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Retire Inspired: It's Not an Age, It's a Financial Number Hardcover – January 12, 2016
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This is your retirement wake-up call. In Retire Inspired Chris Hogan will transform the way you think about your future. Learn how to make smart decisions now to help you live your retirement dreams.
You don’t have to retire broke, stressed, and working long after you want to. Whether you’re twenty-five or fifty-five, Retire Inspired will equip you with a plan to:
- Evaluate and change your current money situation
- Make wise investing decisions
- Set reasonable retirement expectations
- Build a dream team of experts to help you succeed
- Print length256 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherRamsey Press
- Publication dateJanuary 12, 2016
- Dimensions6.5 x 1 x 9.5 inches
- ISBN-101937077810
- ISBN-13978-1937077815
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- Publisher : Ramsey Press; First Edition (January 12, 2016)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 256 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1937077810
- ISBN-13 : 978-1937077815
- Item Weight : 1.2 pounds
- Dimensions : 6.5 x 1 x 9.5 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #112,250 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #167 in Retirement Planning (Books)
- #366 in Budgeting & Money Management (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
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About the author

Chris Hogan is a #1 national best-selling author, dynamic speaker and financial expert. For more than a decade, Hogan has served at Ramsey Solutions, spreading a message of hope to audiences across the country as a financial coach and Ramsey Personality. Hogan challenges and equips people to take control of their money and reach their financial goals, using The Chris Hogan Show, his national TV appearances, and live events across the nation.
His second book, Everyday Millionaire: How Ordinary People Built Extraordinary Wealth—And How You Can Too releases January 2019 and is based on the largest study of net-worth millionaires ever conducted. You can follow Chris Hogan on Twitter and Instagram at@ChrisHogan360 and online at chrishogan360.com or facebook.com/chrishogan360.
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Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonReviewed in the United States on January 15, 2016
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* Context *
If the name Dave Ramsey doesn't sound familiar, it definitely will by time you get a few pages into this book. Chris Hogan is, afterall, a full-fledged "Ramsey Personality" that operates under the Dave Ramsey brand. As such, nearly everything in Retire Inspired is consistent with Dave's advice and brand. In the context of Dave Ramsey's 7 Baby Steps (made famous in his Total Money Makeover book), Retire Inspired is really about steps 4-7. If you want to get anything out of this book, you should already be through steps 1-3 before worrying about your retirement, unless you plan on re-reading this later on when you get there. Both Chris and Dave strongly recommend doing these steps in the proper order. In a nutshell, steps 1-3 are being free of all non-mortgage debt and having an emergency fund of 3-6 months of expenses. The foreword of this book (by Dave Ramsey) briefly recaps these seven baby steps and it is important to understand them before delving into Retire Inspired as they are constantly referenced throughout.
* Chris Hogan *
Like many, I first heard of Chris Hogan by his many guest appearances on the Dave Ramsey show. There is a reason he is marketed as the "Voice of Retirement". Retirement is the topic he specializes in and THAT VOICE. Seriously, I would recommend anyone interested in reading Retire Inspired first listen to just ten minutes of him speaking, so that you'll be able to read the entire book in his voice rather than in the voice of a faceless financial guru. It's deep, powerful, and attention-grabbing. In fact, I would love to go through it again in the audiobook format. He speaks with confidence and finesse, and getting to know a little bit more about who he is really does enhance the reading experience.
Throughout the book, Chris makes many topics more relatable by tying them into many interesting stores from his life, and the lives of others he met through his experiences as a financial counselor. Some of these stories are kind of predictable, but some of them do very well at hammering home the message that regardless of your age, you can't ignore the importance of starting your retirement planning *now*. I've heard Dave Ramsey mention in jest the fictional book "100 Ways to Prepare Alpo" multiple times, as a deterrent to ignoring retirement planning, but Chris actually recounts a story of someone in his life that had nothing but dog food in their pantry post-retirement. Yet she did not own a dog.
* Topics Covered *
Each topic is usually introduced with one of Chris' personal stories where he finds a way to wrap it into a retirement lesson. As you would expect, he covers budgeting, types and methods of investing, tax-advantaged accounts, insurance products to get and avoid, and how to avoid many pitfalls that have ruined the retirements of countless others. The core message is to dream big, but put that dream on paper so you can make it happen.
