It's not your imagination: the wealthy "do" get wealthier, while you still struggle from paycheck to paycheck. In this eye-opening money manual, seasoned certified public accountant Joseph Rouse explores why millions of hard-working, middle-class Americans like you have such a hard time making ends meet and then delivers a no-fail plan for taking charge of your financial destiny.

Rouse examines today's social, political, and economic realities that force most people to work long hours and even multiple jobs just to get by. And he tells how and why, if you aren't careful, you will most certainly lose your ability to retire at all.

Rouse's must-have guide to financial freedom delivers the tools and guidance you need to stop feeling helpless and start managing your finances with confidence. With his straightforward, solid, empowering approach, you will learn how to overcome every obstacle placed in your way by politicians, mass media, and your own temptations; destroy debt forever; and get on your way to building an impressive nest egg for yourself and your family.

At last, anyone and everyone can get ahead, achieve financial security, and enjoy a much-deserved, rich retirement

This innovative volume presents the personal aspects of retirement--the feelings, pleasures, and problems of this life event, expressed in the words of retirees. The author considers work patterns prior to retirement, the decision-making process itself, and the aftermath of the decision to retire. This passage of worker to retiree addresses concerns and questions that are important to many of those about to retire: how working conditions and other factors can affect the decision to retire; problems of a workaholic; how to handle leisure interests on a full-time basis; widowhood and retirement; depression; retirement insurance; mandatory retirement; volunteer work; and many other topics. The retirees include men and women who are blue- and white-collar workers, hourly paid or salaried: CEO of a major international corporation; social worker; college instructor; dentist; journalist; production controller in manufacturing; automobile dealer. Thus readers can easily identify with others who have made this journey before them and share their experiences, becoming more knowledgeable and more confident about their futures.

Tell 'em That's MY Money You're Messing With is an invaluable resource for anyone who plans on one day retiring or who is already retired. It contains the fiduciary practices from The Center For Fiduciary Studies at The University of Pittsburgh making it an invaluable report for: All 401(k) participants; who unwittingly may be subjected to an employer's negligence, resulting in a hidden yet large loss to their portfolios. All employers who have delegated the 401(k) responsibilities to other professionals, believing they have abdicated their fiduciary responsibility. Most Important; All seniors who wish to safely stay ahead of inflation. Author Gordon Bell AIFA TM brings over 35 years of consumer research experience, going behind the Hidden Data Line to reveal what are essentially trade secrets. In a clear easy to understand language, Bell points out the steps that define prudence leading to a more secure and affluent retirement. Tell 'em That's MY Money You're Messing With, reveals a litany of fiduciary concerns that can lead to getting market like returns with no risk of principal, reducing taxes to 1.5 per cent, and owning long-term care insurance without the costly premium anyone contemplating retirement, no matter their current status.

How many Sunbelt residents have you ever met who have relocated to the Northeast to retire? Why is the vast percentage of migration between these two areas mostly in one direction? What is the lure of the Sunbelt? Why does it shine so brightly in the hearts and minds of Northeasterners? SHELDON BRODSKY (not his real identity) shares some of his own experiences and perspectives on this phenomenon in this humorous tract designed to tickle your ribs while sobering your expectations, many of which could possibly be based upon hearsay or misinformation. Wherever you plan to retire, his message is that you should not mindlessly migrate but rather LOOK BEFORE YOU LEAP, PROCEED WITH CAUTION, AND NEVER COMMIT TO YOUR NEW ENVIRONMENT INTRACTABLY

Every year, millions of Americans retire--and many of them wonder what went wrong. What they envisioned as a graceful pirouette into the golden years often leads instead to a rude awakening. Why? We all know about financial planning for retirement, but emotional and social planning is just as important. This book deals with the issues of purpose and structure, self-esteem, emotional and social roles, resources, and the special issues of women who retire. Based on the results of a survey of successful retirees, it helps readers to learn from their experiences and benefit from their own hard-won wisdom. In many ways, today's retirees are pioneers, charting new courses for their unprecedented long futures. This book looks at the changing faces, definitions, and models of retirement in order to help those who are looking forward to their own. It enables readers to identify and avoid some of the typical pitfalls of retirement: moving too quickly from a fast-paced schedule to a life of total leisure; giving up home, friends, and community to move to a strange location; expecting your spouse to cooperate with your own retirement plans; and doing too much--or too little.

Planning for retirement can be a scary thought, whether it is just around the corner or years in the future. Martin Hawes, one of New Zealand’s best-known experts on personal finance, answers all of the questions that may be keeping you up at night: How much will I need to retire? Can I ever afford to stop working? How do I make sure my money lasts as long as I do? Working out how you can achieve a regular monthly retirement income is more difficult than it used to be. Historically low interest rates (despite the current blip) plus longer life expectancy means the old method of parking your nest egg in a savings account and living off the interest is no longer an option. Hawes guides you step-by-step through the planning process, showing you how you can safely create a regular income for the rest of your life. Cracking Open the Nest Egg will help you to confidently take control of your financial future and achieve the kind of retirement you always dreamed of.

