15 Expert Lessons for Retirement Planning (Collection) [Kindle Edition]

I have a BA and MBA and 40 years investment experience. I have taken numerous finance classes both at the graduate and undergraduate level. This book is easy to read and breaks down a complex subject into an easy to understand way. I learned a few things which I will apply to my own situation. Too many people put off financial planning or blindly trust a "financial advisor". Read this book, then after you have had time to digest it, read it again this time taking notes and be sure to follow through on your notes and apply them.

I got this title as a Kindle freebie...and as such it was a great bargain. Because of that I was willing to overlook that though there is much useful information, it also acts as a rather obvious vehicle for advertising other books. At the end of each 'lesson' there is a plug for books by the author(s) of that segment, as well as other titles from the publisher. If I had paid for this book I would have found the level exhibited most annoying and intrusive (a little bit of plugging is okay but this was more than just a little).

Overall this book has a great selection of topics, some more readable than others, and some more complete than others. This is not an investment/retirement primer and some familiarity with the verbiage is of help. I also found it helpful to read it in segments rather than sitting down and reading all at once as the topics really do cover a wide range.

There is not a table of contents with this, and the Kindle locations number in at just under 2000--but that is not counting all the locations devoted to advertising. To better give an idea if this suits you here are the authors/topics (please excuse spelling and minor errors in title... I am generating this, not copying)

1. Moshe A. Milevsky: "Plan for Managing Your Retirement Risk" discusses balancing (and deciding upon) your retirement goals, what constitutes a defined benefit vs. defined contribution and how to assess what you need to meet your goals. Dry, but interesting, and a bit like a plug for annuity (which just might be what you need!).

2. Trent A. Hamm: "Getting Your Retirement Act Right" A bit about how your wants and/or needs will define your retirement planning. I liked the commentary on the importance of saving for your own retirement vs. your children's college costs.

3. Liz Pullian Weston: "How to Find a Financial Planner" Very sound advice on who your 'advisor' might be working for. Also addresses other professionals such as tax planners/estate concerns and who you would want to hire and why. Very useful!

4. Bonnie Kirchner: "Who Can You Trust with the Financial Planning of Your Money"...gives basic definitions and a useful starting framework. Also, "Spotting Red Flags" on the importance of/methods of vetting the people you may be hiring. Nice!

5. Jane White: "How to Save Wisely". A nice set of basic investing rules of do's and don'ts with the stated goal of keeping it simple in approach.

6. Steve Weisman: "31 Simple Rules for Protecting Your IRAs and 401(k)s". Now this is one segment that I feel it will be worth re-visiting several times. First of all, it's hard to slug through 31 rules of anything all at once, plus not all rules are applicable at any one time and going back over time will be of use I'm sure.

7. Frank Armstrong and Paul B. Brown: they contributed 7 topics..which gave the distinct impression of being excerpts from their book and website (each of which got plugged numerous times). That said, the topics were of interest, though occasionally superficial.

The topics:

"Where Does Social Security Fit Into Your Retirement" with some very interesting commentary.

Also, "Maybe You Don't Want to Retire" and "Maybe You Want to Retire Later"...though 'want' does not seem to be the operative word. These two did feel truncated in scope.

"Dealing With Retirement Risks", also truncated.

The next segment was "Getting to What's Next in Planning Your Retirement". This looked more like a pen/pencil excercise to ask and answer important questions about what your individual goals and desires are, which you need to know in order to plan for! It was humorous to see fill-in-the-blank lines on the Kindle screen, but the idea was sound and really, if you don't do something like this, how can you plan?

Next were "Are You On Track for Your Retirement" and "Think About Your Retirement NOW". Lots of plugs for the websites here, but fair topics.

8. James @. Walker and Linda H. Lewis: "Determining Living Expenses for Retirement" more of a broad overview of concerns, not a calculator. Gives one food for thought for planning purposes.

Overall, I found this a useful collection--some parts repetitive, some parts superficial, and all parts a bit of a plug. However, I also think that if one keeps reading and planning one is more likely to act, so this is not necessarily a bad thing. If I had paid list for this I would have been disappointed. But in general, I would recommend this if all the descriptions appeal.

JTG

I was able to get a copy of this while it was free.

There is certainly some good advice in here (Don't use more than 4% of your savings per year in retirement and the tips on picking a financial planner jump out at me.)

That being said, it consists of "Elements" that really are set up to get you to buy other books. It also has ads for additional books in it.

Considering that, I wouldn't pay for this collection.