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    12 Steps to Financial Security in Retirement
    12 Steps to Financial Security in Retirement
    12 Steps to Financial Security in Retirement
    Ebook130 pages1 hour

    12 Steps to Financial Security in Retirement

    By James Gould

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    About this ebook

    As we approach retirement, most of us ask the question will I run out of money before I die?
    To answer that, a number of other questions come up:
    How do I figure out my “Number,” the amount of money I will need?
    How should my money be invested to make it last?
    Should annuities be part of my investment mix?
    How do I minimize taxes to leave more for me?
    What strategy should I use to draw down my savings?
    What is the Monte Carlo analysis that is used to calculate the odds of running out of money?
    What about “spending the house” by downsizing, selling or a reverse mortgage?
    Is it better to start Social Security at 66 or wait until 70?
    What will Medicare and Medigap insurance cover and what will it cost?
    To help in your planning, there are worksheets to calculate your expenses and income in retirement. There is a work sheet for Net Worth in a format I devised to see at a glance asset allocation, tax impact and order of asset drawdown. The Table of Contents is interactive; you can go right to any topic by clicking on it or touching it. Checklists point to the relevant Steps depending on how many years you are away from retirement. There is a glossary of financial terms at the back, also with references to the Steps.
    In short, this book has everything you need to answer your financial questions both planning for and during retirement, one Step at a time.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherJames Gould
    Release dateNov 12, 2012
    ISBN9781301054589
    12 Steps to Financial Security in Retirement
    Author

    James Gould

    James Gould is a married Boomer, a father, grandfather, motorcyclist, skier, hiker, diver, traveler and lover of Manhattan's culture. After writing as a patent litigator for over three decades, he turned to his longing to pursue non-legal writing.To date he has self-published 15 e-books on Amazon, Apple and Smashwords. The books range from travelogues (available only on Amazon because of their large file size from the many photos), how-to books, short stories, poetry and children's stories.He is now focused on writing screenplays, one of which advanced to the Second Round in the Austin Film Festival contest..

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      Book preview

      12 Steps to Financial Security in Retirement - James Gould

      12 STEPS TO

      FINANCIAL SECURITY

      IN RETIREMENT

      James W. Gould

      Smashwords Edition

      © 2012 James W. Gould

      Smashwords Edition License Notes

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      TABLE OF CONTENTS

      INTRODUCTION

      A Few More Details about This Book

      Financial Checklists for the Countdown to Retirement

      STEP ONE: GETTING EXCITED ABOUT RETIREMENT

      Bucket That List

      Pleasurable Struggles

      Not So Pleasurable Struggles

      STEP TWO, TALKING ABOUT MONEY WITHOUT FIGHTING

      STEP THREE, FIRST COVER THE FINANCIAL CATASTROPHES

      Long Term Health Care Insurance

      Umbrella Insurance

      STEP FOUR, HOW BIG IS YOUR NUT? (Minimum Annual Expenses)

      The Bare Bones Budget - The Nut

      STEP FIVE, PAYING FOR YOUR NUT

      STEP SIX, COMING UP SHORT - BUST YOUR BUTT OR CUT YOUR NUT

      (Work Longer or Cut Your Expenses)

      Don’t Bet on Debt

      Is It a Need or Just a Want?

      Test Drive Your Plan

      STEP SEVEN, SPENDING THE HOUSE

      STEP EIGHT, INVESTMENTS IN RETIREMENT

      Funding Your Nut (the Bare Bones Budget)

      Allocating Your Investments In Retirement And Net Worth

      Tax Efficient Investing and More Allocation

      STEP NINE, SPENDING IT WITHOUT FEAR

      STEP TEN, WHEN TO START SOCIAL SECURITY

      STEP ELEVEN, THE MEDICARE ALPHABET SOUP

      A Brief Explanation of Medicare Parts A, B, D and Medigap

      Whether to Go On Medicare While Still Working

      Part D and the Dread Drug Doughnut Hole

      Medigap Plans A-N

      Is An Advantage Plan Really An Advantage?