Fewer than 20% of Baby Boom women will experience a secure retirement. Marriage, education, occupation, home ownership--these variables predict their future. Possession of all four indicates retirement security, and absence of any increases risk of old-age poverty. This riveting sociological study also examines the social relations and structures that will determine the retirement experience, options, and decisions for more than 40 million Baby Boom women. These women's material base and social status are examined through the use of empirical data, and the key predictors of their retirement are identified.

The massive entry of Baby Boom women into the labor force increases the importance of retirement planning for working women. It comes at a time when existing research models and data are outdated and inadequate to effectively predict their future retirement experience. Over the past 30 years, American men and their spouses have benefited from the linear, undifferentiated model of the traditional male retirement. For the Baby Boom generation, however, the nature of work has changed significantly. The current retirement model may not serve Baby Boom men as well as in the past, let alone Baby Boom women. In contrast, this book offers a new, dynamic model that considers the social and work structures influencing women's lives and that accurately reflects the predictors and parameters of Baby Boom women's retirement.

Charlie Emery has been an active, self-taught investor for over twenty years. He has invested in his 401K plan at work as well as regular and Roth IRAs. He has learned the hard way, by trial and error, what does and doesn't work. Building on that experience, You Can Do It Yourself Investor's Guide seeks help today's working investor, most of whom will not have a traditional pension plan to fall back on when they retire.

If you are familiar with or willing to learn to work with a spreadsheet program like Excel; you can chart your own investments effectively. By spending a few hours each week managing your own investments and following a disciplined plan of action for your investments, you can plan for your long-term financial health. Emery also provides a top-down plan for the ETF investor who doesn't have a lot of time or money to spend managing their portfolio, along with a bottom-up plan that takes a little more time, but offers better rewards. This helpful guide can help you make your way past the financial planners and investment advisors who promise you big returns, but rarely deliver on their promises.

You can manage your own investments and plan your financial future effectively. The time to start is now.

Mike and Barbara Bivona have danced their way around the world, embracing the colorful rhythms of each country and culture in their travels. Now, Mike, the author of Dancing Around the World with Mike and Barbara Bivona, returns to share more of their globe-trotting adventures in part one of a new travel memoir series. While cruising the islands, they witnessed lava flowing into the surf off the shores of Hawaii and danced on a nightclub floor that once saw the white-uniformed officers of the warships anchored at the naval station in Pearl Harbor. Mike describes the thrill and challenge of learning the intricate steps of the Argentine tango in Buenos Aires and, more importantly, absorbing its proper attitude from master dancers. The brimstone fumes wreathing the slopes of Mt. Vesuvius transported them back in time, as the frozen bodies of the unlucky residents of Pompeii and Herculaneum-as well as the evidence of Romans' lively erotic imagination left on walls and sculptured into clay-inspired numerous colorful conversations. Mike and Barbara's shared passion for art and history has led them to seek out the haunts of other lovers of adventure-Columbus, Ponce de Leon, General Custer, circus impresario John Ringling, and the elderly jazz musicians in New Orleans. Part memoir and part travelogue, this volume offers you a trip around the world with the Bivonas-without ever leaving your chair.

Retirement is a time ripe with exciting possibilities that offer fresh choices and the opportunity for a brand new start. Expectations are high now that you have the time and the resource to finally fulfil some long-held wishes and you can now start living the kind of life you've always dreamed of. But retirement is also a time of huge adjustment, both financially and emotionally. All those supposedly life-changing opportunities and choices can, in reality, seem confusing and overwhelming; you've lost your previous professional identity and the prospect of those long, empty days can appear daunting, dull and depressing. So how do you make sure that your retirement turns out to be everything you've always hoped it would be? Brilliant Retirement will help you weigh-up and clearly think through all the opportunities and possibilities that retirement is likely to present and will show you how to plan and prepare so you can approach and live out your retirement with confidence. Deciding when to retire is the first step and these days the choices available are more diverse than ever. Reduced hours, voluntary work, flexible working and career changes are just some of the alternatives to simply stopping work. But how do you choose which, and when, is right for you? Brilliant Retirement will explain all the options, helping you make reasoned and well-informed decisions. Financial concerns are a big consideration and often at the top of any retiree's list. So Brilliant Retirement will help you assess your current and future financial position to make sure it is healthy and robust enough to cope with the likely demands of retirement. A fit mind and body are vital and this book offers a wealth of advice on remaining physically fit and mentally sharp so you can enjoy a long, happy and fulfilling retirement. How do you fill and make the most of all that extra time you'll suddenly have? And how do you manage and adjust to the inevitable changes you will experience in your relationships? Brilliant Retirement will explain what may happen and why, it'll describe the pitfalls to avoid and show you how to make some small changes that will ensure all remains fine on the home front. This book is the culmination of one retired man's mission to bring together everything he wishes he had known when he was retiring; all the information and advice he was unable find when he needed it most. The result is an enlightening, informative and practical combination of personal experiences and the latest research which will help you to make your retirement the best, most happy and most fulfilling time of your life.

