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17 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Common Sense Advice That Really IS, April 15, 2003
I've been helping people with retirement, financial, and estate planning problems for over thirty years, and this book is as good a source of SOUND, SENSIBLE advice on retirement planning as any I've found.Retirement Planning isn't Rocket Science. But it CAN get complicated, particularly when you're listening to someone more interested in displaying his or her expertise than in helping you to understand what to DO. Alas, many advisors, even when they really ARE trying to help, inspire more confusion than understanding because they're focused on MEASUREMENTS. "Alpha", "Beta", "Standard Deviation", and the like. Those are mathematical measures, statistical concepts which sometimes (but not always) are helpful in understanding the statistics - the NUMBERS we deal with in financial planning. But financial planning isn't about NUMBERS. Rule Number One in my practice says - "90% of financial planning is EMOTIONAL; only about 10% is about NUMBERS." Paul Grangaard and Larry Atkins understand this VERY well. I've been privileged to talk with (and, sometimes, argue with) Paul and Larry on various occasions. Twice, we were speakers at the same financial planning event. I'm pretty good, if I say so myself, at speaking on retirement planning, but Paul's better. His delivery is so darned CLEAR, it's like a cold shower on a blistering hot day. And it's that way, partly because Paul's a heck of a public speaker, but MOSTLY because his MESSAGE is VERY SIMPLE and ABSOLUTELY TRUE. If you want to understand WHY managing money AFTER retirement is COMPLETELY DIFFERENT from managing money BEFORE retirement, and ESPECIALLY if you want to understand how to deal with what I call "The One Big Risk" in retirement income planning, READ THIS BOOK. The "One Big Risk" can be stated in the form of a question. It's this: "What are the chances that my account balance will fall to zero before my blood pressure does?" MOST retirement planning methodologies are CLUELESS about this. Paul Grangaard's strategy understands it perfectly, and provides consumers (and ADVISORS who are willing to listen) with a sound, clearly understandable, and workable method of assessing and dealing with this One Big Risk. Thanks, Paul and Larry, from a fellow practitioner and a big fan, John L. Olsen, CLU, ChFC Principal: Olsen Financial Group St. Louis, MO
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