Customer Reviews

The Retirement Catch-Up Guide: 54 Real-Life Lessons to Boost Your Retirement Resources Now!

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

I bought this book hoping to get some new advice on how to make up for lost time. Instead this book just recycles old money advice that I've read many, many, many places before. The author even steals from her older books. If you want more up to date retirement saving advice that will help you catch up, check out one of the web sites run by financial services companies or ABCNEWS.COM or CNBC.COM.

Ellen Hoffman again has provided a realistic and useful book on retirement planning for someone of any age. As a person who works every day on retirement plan issues for plan sponsors and as the author of The New Working Woman's Guide to Retirement Planning, I read a great deal on this issue from both technical and lay sources. Ms. Hoffman is among the best in providing clear, understandable guidance using very typical situations common to individuals at every life stage. She offers practical ways to catch up on retirement saving. She is a deft writer who makes the issues both interesting and informative.

The Retirement Catch-Up Guide offers fifty-four lessons drawn from real-life experiences and conditions to boost the development of future financial resources for retirement. Especially appropriate for those who are coming late to planning for the retirement, Ellen Hoffman offers an invaluable, practical, and workable compendium of sound advice on all aspects and every stage of financial planning for retirement. Beginning with a thorough examination of all retirement resources, she then covers making a plan, readjusting the plan (including such happenstances as delaying retirement, starting a new career or business, etc.); downsizing present lifestyles to increase savings; making the most of home equity; learning to be a successful saver and investor; and monitoring retirement resources. The Retirement Catch-Up Guide is very highly recommended, "user friendly", comprehensive, reliable, and invaluable reading for anyone wanting a financial secure and adequate standard-of-living retirement.

Magazines like Modern Maturity and web sites geared for seniors have been telling this information for years. Advice in this book is not new or revoluationary. The stories aren't even told well. I feel duped.

Ellen Hoffman, who writes for Business Week, has come up with the perfect book for us baby boomers who haven't planned for our future retirements. In her wonderfully accessible volume full of real-life stories, she presents some down-to-earth strategies to help anyone get the confidence to address this serious planning. She demonstrates how even the most desperate situations can be reversed with perseverance and cleverness. The well-researched information and lists of resource contacts give just the right kind of boost to help stop the procrastinating and actually do something now. Late starters can still put together a nice nest egg as long as they know what they want and how they can attain that goal. There are stories here of people who are nearly broke and some who are nearly millionaires, but all of them had to examine their situation and establish realistically how they would like to enjoy their later years. Check it out--there are some great, innovative ideas here, something for everybody as we near the golden years.

Ellen is also the author of another extremely helpful book called Bankroll Your Future: How to Get the Most from Uncle Sam for Your RetirementYears--Social Security, Medicare, and Much More, which gets into the real details of complex problems such as pension plan payouts or health care options or how to get the most out of your social security benefits or how to protect your home and assets. Ellen speaks with the authority of an experienced writer and a professional researcher who's at the peak of her game.

These two books are kind of companion pieces--The Retirement Catch-Up Guide is like a primer to get you into gear and Bankroll Your Future is the next level, more detailed text on how to maneuver through the government programs. I highly recommend them both. If you get a chance, Ellen is a terrific, straight-ahead speaker and she knows her stuff inside out.

The Retirement Catch-Up Guide: 54 Real-Life Lessons To Boost Your Future Resources Now! by journalist and financial expert Ellen Hoffman is a solid anthology of anecdotes, strategies, and useful advice for planning for one's retirement no matter how late in the game one is getting a good start at putting a little extra away. From learning good saving skills to making the most of a home equity to downsizing extravagant expenses in one's daily life, The Retirement Catch-Up Guide is a superbly presented resource for financial retirement planning and highly recommended for anyone contemplating retirement -- especially in this day and age with an uncertain future for the American government's Social Security program!

My life has been focused on abstract ideas, not dollars. So when retirement age neared, that neglected realm of money needed basic exploration. Hoffman's book provides the foundation and relevant options. And it provides all that information in a fascinating way, largely in brief stories drawn from the lives of real people. I have found the book useful in helping me prepare for retirement just a few years down the road. I recommend it highly for those who don't already know the answers to their retirement questions.

Another author that's preaching fear to sell books. As retirement gets a little closer many of us haven't saved enough, but this book really won't provide any insights that you haven't read elsewhere. If you want a better and more helpful book, buy Andrew Tobias's "The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need." It's simple, straight forward and doesn't scare readers. As for the "54 true stories" in this book, most people are going to have a very hard time relating to their situations or their "miraculous" solutions. In fact, it's extremely hard to believe that many of these "true" stories are even about real people.

For all those procrastinators out there, this book is a MUST READ. It is highly readable as well as inspirational to see how people from many different walks of life have tackled their retirement problem. Once you read it, I'm sure you'll think, 'If they can do it, so can I.' I am a CPA and a financial advisor to many of my clients. I'm making sure that they get this book to motivate them to start planning!

Too many retirement books offer advice that is not practical for me. Usually I am pleased to find ONE idea that I can act on in these financial advice books. Hoffman's book provided over 11 ideas that make sense at my age and financial circumstances. The practical advice is based on real life examples collected from a wholesome variety of folks. The 54 stories provide a window on the lives of regular people eager to maintain a sense of control over their financial lives - without the "get rich" quick flavor of many financial books.

Maybe Hoffman can go on and help her readers address our concerns re handling the health care services we will need in our future.