Save Your Retirement What to Do If You Haven't Saved Enough or If Your Investments Were Devastated by the Market Meltdown

by Armstrong, Frank, III; Brown, Paul B.

• ISBN13: 9780137029006
• ISBN10: 0137029004
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-05-19
• Publisher: Ft Pr

Summary

Step-by-step plans for people who expect to retire in 20 years or tomorrow, plus a rescue plan if you already retired.- Specific, detailed plans for your unique situation.- What to do now to improve your financial outlook for retirement and what NOT to do to keep it from getting worse.- The first retirement guide for everyone who's been hammered by the market collapse, or never saved enough to begin with! Terrified about retirement? You're not alone, but that's no comfort. This book will be. In Rescue Your Retirement, two renowned personal finance experts outline specific, step-by-step plans you can use to rebuild your retirement security. You'll find no jargon here, no hype, no rocket science, no magic and, above all, no one-size-fits-all solutions that don't make sense for your life. You will find personal plans focused on your unique situation, whether you're fifteen years away from retirement, ten years away, five years away, or scheduled to retire now. (There's even a detailed plan for those who are already retired, and want to make sure their money lasts as long as they do.) No matter what the market meltdown did to your portfolio, or how little you've saved, Frank Armstrong III and Paul B. Brown show you how to start rescuing your retirement, starting today. Choose your situation, then get specific guidance on: where to move your savings...how to accurately recalculate what you'll really need to retire...how to assess when you can now afford to retire...how you must change your overall approach to investing...how to use the federal tax system to save more...how the meltdown has changed the way you should view Social Security...and a whole lot more. In a perfect world, you wouldn't need this book. But you don't live in a perfect world: you live in this world, you do need this book and if you're like millions of Americans, you need it desperately.

Author Biography

Frank Armstrong, III, CLU, CFP^TM, AIFA, is the founder and principal of Investor Solutions, Inc., a fee-only registered investment advisor. He has more than 35 years’ experience in the securities and financial services industry. His bestselling book, The Informed Investor, was cited by BusinessWeek as one of the best investment books of the year, and his previous book, The Retirement Challenge: Will You Sink or Swim, received rave reviews.

 

Frank was named by Barron’s as one of the top 100 independent financial advisors in 2007 and again in 2008. He was a featured columnist on Morningstar.com for a number of years and is a frequent contributor to The CPA Journal and Physician’s Money Digest. He has appeared on “CNN Headline News,” “Your Money with Stewart Varney,” “PBS Morning Business Report,” CNBC, “Money Life with Chuck Jaffee,” and public radio stations around the country. Frank is widely quoted in the media, his articles appear in major financial magazines and Web sites, and he lectures nationwide on principles of investment management.

 

His first publication, Investment Strategies for the 21st Century, was one of the first books ever published and serialized on the Internet in multiple languages.

 

A Vietnam veteran and former Air Force pilot, Frank flew 250 combat missions in Southeast Asia. He currently lives in Coconut Grove, Florida, with his wife, Gabriele, and enjoys boating, deep sea fishing, scuba diving, windsurfing, reading, and travel.

 

 

A long-time contributor to The New York Times, Paul B. Brown is the author of more than a dozen business books, including Grow Rich Slowly: The Merrill Lynch Guide to Retirement Planning (written with Don Underwood), as well as the international bestseller Customers for Life (written with Carl Sewell).

 

A former writer and editor at BusinessWeek, Financial World, Forbes, and Inc., Paul hosted his own nationally syndicated, three-hour personal finance call-in show heard daily on the Business Radio Network for a number of years. He is “the financial expert” at ThirdAge.com and a contributing editor to both M.I.T.’s Sloan Management Review and The Conference Board Review. He lives in Duxbury, Massachusetts, and Anna Maria, Florida.

 

Table of Contents

Part I: Let’s Take a Deep Breath and Get Our Bearings     1

Chapter 1: There’s Hope     3

Chapter 2: You Are Not Alone: Just About Everyone Is Unprepared to Retire the Way They Want     11

Chapter 3: Maybe You Don’t Want to Retire     23

Chapter 4: Before You Begin Your Rescue Efforts: Things to Do to Make Sure You Don’t Make the Situation Worse     29

 

Part II: Working with the Scenario That Is Right for You     63

Chapter 5: R(etirement) Minus 20 (or More)     71    

Chapter 6: R—15     79

Chapter 7: R—10     95

Chapter 8: R—5     107

Chapter 9: R=0     117

Chapter 10: R+     123

 

Part III:  (Dramatically) New Thinking     127

Chapter 11: Maybe You Want to Retire Later     129

Chapter 12: Don’t Touch Up the X-Rays     133

Chapter 13: Dealing with Risk     141

Chapter 14: Where Does Social Security Fit In?     151

Chapter 15: What to Do the Moment You Stop Reading     161

Chapter 16: Final Thoughts     167

 

Part IV:  Appendices     173

Appendix A: Where Does the Money Go?     175

Appendix B: Getting to What’s Next     183

Appendix C: Useful Links and Resources for Retirees     191

Appendix D: Suggested Asset Allocation Models     195

 

Index     199

 

 

Excerpts

Praise for Save Your Retirement Praise for Save Your Retirement"The market meltdown has all of us worrying about whether we will ever be able to retire. Worrying doesn't help you. Planning does. Save Your Retiremen t by Frank Armstrong, III and Paul B. Brown canand shouldserve as your battle plan." John A. Byrne, Executive Editor, BusinessWeek"Convinced the sinking economy has dragged your retirement plans down with it? Save Your Retirement shows there's still treasure inside that wreckage and provides a map to help you find it." Josh Hyatt, Money Magazine"Whether you're just beginning a career or you're five years from retiring, the authors show you how to take a realistic look at your current financial status and your retirement goals. With a refreshingly positive approach, they give all of us, no matter our life stage, a blueprint for successful retirement." Professor Larry Meiller, Talk Show Host, Wisconsin Public Radio"Frank Armstrong, III and Paul B. Brown heal your retirement anxiety and show you exactly how to achieve financial security for the golden years. You'll actually be excited to save!" Farnoosh Torabi, Author of You're So Money: Live Rich Even When You're Not Copyright Pearson Education. All rights reserved.