J.K. Lasser's Strategic Investing After 50 [Paperback]

Julie Jason (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0471397792 | ISBN-13: 978-0471397793 | Publication Date: June 29, 2001 | Edition: 1

It will help people to start thinking about their money in terms of accumulation, rebalancing, and income production. And it will take in-depth looks at risk tolerance, transition strategies, needed resources and tools--even strategies for those who are investing for the first time

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The opening sentence of the preface captured my mind, heart and whole being. I was hooked after the opening sentence." -- Jon Barb, author of Do What WorksTM (For You)

Review

"A very good book. It is filled with practical investment advice that readers can easily understand and implement." Philip Edwards, Managing Director, Standard and Poor's.

"As an investment professional, I found Julie Jason's book to be an honest look at the risks as well as the rewards of the investment process, which are all too often ignored or misunderstood by financial advisers. This is a wonderfully clear, concise and informative guide for Boomers in their 50s and beyond." Christopher S. Litchfield, Managing Partner, Stingray Partners.

"If you are over 50 years old and you want to secure your future, Julie Jason, maps it out for you...how to invest, what to invest in, and perhaps most importantly, when to sell. Strategic Investing After 50 takes the mystery out of how to invest to secure your future, explaining investing concepts and strategies in plain English together with simple examples that are a cinch to follow. Julie also gives you a look at what your remedies are if you've had less than a sterling experience with your broker. Required reading for investors 50 years and older!" Samantha Rabin, Senior Editor, Securities Arbitration Commentator.

"This is a wonderful book. It is full of easy-to-understand advice on how to invest successfully. If my clients had read this book before they lost money, they would not have had the privilege of being my "clients." Seth E. Lipner, Esq., plaintiff's attorney and President, Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association.

"The opening sentence of the preface captured my mind and heart and whole being. I was hooked after the opening sentence. . . . and the Learning to Invest section is one of the best paragraphs I have ever read in a financial book.?The kind of pure straight talk that I love. . . . I feel the book will help me personally with my investing."--Jon Barb , author of Do What WorksTM (For You)

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (June 29, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471397792
• ISBN-13: 978-0471397793
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,157,779 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All You Need to Know About Retirement Funding, January 15, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: J.K. Lasser's Strategic Investing After 50 (Paperback)

Strategic Investing After 50 really provides a complete guide to investing for retirement, considering goals, income needs, and personal inclinations. Notes and cautions are highlighted - if you understand these, you can skip to the sections where you need more intensive study or focus. The examples are great, especially for illustrating why it's important to be a knowledgeable investor, or to get a good advisor. Jason also really gives the straight scoop on investment advice - good, bad, expensive, cheap, etc. This is a great - and really helpful - read!

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars J. K. Lasser's Strategic Investing After 50, November 24, 2001

By 

June M. Hevener (Riverside, CT United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: J.K. Lasser's Strategic Investing After 50 (Paperback)

This book is easy to understand, concise and informative. The chapters are short with each topic throughly explained.

But this book is far more than strategies after 50. As soon as I finished reading this book I ordered the book for my sons - ages 37 and 40. In fact, in my judgment it is appropriate for anyone who wants to learn, in simple terms, the theories of investing.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Only a Wall Street Attorney could churn out something this difficult to follow., June 10, 2007

By 

histbuff "histbuff" (United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: J.K. Lasser's Strategic Investing After 50 (Paperback)

I've come to trust the reviews at amazon, and the vast majority of the time they don't let me down. I figured, with 8 five star ratings, this must be one heck of a book! My only question was, why is it so cheap used then? Now I know.

Far from being "easy to follow", as the reviews below gush, this book reads like a stock fund prospectus. For example, here is what she writes under the title "Bonds" in chapter 16:

"Certain financial instruments are designed to pay the investor a certain amount of money (interest) for a certain length of time and to repay the original amount of the investment (principal) at the end of that time (maturity date)."

Crystal clear, right? Her writing style only made sense once she shared in a later chapter that she got her start on wall street as a lawyer writing stock fund prospectuses.

I could include countless examples of where the writing style is anything but accessible, but I'll limit myself to just one more: In chapter 3 "Reasonable Expectations" the author opens the chapter with the sentence: "When reading this chapter, keep in mind that some of the terms used here are not defined because they are discussed in detail in later chapters." I had to read this sentence 3 times before I was confident I hadn't misread it. The terms weren't already defined in previous chapters. You will simply have to wait until you've read later chapters in the book to find out what she meant in this one...

Writing style aside, my fundamental disappointment with the book is how much it failed to live up to it's title. Crucial topics for any investor over 50 are either glossed over in the most superficial way, or omitted altogether. Instead of a chapter devoted to buying stock on margin, why not have one on how to know how much of your retirement savings you can safely withdrawal each year? Also, why not have a chapter explaining how to decide what percentage of our portfolios should be stocks vs bonds (and what kinds of each) as we approach and then enter retirement?