Book Review--Retirement Quest: Make Better Decisions

Retirement Quest: Make Better Decisions is not the type of book you'd normally find on my nightstand. But when I was asked to review it, I couldn't resist. After all, I knew I'd get major brownie points from my husband, who would be impressed that I was reading something that might actually help us financially. (Most of the time my reading habit is not very financially beneficial--quite the opposite, in fact.) Sure enough, as soon as he saw the not-so-typical cover--there's no mistaking it's NOT a work of fiction by the looks of it!--he was intrigued. "What's that you're reading?" he asked. When I showed him he was QUITE impressed and didn't even complain when I wanted to leave the light on a little longer.

But beyond impressing those you love with your sensible side, this book is a perfect fit for those who are thinking along the lines of retirement. And honestly, shouldn't we all be going there in our minds? As a member of the thirty-something crowd, I've known for some time now that depending on the security of Social Security is NOT the answer for me. If any of it is left for my age group by the time we hit our golden years, it will be a miracle. Hauserman tells us, for example, that by law, once the socical security fund is exhausted--"it is anticipated that this will occur around the year 2030--the benefit formula is to be rewritten based upon the economics of the program at that time. In simple terms, this means that we should expect, IF ALL GOES WELL, that around the year 2030 we will experience a benefit cut of about 50%." For me this means the fund will likely experience a 50% decrease in pay outs 10 years before I'm even ready to retire. So with most of us living longer--I'm hoping for 100 at least--planning for retirement has never been more important.

I particularly liked Hauserman's positive spin on this dismal reality, though, when he tells us how good it is, ultimately, for our entire country if we all are self-prepared for retirement, because the financial health of a nation depends on the financial health of its people. I love a call to action.

Now because this is my first time ever reading a book on retirement planning, and my experience with books on finance is limited at best, parts of this book really stretched my comprehension and made me realize how much more I need to understand. But Hauserman succeeded in getting me interested in learning more, and I do feel better equipped now to consider other options in my own retirement quest, thanks to the observations and instructions given in this book. It is a great resource for future planning, which for me, needs to start NOW.

To purchase this book, click here. HERE.
To visit the author's awesome website click HERE.