Fear and false self-confidence can stem from ignorance, and you should be far from ignorant when strategizing for your retirement.
How prepared are you? We live longer these days, and those who retire at 65 may be looking at 25-30 years (or more if you’re lucky) of retirement. Your retirement plans need to be solid enough to weather all those years and the numerous complications that will arise. It would be in your best interests to know you are on the right path whether you are just starting out or are a seasoned investor nearing your nest egg goals.
Retirement is also more than just financial stability when you no longer work, and it would help to come to grips with the realities of retirement. It is like re-learning how to live, and this can involve us developing new skills and habits to suit the new life. So, we have compiled a list of useful books that would appeal to a wide variety of readers at different points on the road to retirement.
- The 5 Years Before you Retire by Emily Birken
- How to Retire Happy, Wild and Free by Ernie J. Zelinski
- The Total Money Makeover: Classic Edition: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness by Dave Ramsey
- Your Money or Your Life: 9 Steps to Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence by Vicki Robin
- The Complete Cardinal Guide to Planning for and Living in Retirement by Hans Scheil
Let’s take a closer look at each one and hopefully discover which books will be a good fit for your situation.
1. The 5 Years Before you Retire by Emily Birken
About the Author
Emily Birkin writes the “Live Like a Mensch” column for The Dollar Stretcher and contributes to financial sites like Business Insider and Yahoo! Finance. She edits pieces and contributes to the FinCon blog. She has also penned other books such as End Financial Stress Now, Making Social Security Work for You and Choose Your Retirement.
Book Summary
This comprehensive guide to making the most of the few years before retirement aids readers in planning their retirement properly before it is too late. This book centers on the problem plaguing many Americans who simply cannot save enough of their income regardless of how far in advance they started saving. Birken guides readers by discussing financial, medical, and familial decisions.
Key Takeaways
The first part of the book reads slow and centers on budgeting techniques as well as completing some worksheets. It picks up when discussing the need for a financial planner and how to decide whether the one you are talking to is worth your time and money to hire. The book then guides readers through the importance of medical and government programs for retirees. It discusses how retirees should learn to be finance-oriented and also learn to embrace changes and enjoy life after retirement.
Buy it on Amazon
2. How to Retire Happy, Wild and Free by Ernie J. Zelinski
About the Author
Ernie J. Zelinski has a degree in engineering and also graduated from the University of Alberta with an MBA. He is a professional speaker and gives talks on success, retirement, and utilizing creativity in business as well as recreation.
Book Summary
This retirement book delves into the ways we should enjoy retirement. It shows how retirement is not the end but instead a new phase of our lives. Zelinski emphasizes that the key to a satisfying and active retirement is far more than just the accumulation of sufficient financial resources. He suggests maintaining your health (physical and mental), enjoying leisurely exploits, and ensuring you have a strong social support system. The book seeks to inspire readers to enjoy life after work and keeps things light with cartoons and great quotes.
Key Takeaways
Zelinski designed his book to be easy-to-read for anyone. It guides readers to chase after their own dreams and see retirement in a different light. Besides teaching to live guilt-free, it offers other advice such as encouraging early retirement for advantages. The book focuses on envisioning and attaining retirement goals and budgeting in a way to retire without the need for a million dollars.
Buy it on Amazon
3. The Total Money Makeover: Classic Edition: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness by Dave Ramsey
About the Author
Dave Ramsey has five New York Times best-sellers under his belt including EntreLeadership, and Smart Money Smart Kids. His show, “The Dave Ramsey Show,” has an audience, 8.5 million strong, that listens to him speak over 550 radio stations. He owns Ramsey Solutions, a company that helps people with their financial health and personal development.
Book Summary
Ramsey seeks to show readers how to rework their retirement planning into something that not only does the job but works extremely well. It teaches readers how to come up with a plan that will pay off all of their debts, including house loans and car payments. It describes 10 dangerous money myths to help readers discern truth from fiction. Ramsey also shows how you can build a sizable nest egg that not only covers retirement but emergencies as well.
