The Smartest 401k Book You'll Ever Read: Maximize Your Retirement Savings...the Smart Way! (Hardcover)

by Daniel R. Solin (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
Readers of this smart, no-nonsense book will understand why Dan's plain-spoken advice makes him one of the Huffington Post's most popular business bloggers. --Arianna Huffington --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

Review
“Dan Solin’s wonderful book explains why the idea of tax- deferred retirement plans is so good, and why so many plans are so bad. Read it, attend to its cautions, act on its recommendations, and when the time comes, enjoy a comfortable retirement.”
—John C. Bogle, Founder, The Vanguard Group

“Solin’s book will show you how to plug the leaks in your 401(k) and 403(b) plans, sidestep the minefields in your financial future sown by the investment industry, and get on the road to a secure retirement.”
—William Bernstein, author of A Splendid Exchange and The Four Pillars of Investing

“Dan Solin has produced a ‘retirement savings’ masterpiece: all will lament not being taught these lessons at the beginning of life’s journey!” —Brooks Hamilton, Senior Fellow with the National Center for Policy Analysis and co-author of NCPA’s Reinventing Retirement Income in America

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Perigee Trade (June 24, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399534520
• ISBN-13: 978-0399534522
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #46,871 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Financial Freedom Years Earlier, July 5, 2008

By	Allan S. Roth "dare_to_be_dull" (Colorado Springs, CO United States) - See all my reviews

Dan Solin's book, "The Smartest 401(k) Book You'll Ever Read", is a winner. His thesis is that investing should be simple, and he walks this talk by writing about investing in such a manner as to make it simple, fun, and easy to understand for the reader.

He offers far more than another book about how Wall Street and the insurance industry are ripping us off in our 401(k) and 403(b) retirement accounts. Though Mr. Solin does explain how our hard earned money is siphoned off by the "experts" that provide these plans, he also explains practical easy steps we can take to minimize the impact. These steps include:

* Using an IRA with better options.
* Rolling the 401(K) to the IRA when you leave an employer.
* Picking the "least bad" funds within a poor retirement plan.
* Choosing assets that fit with the rest of our nest egg.
* Joining the investment committee of our employer's plan.

Albert Einstein once said "if you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough." Dan Solin gets it and explains it with brilliant simplicity!

If you want financial independence years earlier, "The Smartest 401(k) Book You'll Ever Read" is for you. It will give you sound and simple advice that's equally simple to implement.

For those who make their fortunes from providing these outrageously expensive plans, you'll hate this book. Read it anyway.

21 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Needed by Tens of Millions , July 14, 2008

By	K. Johnson (US/Asia) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

With tens of millions of Americans depending on the 401K, "The Smartest 401K Book You'll Ever Read" can help beginners or those who need to increase their knowledge of their 401K plans. With the 4-O-1 (with or without employer matching), the US worker today is on his/her own to understand, manage, and shift asset allocation as efficiently as possible. The 401 is littered with numerous problems that are a disadvantage to the worker. Part of this is because of the lack of Congressional laws. The investment industry is comprised of leeches that feed off of your investments throughout your 40+ years of work.

Author Dan Solin provides helpful and necessary information for those who are currently in a 401, who will be, and also those who'll be switching jobs. After leaving an employer there are a multitude of options of where to put your 401K money. Solin does note the latent gimmicks and tricks that take your hard-earned money in hidden fees.

Ten of millions of Americans are now relying on Defined Contribution Plans (401Ks) as Defined Benefit Pension plans (Pensions) are now nearly extinct. How much of your 401K will go toward your medical and pharmaceutical drug costs when you're old? Will the old rule of withdrawing 4% of your principle without eating into the principle be enough for you to live off of? Tax-deferred means - deferred - not tax free. Will Congress change the rules on taxes, again and again, as they so often have? What will the average rate of return per annum be? What will the average rate of inflation be? We must make a variety assumptions and calculations.

Solin's advice and info is critical because those with 401Ks are statistically putting all of their eggs into 1 Financial Market Basket. This, is 1 basket contrary to what is often advocated: "diversify." You're in mutual funds with an allocation of stock, bonds, and money markets, and yes you can diversify, but within your limited plan provided to your by your employer and fiduciary. Solin wisely promotes rolling over 401K retirement money in IRAs for more control and more choices. And this, can only be done, when an employee leaves a company. Is the solution to resign from a company - quit your job say, every 5 years, just to roll over your 401K? Obviously, not. (The Roth 401K was enacted in January, 2006.)

In addition to the 401K, non tax-deferred Index Funds provide the freedom of withdraw and movement with out penalty, limitations, age restrictions, and index funds also have low tax rates as there is less churning. In addition to this book by Solin, "The Great 401K Hoax" is worthy of a read. "The Smartest 401K Book You'll Ever Read" is an informative and important book by Dan Solin. Heavily recommended.

27 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars This review could replace the book., August 17, 2008

By	Mark Spinosa (Richmond, KY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The title is very clever; the book, however, less than par. There are a few good points in the book which could be summed up in much fewer pages.

Basically, here's the summary of the book:
1.) Passively managed, commission free (or low commission) index funds perform much better (and have, historically) than hyper-actively managed, high commission funds.
2.) Diversification is key. Some good recommendations in book on suggested funds to have to achieve proper diversification, based on risk tolerance.
3.) The Roth IRA dominates. Open one if you're eligible.
4.) The majority of 403(b) plans suck, because most are involved in some fashion with annuities. If yours sucks, speak up or get screwed.

I might have missed a few things, but my FREE review is probably pretty close to the NOT FREE book I bought, and hopefully you're smart enough to avoid.