For millions of Americans, the COVID shock has brought retirement saving to an abrupt halt—now it’s time to get back on track. Even before the pandemic, a large share of households by Americans over age 50 faced the threat that their living standards would decline sharply in retirement. In the wake of COVID-19, these numbers will surely worsen. In Retirement Reboot: Commonsense Financial Strategies for Getting Back on Track, finance writer and regular New York Times retirement contributor Mark Miller offers practical strategies for Americans to improve their retirement prospects. If you’re nearing retirement age and worry you haven’t saved enough, Retirement Reboot will walk you through the core decisions to make now to improve your retirement outcomes—even if retirement is just a few years away. You’ll learn how to make a plan, think through the timing of retirement, optimize Social Security, navigate Medicare, build savings, and tap home equity. You’ll also explore ongoing strategies, such as careful budgeting, generating income from work even after retirement, planning for long-term care, and leveraging special assistance aimed at low-income workers. If you have low savings, or none at all, Miller’s simple steps can help you make the most of your remaining working years and reboot the retirement you always imagined.
Baby Boomers are reinventing retirement just as they have so many other aspects of their lives. They will live longer and be healthier than their parents and grandparents, and they plan to remain relevant, be fulfilled, and leave legacies. Many will continue to work well into their 70s and 80s, some because they want to, others because they need to.The Retirement Boom is a practical roadmap for making your “retirement years” a time of reinvention, excitement, and fulfillment.The coauthors of this practical guide are four Boomer professionals who have walked the walk and transformed themselves from corporate executives, CEOs, consultants, and national security policy experts into a range of new careers that more closely hew to their passions. They interviewed more than 300 people and 30 organizations in the writing of this book.The Retirement Boom includes tips, stories, exercises, and techniques to help you:Design your own “retirement” and plan for it.Use your time creatively and well.Understand what's changing in the workplace and the workforce today.Make your money last.Renegotiate life at home.Improve and keep your health.Build and leave a legacy.Simplify your life.And much, much more.
A timely guide to overcoming the retirement challenges we all face The Great Recession has placed a wake-up call to America's baby boomers. Many have not saved enough for retirement and have not taken a hard look at how many post-work years they may need to finance. Written in a straightforward and accessible style, The Hard Times Guide to Retirement Security tackles the tough questions about retirement in the new post-crash economy. Page by page, it puts retirement in perspective by touching on important issues such as insuring against the risk of outliving your assets, recalibrating damaged retirement portfolios, managing the risk of health-care expenses in retirement, and career strategies for workers who are 50 years old and up. Reveals how to boost lifetime income through better planning, and working just a few additional years Offers advice on how to hire a financial advisor whose first loyalty is to you, not Wall Street Discusses why you should rethink housing in the wake of the real estate crash Offers detailed advice on career reinvention, the 50+ job market and midlife entrepreneurship Engaging and informative, this practical guide provides the strategies needed for a truly fulfilling and secure retirement.
More Americans are choosing to take time off from work to relax or re-examine their priorities, so they can return to work energized. Some companies offer formal sabbatical programs, but how can the average person take time off to evaluate their direction, explore their passions, and make time for the things that are really important? Whether you're disillusioned with your career, yearning to follow a dream, or taking time out after a layoff, now is the time to step back and reboot. This book will show you how you can give yourself the best gift ever-—the gift of time. People who take sabbaticals report feeling happier, and they return to their jobs refreshed, reinvigorated, and ready to tackle new challenges. Reboot Your Life draws upon the experiences of the four authors and their interview subjects: 200 people who have taken sabbaticals and 150 organizations offering sabbatical programs. The book includes real-life stories and exercises to help the reader figure out how to plan for and take a sabbatical, or how to use unexpected time off.