Key Takeaways
The book is straightforward and showcases strategies based on results. Ramsey will help you get on track, show you what to avoid and push you to do what needs to be done to achieve financial success. The math involved, particularly involving the Four Percent Rule is a bit disconcerting. It does contain a lot of short stories of other people to give examples and illustrate points. There is also an expanded “Dave Rants” sidebar to address issues surrounding marriage and college debt among other topics.
Buy it on Amazon
4. Your Money or Your Life: 9 Steps to Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence by Vicki Robin
About the Author
Vicki Robin’s accomplishments are legendary. She is a writer and speaker whose message about sustainability has led many to rethink the way they consume goods. She has appeared in countless magazines, on radio shows, and on television programs. She even served on the President’s Council on Sustainable Development’s Task Force on Population and Consumption.
Book Summary
Robin covers a nine-step program that will get readers to change their relationship with money. The book teaches how to start living with purpose and meaning as it goes through the steps in the program. The revised and updated version (2018) covers a variety of topics such as index fund investment, how to manage revenue streams, and tracking finances online. The book also describes how to have those hard but critical conversations about finances.
Key Takeaways
A true classic in the world of financial guidance and an international best-seller, the book’s message has survived the test of time and has spawned a myriad of successes. You will learn about how to climb out of debt and develop a savings plan. It teaches you to utilize good habits over strict budgets to save money and also how to remove the clutter in your life to allow you to live fully. It even teaches you to do your part to save our earth while you save money.
Buy it on Amazon
5. The Complete Cardinal Guide to Planning for and Living in Retirement by Hans Scheil
About the Author
Hans Scheil has worked as a Chartered Financial Consultant, a Certified Financial Planner, and Chartered Advisor for Senior Living for 40 years. He started Cardinal Retirement Planning to help people who were nearing retirement or are retirees.
Book Summary
This book utilizes real-life examples to respond to the key questions that pertain to retirement. It covers subjects such as facing changes in tax rates after retirement and choosing the right financial professional. It also covers the difficult issue of what to do if you survive longer than your retirement savings were meant to cover. Scheil outlines a strategy to transfer life insurance as well as other assets to your next of kin.
Key Takeaways
This book is about tackling some of the complex financial issues that retirees may have to deal with. It gives you the tools to make retirement decisions and explains strategies that are both simple and effective to achieve a financially successful retirement. Scheil’s book really shines when giving advice on what to do as a retiree to handle very possible issues and the inevitable, death. It allows one to feel a real sense of peace to know that affairs are in order when the time comes.
Buy it on Amazon
Value Editorial
How Can You Choose the Best Retirement Planning Books?
You must comprehend that younger investors and older investors will have different strategies because they are at different points along the path to retirement. We did not all start investing in our retirement at the same age, nor are we at the same point in the process, so choose a book that appeals to you. There is no one-size-fits-all strategy; avoid those who sell it.
The book should also have great qualities such as being enjoyable to read; few things kill reading motivation as a boring book. The advice should be easy to follow, current and have realistic claims.
How Books on Retirement Investing Can Help Your Retirement
These books will outline strategies to help you get the best out of your retirement and create stable portfolios. They can help you to understand the best ways to work alongside various consultants to meet your financial, legal, and tax needs. Some of the best advice these books give is how to identify and avoid the pitfalls others claim are benign or lucrative. All of this will help you to reach a level of financial stability you can be comfortable with.
Conclusion
Assess where you are on your retirement path and find a book that appeals to both your situation and to you personally. The book that doesn’t quite apply to you now might become the perfect book for you later. You might also find yourself leaning towards a pair of books that appeals to different aspects of your retirement. For example, you could use one book to provide you with exactly what you need to get your finances on track while another helps you with life after retirement. Some books you might read to get motivated to do what needs to be done or find inspiration for new things to try.
Everyone’s retirement goals are different, but taking action and learing is the only way you will make progress. Excellent books can give and explain guidelines for what to do and what to avoid doing, but it’s up to you to do something about your situation and act. Educate yourself and arm yourself against ignorance. It is the best way to make sure that you are taking the right actions to ensure that you achieve the goals for your golden years.