3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Essential Advice for a Person Who Wants to Retire Early, January 16, 2004
This review is from: Retire Sooner, Retire Richer : How to Build and Manage Wealth to Last a Lifetime (Paperback)
If you make a mistake with your retirement planning, chances are you will have to live with that mistake for the remainder of your life . . . and wish you had been more careful. Retire Sooner, Retire Richer will help you avoid the bulk of the mistakes that trip up the majority of people. The book is written in a common sense way that can be understood by almost anyone.
A portion of the author's income from the book will go towards low-income workers and their families affected by September 11, 2001, and to charities serving the hungry and homeless, such as Greater New York Labor-Religion Coalition, Second Harvest (USA), Catholic Relief Services (outside the U.S.), and Habitat for Humanity International.
When I first learned about Retire Sooner, Retire Richer, I was skeptical that it could add anything to my knowledge of investments, tax law, estate planning and how to get practical advice. As a result of reading the book, I was pleasantly surprised to learn a great deal of valuable information that I did not know before. After having assessed that information, it made me realize that anyone who works for a company, wants to retire early and desires to leave an estate behind needs a great deal of help. I strongly encourage anyone who is within 10 years of retirement to read this book!
The book opens with one of the best explanations I have ever seen about why volatility in financial instruments means that you have to be very conservative in planning your retirement investments and even more conservative in withdrawing from your retirement savings. Otherwise, you don't save enough and a down market can cause you to wipe out your savings at a time when stock prices are low. This really hit home after seeing the stock market drop for three straight years until 2003. The suggested guidelines in both areas made a lot of sense to me.
Next, Mr. Netti described many ways that you can choose to reduce the current and future taxes to be paid on your income and savings. Most of these choices are only available to you well before you retire. So if you wait until the day before retirement, you will lose many valuable tax reductions. In addition, if you die before your planned retirement date, failure to use these choices will cost your heirs quite a lot!
From reading the text, I began to appreciate that the tax laws governing pension payouts and IRAs have gotten to be very complex. Only someone who follows these details on a daily basis and works with them all of the time can hope to appreciate and take advantage of all the nuances if you want to retire early. From this, I began to see (for the first time) why the advice from a well-schooled financial advisor can pay a vast multiple of the cost of such an advisor. Mr. Netti certainly seems to be such an advisor.
He goes on to give you a process to locate the right financial advisor for you. The process seems like a good one, although I have never personally looked for a financial advisor. Reading Retire Sooner, Retire Richer will also prepare you to get more benefit from working with an advisor.
If you are totally averse to ever working with a financial advisor, this book may change your mind. Reading the book struck me as being a lot like what you might discuss with a financial advisor. I was grateful for the chance to have this dry run on the experience.
Here's the outline of the book:
Part One: Understanding Your Retirement Investments
Chapter 1: The Numbers Game and Retirement Timing
Chapter 2: Factors to Consider When Transitioning to Retirement
Chapter 3: Why Some Retirement Plans Fail and Others Succeed
Chapter 4: How to Improve Your Money-Management Decisions
Part Two: Building the Wealth You Need
Chapter 5: Portfolio Lessons for a Lifetime
Chapter 6: Why You Need to Act Now to Live Happily in Retirement
Chapter 7: How to Make the Best Use of Your Retirement Distribution Options
Chapter 8: How You Can Provide Added Income for You and Your Heirs
Chapter 9: How to Use a Rollover IRA to Leave More to Your Heirs
Part Three: Managing Your Nest Egg
Chapter 10: The Advisor Advantage
Chapter 11: Creating a Financial Planning Review
Chapter 12: The Importance of a Personal Investment Policy
Chapter 13: How to Pay for Financial Management Advice
As I finished the book, I found myself thinking about where else in my life I might benefit from skilled advice . . . and have not been seeking it.
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