Craft your complete retirement plan with help from this straightforward and robust blueprint In the newly revised Third Edition of The New Retirement: The Ultimate Guide to the Rest of Your Life, best-selling and award-winning retirement author Jan Cullinane delivers an organized, engaging, and holistic treatment of retirement planning. With extensive updates and additions throughout, the book includes surveys, questionnaires, and worksheets to help readers understand and apply the critical steps affecting retirement planning. In this book, you'll also find: Fresh and informative examples from real people about all aspects of their retirement journey, from savings and tax issues to location selection to second careers/remote work, and leaving a legacy Thorough explorations of niche retirement lifestyles, established locations, and new retirement communities Discussions of critical issues affecting potential and current retirees, including health, relationships, politics, climate, demographics, and working Perfect for anyone contemplating full or phased retirement, as well as for those who are already retired, The New Retirement, 3rd edition, is an invaluable handbook for planning the penultimate chapter of your life.

"Dychtwald and Morison offer a brilliant and convincing perspective: an essential re-think of what 'aging' and 'retirement' mean today and an invitation to help mobilize the best in the tidal wave of Boomer Third Agers." --Daniel Goleman, PhD, Author, Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ Throughout 99 percent of human history, life expectancy at birth was less than 18 years. Few people had a chance to age. Today, thanks to extraordinary medical, demographic, and economic shifts, most of us expect to live long lives. Consequently, the world is witnessing a powerful new version of retirement, driven by the power and needs of the Baby Boomer generation. Consumers over age 50 account for more than half of all spending and control more than 70% of our total net worth - yet are largely ignored by youth-focused marketers. How will work, family, and retirement be transformed to accommodate two billion people over the age of 60 worldwide? In the coming years, we'll see explosive business growth fueled by this unprecedented longevity revolution. What Retirees Want presents the culmination of 30 years of research by world-famous "Age Wave" expert Ken Dychtwald, Ph.D., and author and consultant Robert Morison. It explains how the aging of the Baby Boomers will forever change our lives, businesses, government programs, and the consumer marketplace. This exciting new stage of life, the "Third Age," poses daunting questions: What will "old" look like in the years ahead? With continued advances in longevity, all of the traditional life-stage markers and boundaries will need to be adjusted. What new products and services will boom as a result of this coming longevity revolution? What unconscious ageist marketing practices are hurting people - and business growth? Will the majority of elder boomers outlive their pensions and retirement savings and how can this financial disaster be prevented? What incredible new technologies of medicine, life extension, and human enhancement await us in the near future? What purposeful new roles can we create for elder boomers so that the aging nations of the Americas, Europe, and Asia capitalize on the upsides of aging? Which pioneering organizations and companies worldwide have created marketing strategies and programs that resonate with the quirky and demanding Boomer generation? In this entertaining, thought-provoking, and wide-ranging book, Dychtwald and Morison explain how individuals, businesses, non-profits, and governments can best prepare for a new era - where the needs and demands of the "Third Age" will set the lifestyle, health, social, marketplace, and political priorities of generations to come.

Over time, the responsibility for providing for a financially secure retirement has shifted towards the individual. Building on a new structure applied to insights drawn from behavioral finance, this book analyzes the perspectives of individuals with regard to their financial situation in retirement and compares the actions they take with ideal behavior. The work provides new insights into the broadly defined topic of individual retirement-specific financial planning behavior.

Do you know your Number?
What happens if you don't make it to your Number?
Do you have a plan?
The often-avoided, anxiety-riddled discussion about financial planning for a secure and fulfilling future has been given a new starting point in "The Number" by Lee Eisenberg. The buzz of professionals and financial industry insiders everywhere, the Number represents the amount of money and resources people will need to enjoy the active life they desire, especially post-career. Backed by imaginative reporting and insights, Eisenberg urges people to assume control and responsibility for their standard of living, and take greater aim on their long-term aspirations.
From Wall Street to Main Street USA, the Number means different things to different people. It is constantly fluctuating in people's minds and bank accounts. To some, the Number symbolizes freedom, validation of career success, the ticket to luxurious indulgences and spiritual exploration; to others, it represents the bewildering and nonsensical nightmare of an impoverished existence creeping up on them in their old age, a seemingly hopeless inevitability that they would rather simply ignore than confront. People are highly private and closed-mouthed when it comes to discussing their Numbers, or lack thereof, for fear they might either reveal too much or display ineptitude.
In "The Number," Eisenberg describes this secret anxiety as the "Last Taboo," a conundrum snared in confusing financial lingo. He sorts through the fancy jargon and translates the Number into commonsense advice that resonates just as easily with the aging gods and goddesses of corporate boardrooms as it does with ordinary people who are beginning to realize that retirement is now just a couple of decades away. Believing that the Number is as much about self-worth as it is net worth, Eisenberg strives to help readers better understand and more efficiently manage all aspects of their life, money, and pursuit of happiness.