While a couple of the topics (history of a 401(k)) might not excite someone with a decent knowledge of finance, there is plenty of advice in there that almost anyone should be able to learn something. I went into the book with a pretty good background in finance, so the topics I found most interesting were more centered around behavior and relationships. Afterall, it's hard to retire inspired when your uninspired thirty-year-old son is still living in your basement.
* Consistency *
This is through-and-through a Dave Ramsey book. It is almost 100% consistent with anything I've ever heard Dave advise on his show or in his publications. Had they changed the text and picture on the cover of the book, you could have told me Dave wrote it and I would believe you. Here are some of the familiar concepts you'll read in Retire Inspired:
- Save at least 15% for retirement, but only after all non-mortgage debt is paid off
- Invest in mutual funds, not single stocks or bonds, evenly across these four categories: Growth, Growth & Income, Aggressive Growth, and International
- Get term life & long-term disability insurance, avoid whole life insurance
- Make a plan to have your home paid off before retirement
- Have a will and estate plan
- Retire a millionaire on only a couple hundred bucks a month (if you start early enough)
The only thing I noticed different from Dave's advice is all investment projections throughout Retire Inspired use a 10% return assumption instead of Dave's usual 12%. But the 12% debate gets old and is so distracting to worthwhile discussion that I am actually happy about this. His detractors constantly beat him up over the optimistic 12% figure, but they are missing the point. Whether you get 6, 10, or 12 percent, what matters is that you are constantly investing. Because even if you only end up with a 6% return, you'll end up with a significantly better retirement than people too busy whining about rates of return to bother actually investing.
* Call to Action *
Early on, you'll be prompted to find your Retirement IQ (R:IQ) from his website, ChrisHogan360 dot com. This will ask you some questions and spit out a dollar amount that can help you get started with a gameplan and a good idea of where you need to be now, to end up where you want to be at retirement. As he frequently says, retirement is a number, not an age.
Near the end of the book, Chris gives a great gameplan summary tailored to each age group (20s, 30s, 40s, etc). An inspired retirement is within your reach no matter when you start, but since you can't escape the reality of math, the later you wait, the more pressure you'll have to keep up. As you are still young, there is more importance of starting regular retirement contributions, regardless of how little or much you can contribute to it. Time and compounding are your friend. As you get closer to retirement, it becomes more important to make sure you safeguard it with the proper insurance and planning, as well as avoiding relationships, habits, and poor decisions that can quickly destroy decades worth of progress. If this book can even motivate you to save and invest a few bucks extra each month, you'll end up better off during retirement to the tune of thousands of dollars.
* Summary *
Retire Inspired for me, was reinforcement of many great ideas I have already subscribed to as a big Dave Ramsey fan. But even if you aren't a fan, now is a great time to become one. If you never even get past Dave's foreword in the book, you'll benefit immensely as I have from simply implementing the seven Baby Steps in your financial plan. It's simple, yet solid and proven advice to set yourself up for unbelievable prosperity.
I have followed all of Dave's and Chris' advice in my own life and can personally attest to its effectiveness. It's not fancy or complicated, but it works, and is the reason my wife and I were able to pay off our house and do our debt-free scream live on Dave's show a few weeks ago. In fact, its simplicity is far more a pro than a con. It won't leave you confused and wondering what the heck you're doing like many other financial advisers I've listened to. It is the reason I have confidence in my own retirement outlook and I can easily recommend it to anyone else who wants to experience true financial peace. I would have loved for Chris to go even more deep into detail about some topics, such as mutual fund selection, or setting up a will. But I have a feeling we will be seeing and hearing much more from Chris Hogan, and I look forward to getting even more inspiration to help me retire with dignity and leave a legacy for future generations.