About Reboot! "Reboot to work; retirement is a disease." "It's better to wear out than rust out." That is the message of Reboot! While American culture glamorizes the "Golden Years" of endless leisure and amusement, Phil Burgess rejects retirement, as he makes the case for returning to work in the post-career years, a time he calls later life. Based on solid research from the social and medical sciences, the author says, "It is better to die with your boots on, fully engaged in helping others and repairing the world." Reboot! is partly autobiographical. Indeed, the author is working well into his own post-career years, following two failed retirements. He is also convincing in his eye-opening, historically rooted, and hope-filled arguments for engaging in life-long work that is productive and satisfying. Reboot! identifies five different types of work: in-kind, volunteer, Samaritan, enrichment, and paid work. Booters who incorporate one or more of these types of work into their post-career lifestyle will, according to Burgess, live longer, live better, and die faster - avoiding boredom, aimless busy-ness, diminished self-worth and the anguish (and cost) of lingering death. With America's 78 million boomers turning 65 at the rate of 10,000 a day for the next 18 years, Reboot! provides a timely and provocative alternative to the conventional idea of retirement. With the promises of Social Security and Medicare about to be broken, Reboot! provides an upbeat and constructive way to deal with new financial realities. For men and women navigating life's transitions, striving to finish well, Reboot! provides a roadmap for living a life of meaning, challenging the reader to be a booter, not a retiree. Burgess boldly asserts that retirement is a deadly disease, and that work after a life of work is the best option for post-career years that are meaningful, productive, healthy, and satisfying. See www.BooterNation.com Excerpts: On retirement: "Not all ideas are good ideas. Some are bad ideas. Retirement is one of those bad ideas - it makes no sense...Retirement is not natural. It is not historic. It is not healthy. It is not, for most people, fulfilling. For many, retirement is a widow maker." On the value of work: "The social engagement and satisfaction that come from working in later life are keys to successful aging...There is much work to do in this world where we are but temporary inhabitants. We should find it and do it...at least for as long as we're able. In many ways, our life depends on it." On work and money: "Work is not only about money. Even if you don't need the money and your financial situation is stable and comfortable, returning to work in your post-career life is the smart thing to do - at least until sidelined by frailty or disability. It's smart because good health and satisfaction in later-life are most likely to come from working." On different types of work: "For most of us, post-career work will be tailored work, work customized to reflect our needs, our deepest desires, and the highest and best use of our gifts - especially time, talent, and treasure. Work tailored to our gifts will be productive and satisfying."...
The bestselling author of You Can Retire Sooner Than You Think and host of Money Matters reveals the 10 essential habits for a rich, rewarding, and blissful retirement. What does it take to have a truly happy retirement? Is it money? A mortgage-free home? An active social life? A long-lasting marriage—or maybe a new one? Finance expert, author, and radio host Wes Moss asked more than 2,000 of the nation’s happiest retirees to find out—and their answers may surprise you. Through a series of revealing surveys, Moss noticed a pattern of distinct, recognizable habits that the happiest retirees shared, from the simplest of lifestyle choices to the smartest of financial strategies. These are the kinds of habits anyone can develop—the perfect road map to a healthy, secure, and joyful retirement—sooner. Whether you’re already retired or just starting to make plans, these 10 simple actions and attitudes can make a profound difference in every aspect of your life. The book is packed with hard-won wisdom and invaluable advice on how to make little changes now that will have the biggest impact later. It’s filled with proven ways to develop smarter habits with: Money (“Think river, not reservoir”); Family (“Get your kids off your payroll”); Housing (“Live mortgage-free”); Investing (“Be a tomorrow investor”); Spending (“Be pound wise—so you can be penny foolish”); and much more. With these 10 transformational habits, you can stop obsessing over money, stay socially connected, and start enjoying your new life—as the happiest retiree on the block.
