More Reviews. . .

5 Star Ratings on Amazon.com!

Get Ready for Your Retirement, January 31, 2009
By Rod Harrington (Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada)

We're all going to face it at some point: the last day on the job. What follows may be 10, or 20, or even 30 years of retirement. What will we do and how will we finance it? That's what this book is about.

The first third of the book focuses on our dreams: now that I've finished my 9 to 5 years, what will I do with my time? Will I just veg out? Will I travel? Will I write the Great American Novel? Will I need to take another job? What will I do to keep in shape physically? And mentally?

The author encourages us to block out our retirement in 5-year segments, and to prioritize our goals. If I want to climb Everest, I'd better block it our earlier rather than later. Worksheets are provided to help us come to grips with what has to be thought about.

Most of the book deals with that indispensable ingredient: money. Can I afford to retire when I'd like to? Will I be able to enjoy the standard of living I've had? This is a book to help us get ready for retirement--hopefully starting decades early. It helps us take inventory of all the assets we'll have when we retire. It looks at all the ways to save money in preparation and how to keep the taxman from grabbing what should be ours and our children's.

I'm a Canadian, so a few of the chapters on finances didn't 100% apply to me--but they are right on for American readers. Social Security and Medicare, for example.

This isn't a big book, but it is comprehensive. It's a book to make you think--to make you get out pen and paper and start getting practical. Anyone is going to benefit from this book--that is, anyone who follows the suggestions, fills out the worksheets and starts getting pragmatic about their retirement. I'd recommend it. The subtitle says it all: "Creating Your Vision, Knowing Your Position, & Preparing for Your Future."

Retirement Readiness, January 28, 2009
By Yvonne Phillips FSII (Pittsburgh, PA)

Mike Bonacorsi gave you the book! This is the first book that I have read on retirement that doesn't have me closing it immediately. It is very professional, very thoughtful and most of all easy for us Boomers to understand. It is a reality check and we all need that, but along with that he gives some great tips that I will be using immediately.

Retirement is not about your neighbors or your friends lives, it is all about yours. Mike focuses you on YOUR dreams, what are they? I never thought of sharing my dreams with husband, I guess I assumed by osmosis, that he will know what I am looking for in my retirement year.