Reviewed in the United States on January 15, 2016
* Context *
If the name Dave Ramsey doesn't sound familiar, it definitely will by time you get a few pages into this book. Chris Hogan is, afterall, a full-fledged "Ramsey Personality" that operates under the Dave Ramsey brand. As such, nearly everything in Retire Inspired is consistent with Dave's advice and brand. In the context of Dave Ramsey's 7 Baby Steps (made famous in his Total Money Makeover book), Retire Inspired is really about steps 4-7. If you want to get anything out of this book, you should already be through steps 1-3 before worrying about your retirement, unless you plan on re-reading this later on when you get there. Both Chris and Dave strongly recommend doing these steps in the proper order. In a nutshell, steps 1-3 are being free of all non-mortgage debt and having an emergency fund of 3-6 months of expenses. The foreword of this book (by Dave Ramsey) briefly recaps these seven baby steps and it is important to understand them before delving into Retire Inspired as they are constantly referenced throughout.
* Chris Hogan *
Like many, I first heard of Chris Hogan by his many guest appearances on the Dave Ramsey show. There is a reason he is marketed as the "Voice of Retirement". Retirement is the topic he specializes in and THAT VOICE. Seriously, I would recommend anyone interested in reading Retire Inspired first listen to just ten minutes of him speaking, so that you'll be able to read the entire book in his voice rather than in the voice of a faceless financial guru. It's deep, powerful, and attention-grabbing. In fact, I would love to go through it again in the audiobook format. He speaks with confidence and finesse, and getting to know a little bit more about who he is really does enhance the reading experience.
Throughout the book, Chris makes many topics more relatable by tying them into many interesting stores from his life, and the lives of others he met through his experiences as a financial counselor. Some of these stories are kind of predictable, but some of them do very well at hammering home the message that regardless of your age, you can't ignore the importance of starting your retirement planning *now*. I've heard Dave Ramsey mention in jest the fictional book "100 Ways to Prepare Alpo" multiple times, as a deterrent to ignoring retirement planning, but Chris actually recounts a story of someone in his life that had nothing but dog food in their pantry post-retirement. Yet she did not own a dog.
* Topics Covered *
Each topic is usually introduced with one of Chris' personal stories where he finds a way to wrap it into a retirement lesson. As you would expect, he covers budgeting, types and methods of investing, tax-advantaged accounts, insurance products to get and avoid, and how to avoid many pitfalls that have ruined the retirements of countless others. The core message is to dream big, but put that dream on paper so you can make it happen.
While a couple of the topics (history of a 401(k)) might not excite someone with a decent knowledge of finance, there is plenty of advice in there that almost anyone should be able to learn something. I went into the book with a pretty good background in finance, so the topics I found most interesting were more centered around behavior and relationships. Afterall, it's hard to retire inspired when your uninspired thirty-year-old son is still living in your basement.
* Consistency *
This is through-and-through a Dave Ramsey book. It is almost 100% consistent with anything I've ever heard Dave advise on his show or in his publications. Had they changed the text and picture on the cover of the book, you could have told me Dave wrote it and I would believe you. Here are some of the familiar concepts you'll read in Retire Inspired:
- Save at least 15% for retirement, but only after all non-mortgage debt is paid off
- Invest in mutual funds, not single stocks or bonds, evenly across these four categories: Growth, Growth & Income, Aggressive Growth, and International
- Get term life & long-term disability insurance, avoid whole life insurance
- Make a plan to have your home paid off before retirement
- Have a will and estate plan
- Retire a millionaire on only a couple hundred bucks a month (if you start early enough)
The only thing I noticed different from Dave's advice is all investment projections throughout Retire Inspired use a 10% return assumption instead of Dave's usual 12%. But the 12% debate gets old and is so distracting to worthwhile discussion that I am actually happy about this. His detractors constantly beat him up over the optimistic 12% figure, but they are missing the point. Whether you get 6, 10, or 12 percent, what matters is that you are constantly investing. Because even if you only end up with a 6% return, you'll end up with a significantly better retirement than people too busy whining about rates of return to bother actually investing.
* Call to Action *
Early on, you'll be prompted to find your Retirement IQ (R:IQ) from his website, ChrisHogan360 dot com. This will ask you some questions and spit out a dollar amount that can help you get started with a gameplan and a good idea of where you need to be now, to end up where you want to be at retirement. As he frequently says, retirement is a number, not an age.
