Customer Reviews

J.K. Lasser's Strategic Investing After 50

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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!

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.

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?

Highly recommended for anyone who wants to insure that they are "on track" with their retirement investments. Easy to understand. Addresses the key aspects of practical investing and encourages priority re-evaluation at the benchmark age of 50.

The opening sentence of the preface captured my mind and heart and whole being. I was hooked after the opening sentence. Preface third paragraph "Learning to invest..." is one of the best paragraphs I have ever read in a financial book. That was pure straight talk that I love. I liked the physical feel of the book, literally how much it weighs. It's light. I liked the choice of typeface. Easy to read. I found the NOTES very helpful both from a content tip standpoint and from a visual breaking up the page stand point. Julie Jason hit the mark with me. The biggest clue to me that the book was on the mark is that although I intended to read only the first three chapters in one late evening sitting, I continued reading on into Chapter 5 when I realized that I wanted to be a little more awake and pay more attention so that I set the book down for another day. I was reading it like a novel. I realized Strategic Investing After 50 is the financial "Peace of Mind" book I had always been looking for.

I read an advance release of this book and found it to be more than I ever expected. Truly insightful and personal. I felt like Julie was apeaking directly to me. I recommend it to anyone who wants to learn, even if you are not 50 yet.

As a financial planner dealing with seniors I know that there is a dearth of books available for people who are retired and near retirement. With the baby boomers about to retire it is more important than ever for authors to pen books about how to set up a portfolio for the second half of your life, Julie Jason has done that.

Matthew Tuttle, author of "Financial Secrets of my Wealthy Grandparents"

Easy understood languageRoth IRA well explanedThere is still time to invest

This book is great - easy to understand, offers sound strategies for investors over 50. I recommend that everyone over 50 read this book!