The Late Start Investor: The Better-Late-Than-Never Guide to Realizing Your Retirement Income [Paperback]

John F. F. Wasik (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 14, 1999

This is the first book of lifestyle and financial strategies fashioned expressly for those want to retire in fifteen years or less but have little or no money saved to do so.

Late-start investors are the 51 million baby boomers who don't have nearly enough money put aside for retirement. They envision life after work differently--to some it is those years to be spent playing with grandchildren on the beach, to others it's the freedom to travel or enjoy a hobby that may bring in a few dollars. There is one certainty however: Those Golden Years sure can't be lived on a mere $3,000, which is the average amount fifty-year-olds in this country have saved. But there is no need to panic. With its unique combination of facts, wisdom, questionnaires, and real-life anecdotes, The Late-Start Investor is the key to a future of secure fulfillment for those playing catch-up.

John Wasik's optimistic and effective advice does more than simply guide readers through the lifestyle assessment and planning; it also helps them create the "perfect" investment program for their vision of the future. His pointers reflect this group's need for limited risk, but keeps their dollars outpacing the ever-present enemy--inflation. The Late-Start Investor outlines what Social Security and pension funds contribute to the picture and how best to supplement them with stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. This book will give readers the confidence and knowledge to stop living in fear of the future and start saving for their dreams.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Wasik, a journalist and author of five other books, directs this one at people 50 years of age and older who have very little money saved for retirement. He offers advice on creating a secure retirement fund by investing in stocks, bonds, and mutual funds with minimal risk and maximum return. Wasik discusses what he calls retirement myths and the New Prosperity (a flexible plan that provides for financial, vocational, physical, emotional, and spiritual needs), lifestyle planning, and ways to reduce spending by trimming mortgage payments and by cutting the cost of insurance polices, home improvement projects, and utility bills. He even suggests growing your own vegetables and freezing and drying them for consumption during the winter months. Wasik cautions that social security will not form the lion's share of your retirement income and that your company pension will not be as generous as those your parents received, so you should plan accordingly. George Cohen

About the Author

John F. Wasik is the author of The Investment Club Book and an award-winning journalist who has been covering personal finance and consumer affairs for sixteen years. Currently, he is a special projects editor for Consumer's Digest. He lives with his family in Wauconda, Illinois.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Holt Paperbacks; 1st edition (January 14, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805055029
• ISBN-13: 978-0805055023
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #939,036 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I am curious about the world. That's why I'm compelled to ask questions about history, politics, the environment, economics and investing. Although I don't write in order to live, I put words down in order to understand life. My two most recent books are "The Cul-de-Sac Syndrome" and "The Audacity of Help." The former book explores the past, present and future of American housing from the colonial era to today. It was an outgrowth of research I was doing into environmental building, which I see as one antidote to climate change, resource depletion and affordable housing. It was also a tangential follow-up to my "Merchant of Power," which was the history of electrical generation as seen through the lens of the life of utilities magnate Samuel Insull. My "Audacity of Help" is an in-depth look at the economic crisis and how President Obama's economic plan will address some deep-seated economic and social problems. I don't write in a vacuum, however. I speak all over the country on the topics I write about, write blogs, a column for Bloomberg News and try to engage intelligent people on the best ways to understand, confront and heal many of the country's economic and social ills. If I do this right, you'll have some pretty decent questions to ask those in power after reading my books. Democracy is knowledge in action and I'm an ecodynamic player.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

70 of 71 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Here's how to retire well if if you haven't planned earlier, August 8, 1999

By 

Leonard J. Hansen ([e-mail]) (Durango, Colorado) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Late Start Investor: The Better-Late-Than-Never Guide to Realizing Your Retirement Income (Paperback)

For years, retirement and financial pundits have presented their mandates for financial planning for retirement. Unfortunately, for most of us, we read these books as they shower us with guilt if he had not started saving ten percent of our salary from age eighteen.

John Wasik knows better as a senior editor with Consumer's Digest magazine. We are each and all imperfect against the mandated forumlas and ponderous pundits. In this book he tackles the subject for the gain of the arrives or is about to arrive at retirement age having started saving too late which, I trust, includes most of us.

The author/expert allays our fears and then provides the most practical analyses and recommended steps I've read anywhere. And,he writes not in complex formulas but in a straightforward and easily-understandable way.

From his recommendations, I've been able to accelerate my own retirement finance program. I have bought the books for others, each who has told me that they have gained by it.

A remarkable book.