Near the end of the book, Chris gives a great gameplan summary tailored to each age group (20s, 30s, 40s, etc). An inspired retirement is within your reach no matter when you start, but since you can't escape the reality of math, the later you wait, the more pressure you'll have to keep up. As you are still young, there is more importance of starting regular retirement contributions, regardless of how little or much you can contribute to it. Time and compounding are your friend. As you get closer to retirement, it becomes more important to make sure you safeguard it with the proper insurance and planning, as well as avoiding relationships, habits, and poor decisions that can quickly destroy decades worth of progress. If this book can even motivate you to save and invest a few bucks extra each month, you'll end up better off during retirement to the tune of thousands of dollars.
* Summary *
Retire Inspired for me, was reinforcement of many great ideas I have already subscribed to as a big Dave Ramsey fan. But even if you aren't a fan, now is a great time to become one. If you never even get past Dave's foreword in the book, you'll benefit immensely as I have from simply implementing the seven Baby Steps in your financial plan. It's simple, yet solid and proven advice to set yourself up for unbelievable prosperity.
I have followed all of Dave's and Chris' advice in my own life and can personally attest to its effectiveness. It's not fancy or complicated, but it works, and is the reason my wife and I were able to pay off our house and do our debt-free scream live on Dave's show a few weeks ago. In fact, its simplicity is far more a pro than a con. It won't leave you confused and wondering what the heck you're doing like many other financial advisers I've listened to. It is the reason I have confidence in my own retirement outlook and I can easily recommend it to anyone else who wants to experience true financial peace. I would have loved for Chris to go even more deep into detail about some topics, such as mutual fund selection, or setting up a will. But I have a feeling we will be seeing and hearing much more from Chris Hogan, and I look forward to getting even more inspiration to help me retire with dignity and leave a legacy for future generations.
The R:IQ tool mentioned in the book is a free modeling tool that you can use to see how much you need to save monthly to be able to retire in the number of years you enter. You can play around with the numbers, such as changing the number of years until you retire, to see how it affects the amount you need to contribute monthly. It gave me comfort that I'm on track to get where I need to be, and after tweaking my numbers a bit, it even made me realize that I may very well be able to retire earlier than originally planned!!
The most enlightening part for me was when Chris explained the various types of investments. Normally my eyes glaze over when I start hearing about stocks and bonds, but Chris explained it in a way that was not only easy to understand, but enjoyable to read. He uses great analogies throughout the book. Here's to looking forward to my "want to" years, rather than my "have to" years. There is hope!
Worse though, there are several mistakes - or perhaps "incomplete" info in the book. On Page 158 he describes how investment advisors get paid. "The first way is fee-based which means the investment professional will charge you a flat fee annually"". NO NO NO. That is Fee ONLY (and the one you want). Fee BASED means an advisors gets compensated both by client AND by commissions. That statement is so misleading on one of the most critical points to select an advisor. He never talks about transparency and that Fee ONLY are the only fiduciaries (which he never refers to or explains).
Page 211 talks about the estate tax. He never mentions that it kicks in at 5.49 (2017) million so LESS THAN 1% ever pay it. I guarantee anybody that is his target audience is never paying it.
Same page he talks about gift taxes and says "believe it or not giving someone a big cash gift
Can open them up to a huge tax bill". WHAT? A recipient is NEVER required to pay tax but the giver MAY be required to file a gift tax form but nothing will be due unless the estate is above the 5.49 limit!! (States may have lower limits but still..). AND he stated the 2015 gift limit was $15000. WHERE does he get this? It was $14000 in 2015 and $14,000 today as well. IF a book writing advisor doesnt know this how can you trust anything??? Sheesh just use a smart phone to fact check. Did Dave Ramsey even read it when he endorsed the mistakes??
Hogans intent is good, his message is fair (not sure about inspiring) but there is a lot lacking There are definitely better financial advice books out there.
Top reviews from other countries
While written for the American market, it's just as valid for Europeans. Ignore the references to 401(k)s, and research relevant or similar schemes in your own country. The core principles remain the same.
This book has inspired me. Worth every cent. (I bought the e-book version.)