      STEP 12, PLAYING THE END GAME

      Make a Will

      Make a Health Care Directive and Appoint a Proxy

      Power Of Attorney

      How and Where To Die

      A FEW FINAL THOUGHTS

      GLOSSARY OF TERMS

      ***~~~***

      INTRODUCTION

      As we approach retirement, most of us ask the question will I run out of money before I die?

      To answer that, a number of other questions come up:

      How do I figure out my Number, the amount of money I will need?

      How should my money be invested to make it last?

      Should annuities be part of my investment mix?

      How do I minimize taxes to leave more for me?

      What strategy should I use to draw down my savings?

      What is the Monte Carlo analysis that is used to calculate the odds of running out of money?

      What about spending the house by downsizing, selling or a reverse mortgage?

      Is it better to start Social Security at 66 or wait until 70?

      What will Medicare and Medigap insurance cover and what will it cost?

      How do I budget for the fun things in retirement?

      This book answers all these questions and more. It is based on my own extensive research in answering them as I approached retirement, using my experience as both an engineer and a patent lawyer. After a lot of work I came to real world conclusions that I have applied to my own life. I had been looking for one book that would address all these financial concerns but could not find one.

      The more research I compiled, the more guys a little younger than me asked if they could borrow it. I realized they wanted a one-stop solution to their retirement financial planning. So I wrote this book to help them avoid all the work I’d put into putting this financial guide together.

      To help in your planning, there are worksheets to calculate your expenses and income in retirement. There is a work sheet for Net Worth in a format I devised to see at a glance asset allocation, tax impact and order of asset drawdown. There is a glossary of financial terms at the back.

      In short, everything you need to answer your financial questions both planning for and during retirement.

      A Few More Details about This Book

      Here is a preview of the 12 Steps to secure your financial future in retirement:

      Step 1 is about generating excitement for retirement and making three bucket lists based on cost. You will need that to create your retirement budgets.

      Step 2 explains how to reduce the stress of talking about retirement money with your mate.

      Step 3 explores covering the financial catastrophes that can derail all your well laid plans.

      Step 4 develops a bare bones annual budget for retirement; this is your Nut.

      Step 5 determines if you can pay for your Nut.

      Step 6 explores ways to increase income or reduce expenses if you come up short in Step 5.

      Step 7 investigates the various ways to tap into the equity in your house to fund retirement.

      Step 8 explains how to allocate your retirement investments for the long haul and reduce taxes.

      Step 9 sets out strategies for the order of drawing down investments.

      Step 10 covers the issue of when to start Social Security. It also has some strategies to switch back and forth between spousal and personal benefits to maximize your benefits.

      Step 11 is a detailed explanation of Medicare, including the costs which you will need for your budget in Step 4.

      Step 12 briefly explores the issues of wills and powers of attorney, as they can greatly impact the finances of the surviving member of a couple. It also explores how end of life issues impact finances.

      Remember that the Table of Contents is interactive. It has lots of Chapters and subchapter headings so you can go right to any topic by clicking on it or touching it. (For a PC, you may have to use ctrl + click.) Feel free to skip any topics where you already have enough expertise. The checklists below point to the relevant Steps depending on how many years you are away from retirement.

      As mentioned before, a glossary of terms used in this book is at the end to make things easier for you.

      Financial Checklists for The Countdown To Retirement

      5 Years before Retirement

      ___ Draft will. (You need this for accidental death, even if you are healthy now) (Step Twelve. I know this seems out of order. The reality is people often do their wills after everything else, even though they should have one at all times.)

      ___ Draft Bucket Lists (Step One)

      ___ Prepare rough budgets for the activities in your Bucket Lists

      ___ Make first pass at projected Number for investments at retirement and compare sum of Social Security and pensions and withdrawal of 5% of investments to budgets. Do iterations until they roughly match (or are at least in the same ball park). (Steps Four & Five)

      ___

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