Reboot to work; retirement is a disease. It 's better to wear out than rust out. That is the message of Reboot! While American culture glamorizes the Golden Years of endless leisure and amusement, Phil Burgess rejects retirement, as he makes the case for returning to work in the post-career years, a time he calls later life. Based on solid research from the social and medical sciences, the author says, It is better to die with your boots on, fully engaged in helping others and repairing the world. Reboot! is partly autobiographical. Indeed, the author is working well into his own post-career years, following two failed retirements. He is also convincing in his eye-opening, historically rooted, and hope-filled arguments for engaging in life-long work that is productive and satisfying. Reboot! identifies five different types of work: in-kind, volunteer, Samaritan, enrichment, and paid work. Booters who incorporate one or more of these types of work into their post-career lifestyle will, according to Burgess, live longer, live better, and die faster avoiding boredom, aimless busy-ness, diminished self-worth and the anguish (and cost) of lingering death. With America 's 78 million boomers turning 65 at the rate of 10,000 a day for the next 18 years, Reboot! provides a timely and provocative alternative to the conventional idea of retirement. With the promises of Social Security and Medicare about to be broken, Reboot! provides an upbeat and constructive way to deal with new financial realities. For men and women navigating life 's transitions, striving to finish well, Reboot! provides a roadmap for living a life of meaning, challenging the reader to be a booter, not a retiree. Burgess boldly asserts that retirement is a deadly disease, and that work after a life of work is the best option for post-career years that are meaningful, productive, healthy, and satisfying. See www.BooterNation.comExcerpts: On retirement: Not all ideas are good ideas. Some are bad ideas. Retirement is one of those bad ideas it makes no sense Retirement is not natural. It is not historic. It is not healthy. It is not, for most people, fulfilling. For many, retirement is a widow maker. On the value of work: The social engagement and satisfaction that come from working in later life are keys to successful aging There is much work to do in this world where we are but temporary inhabitants. We should find it and do it at least for as long as we re able. In many ways, our life depends on it. On work and money: Work is not only about money. Even if you don t need the money and your financial situation is stable and comfortable, returning to work in your post-career life is the smart thing to do at least until sidelined by frailty or disability. It 's smart because good health and satisfaction in later-life are most likely to come from working. On different types of work: For most of us, post-career work will be tailored work, work customized to reflect our needs, our deepest desires, and the highest and best use of our gifts especially time, talent, and treasure. Work tailored to our gifts will be productive and satisfying.
Bring a renewed sense of purpose to the next chapter of your life with the New York Times bestselling author’s guide to thriving in retirement. Many people see their later years as a time to endure rather than as an exciting opportunity. Yet research and common sense confirm that people who embrace these years with energy and gusto consistently find them to be rich and rewarding. In Refire! Don't Retire, Ken Blanchard and Morton Shaevitz offer inspiring insight and thought-provoking questions to help people make the rest of their lives the best of their lives. In the trademark Ken Blanchard style, the authors tell the compelling story of Larry and Janice Sparks, who discover how to see each day as an opportunity to enhance their relationships, stimulate their minds, revitalize their bodies, and grow spiritually. As they learn to be open to new experiences, Larry and Janice rekindle passion in every area of their lives. Readers will find humor, practical information, and profound wisdom in Refire! Don't Retire. Best of all, they will be inspired to make all the years ahead truly worth living.
Times of transition, especially in midlife or later life, are ideal moments for recalibrating our priorities and habits. Ken Boa and Jenny Abel give us the practical tools and eternal perspective needed to evaluate our God-given gifts, skills, wisdom, resources, and opportunities in order to live meaningfully now and into the future.
The practical, nonpartisan guide to making our retirement savings systems work for America’s people, our economy, and the nation at large At a time of fierce political divisiveness, From Here to Security is a refreshingly balanced, non-ideological guide to solving what may be our nation’s most pressing policy challenge: achieving retirement security for all. A pioneer of the 401(k) system, Robert L. Reynolds eschews radical calls for throwing out the 401(k) entirely and creating a new government-run savings system. Our best course, he shows, is to build on what we have: a flexible, dynamic private-public system of Social Security and more robust workplace savings. From Here to Security provides a clear, powerful new approach to solving America’s retirement challenge – based on facts, data, and Reynolds’ decades of experience. While fear-mongers claim that the U.S. retirement system is on the verge of collapse; Reynolds shows why our system is actually the envy of the world. But From Here to Security is no status quo book. Reynolds lays out an action agenda to dramatically improve our retirement systems – public and private – lift our savings rate, improve people’s retirement prospects, spur faster growth – and reboot America’s national morale.
