the first retirement planning book I've ever read that realistically addresses how much money you really need to save for the lifestyle you want. I now realize that I don't need to save millions, that my current saving plan is perfectly adequate for the lifestyle I want. I can relax, enjoy my life and family, and work on retaining my health.


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