Retire on Less Than You Think The New York Times Guide to Planning Your Financial Future

by Brock, Fred

• ISBN13: 9780805087307
• ISBN10: 0805087303
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-12-26
• Publisher: Times Books

Summary

The bestselling, hands-on retirement guide from Fred Brock, thoroughly updated and expanded for in-depth advice on housing assets, health-care options, and more WithRetire on Less Than You Think, Fred Brock challenged the conventional wisdom on the real costs of retirement-- and it struck a chord with Americans. Now, as mutual-fund investments continue to be a roller coaster, Brock updates his indispensable advice on finding asset streams, working during retirement, maximizing your health insurance, and choosing a community and housing to show how to '¢ manage the quicksand of the housing market (your best asset) '¢ pay for the spiraling costs of prescription drugs '¢ discover new cost-cutting savings '¢ plan for shifts over time in your financial goals Boasting expanded resource lists and worksheets,Retire on Less Than You Thinkis the best guide available for making your retirement dreams a reality.

Author Biography

Fred Brock, a former business editor of and current contributor to The New York Times, is the author of Live Well on Less Than You Think and Health Care on Less Than You Think. He has previously been an editor and reporter covering politics and finance for The Wall Street Journal, the Houston Chronicle, and the Louisville Courier-Journal. Now the R. M. Seaton Professor of Professional Journalism at Kansas State University, he lives in Manhattan, Kansas.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
Do You Really Want to Retire?	p. 1
What the Experts Say You Need versus What You Really Need	p. 28
Cutting Back and Simplifying Your Life	p. 53
Where Will You Live?	p. 70
Key No. 1: Your House	p. 95
Key No. 2: Your Health Insurance	p. 117
Key No. 3: Your Unexpected Assets	p. 155
Social Security: Count on It	p. 168
Putting It All Together	p. 187
Resources	p. 201
Index	p. 209
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

Excerpts

The basic idea behind this book is simple and straightforward: you can retire sooner and on less money than you think, and live quite well, if you are willing to make a few relatively painless lifestyle changes.



Various polls in recent years by AARP, the Employee Benefit Research Institute, and USA Today have shown that some 60 percent of working Americans dream of early retirement. Yet every time there is some jarring economic news—declining stock prices or a slump in the housing market—many people feel they must postpone retirement as they contemplate their shrinking investments and how much money they still need to save.



This is a book for those dreamers who want to retire sooner rather than later but are afraid they can’t afford it: people who yearn for the time to realize a lifelong dream or avocation; people who have reached a dead end in their careers or who are burned out after years of doing the same thing and want to move on; or people who simply want a change. It is also for those who are at or past the traditional retirement age of sixty-five but continue to work because they are convinced they don’t have enough money to retire.



Also, of course, it is for those who suddenly find themselves involuntarily retiring early because of employer cutbacks. Such forced retirements usually involve so-called incentive packages that may include a lump-sum payment or extra years credited to your retirement account—or both. Many forced retirees are equally apprehensive, perhaps even more so, about whether they can afford retirement.



SMOKE AND MIRRORS



Whatever the situation, most people are victims of “data” circulated by the financial services industry—mutual fund companies, stockbrokerage firms, and banks—which hold that you need at least 70 to 80 percent of your preretirement income in order to retire without becoming a charity case. This estimate has become conventional wisdom and is routinely and endlessly repeated in newspapers and magazines and on radio and television shows that offer financial advice. Little wonder people have come to believe it. It has struck fear into the hearts of baby boomers, who are known for spending, not saving.



There’s only one problem: it’s not true!



Worse, people in the financial services industry know it’s not true. It is clever advertising bait to lure investors.




Copyright © 2004 by The New York Times Company, © 2008 by Fred Brock. All rights reserved.

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Excerpted from Retire on Less Than You Think: The New York Times Guide to Planning Your Financial Future by Fred Brock
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.