Your Complete Retirement Planning Road Map: A Comprehensive Action Plan for Securing IRAs, 401(k)s, and Other Retirement Plans for Yourself and Your Family [Paperback]

Ed Slott (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 26, 2007

Corporate pensions are disappearing. Social Security is in trouble. And the sizable postwar generation is reaching retirement age. With the futures of millions of Americans at stake, Ed Slott, the country’s foremost retirement planning adviser, now offers expert advice on weathering the perfect storm of financial instability that looms on the horizon. Your Complete Retirement Planning Road Map provides clear step-by-step directions through the highways and byways of IRAs, 401(k)s, 403(b)s, and other major accounts.

In five focused sections, Slott combines crucial facts with checklists and questionnaires to teach investors and beneficiaries alike the best way to save and to maximize an inheritance. Inside you’ll discover

• an overview of every retirement savings account you own–from what it is and where it is to who gets it and how, plus where to put important data
• how to properly fill out retirement account beneficiary forms so that money goes to whomever you choose and not to relatives who pop up out of nowhere
• what to do when you inherit so that you won’t lose any tax benefits or make a mistake that could wipe out an inherited fortune that took years to build up
• how to handle out-of-the-box issues such as divorce or incapacity; tax issues for unmarried partners; decisions about trusts
• how to determine whether your professional retirement adviser is really up to the task of preserving and protecting your money
• the most up-to-date information on tax laws, including the Pension Protection Act, which provides major new retirement incentives that you can take advantage of

Your Complete Retirement Planning Road Map is an indispensable planning solution that is sure to become the standard how-to on a complex subject that is becoming relevant to more people every day.

“IRA savant Ed Slott [helps] you make the most of your retirement earnings or inherited account.”
–USA Today

“Ed Slott knows more about the care and feeding of IRAs than anybody else.”
–Newsday

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Ed Slott knows more about the care and feeding of IRAs than anybody else.”
–Newsday

“It would be tough to find anyone who knows more about IRAs than CPA Slott.”
–USA Today

“The best source of IRA advice.”
–The Wall Street Journal


From the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

Ed Slott is a nationally recognized retirement account expert and a professional speaker at conferences nationwide. He hosts www.irahelp.com, which provides retirement resources for both consumers and professional advisors. He created Ed Slott’s Elite IRA Advisor Group, an exclusive registry of financial advisors. Slott is the author of Parlay Your IRA into a Family Fortune and The Retirement Savings Time Bomb and How to Defuse It. He publishes “Ed Slott’s IRA Advisor,” a monthly newsletter for financial professionals. He is a frequent contributor to The New York Times, The Washington Post, Newsday, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Time, Newsweek, Fortune, Forbes, Money, and USA Today, and has appeared on all major networks. He lives on Long Island.


From the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (December 26, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345494563
• ISBN-13: 978-0345494566
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.8 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #81,822 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ed Slott was named "The Best" source for IRA advice by The Wall Street Journal and called "America's IRA Expert" by Mutual Funds Magazine. Ed is a widely recognized professional speaker and educator specializing in retirement distribution planning, teaching both financial advisors and consumers how to best take advantage of our complicated tax code.

Ed has created the nationally aired Public Television specials, including the all-new "Ed Slott's Retirement Rescue!", "Lower Your Taxes! Now and Forever", "Stay Rich for Life!" and "Stay Rich Forever & Ever with Ed Slott", which have been viewed by millions across America.

He also established the IRA Leadership Program and Ed Slott's Elite IRA Advisor Group, which were developed specifically to help financial institutions and advisors, financial advisor firms and insurance companies become recognized leaders in the IRA marketplace.

Ed is the author of The Retirement Savings Time Bomb and How to Defuse it (Penguin, 2012), Ed Slott's Retirement Decisions Guide: 2011 Edition (Ed Slott, 2010), Stay Rich for Life! (Ballantine Books, 2009), Parlay Your IRA Into a Family Fortune (Penguin, 2008), Your Complete Retirement Planning Road Map (Ballantine Books, 2007), and Ed Slott's IRA Advisor, a monthly IRA newsletter. He also writes personal finance columns for numerous financial publications and co-authored an extensive special report with Harry Dent titled, Taxing Away Your Wealth.

Ed has been quoted in The New York Times, Newsday, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, Time, Newsweek, Fortune Magazine, Forbes Magazine, Money Magazine, Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine, USA Today, Bloomberg Personal, Investor's Business Daily, Smart Money and a host of additional national magazines and financial publications. He has appeared on NBC, ABC, CBS, CNBC, CNN, FOX, PBS, National Public Radio, and Bloomberg TV and radio.

You can learn more at: www.IRAhelp.com
Read informative articles at: www.theslottreport.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not Retirement PLANNING, but Retirement ACCOUNTS, January 11, 2009

By 

Searcher (Lakewood, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Your Complete Retirement Planning Road Map: A Comprehensive Action Plan for Securing IRAs, 401(k)s, and Other Retirement Plans for Yourself and Your Family (Paperback)

There are pros and cons with this book. The biggest "con" is the title. This book is not about Retirement Planning (Social Security, pensions, spending your time, health, long term care insurance, etc) but about Retirement Accounts (IRAs, Roths, 401k's) and everything you need to know about them. I think the title should have been "Your Complete Retirement Accounts Road Map".

With that out of the way, you should know that Ed Slott is an expert on these accounts and the writing is quite readable. This book does not talk about what to invest in, but rather the rules and options to consider for these accounts. About 1/3 of the book discusses the ownership of these accounts (accumulation and retirement distribution phases), 1/3 discusses inheriting these assets (which very few books talk about), and 1/3 talks about special cases, such as divorce, incapacity, early distributions, converting traditional IRAs to a Roth, etc. He talks about things that can go wrong and how to prevent them, from listing beneficiaries incorrectly to following up to see that the custodian (investment company) followed your instructions correctly. The emphasis is on IRAs, rather than 401k's since there are too many ways that a company can customize their 401k plan.

The reason I did not give this 5 stars is that possibly the presentation could be better. Each chapter has a checklist that often has items that point to other chapters for detailed info. There are also many Q&A boxes sprinkled throughout the text. Although the question and his answer are usually interesting, they break up the flow of the text.

Anyone who has significant assets in an IRA or hopes to some day should read this book, whether or not (s)he uses a financial adviser. There are topics mentioned that most people don't think about that should be discussed with the adviser and the reader will have a good background after reading this.

26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Like most finacial guides just a taste..., December 19, 2008

By 

Lawrence Towers - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Your Complete Retirement Planning Road Map: A Comprehensive Action Plan for Securing IRAs, 401(k)s, and Other Retirement Plans for Yourself and Your Family (Paperback)

Like most financial guides a lot of fluff and low on details. Almost every other sentence is consult with a professional...
We don't buy these books for generalizations and common sense information. We buy them for details that we can't find elsewhere. To use the roadmap analogy, this book is like using a single sheet US Roadmap to plan a hike through the northwest forests.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Goes beyond theory, tells you what to do, January 27, 2009

By 

James Lange (Pittsburgh, PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Your Complete Retirement Planning Road Map: A Comprehensive Action Plan for Securing IRAs, 401(k)s, and Other Retirement Plans for Yourself and Your Family (Paperback)

Most retirement plan and IRA books cover general principles but never get down to helping you implement the advice given. Ed gives specific instructions to help you get your IRAs and retirement plans in order. If you read this book and do what Ed advises, you will be ahead of 99% of IRA and retirement plan owners.

James Lange, CPA/JD, Author Retire Secure! Pay Taxes Later