The Retirement Savings Time Bomb . . . and How to Defuse It: A Five-Step Action Plan for...

The Retirement Savings Time Bomb . . . and How to Defuse It: A Five-Step Action Plan for Protecting Your ... | Ed Slott | EXCELLENT BOOK - ABSOLUTE MUST READ

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The Retirement Sav...

	The Retirement Savings Time Bomb . . . and How to Defuse It: A Five-Step Action Plan for Protecting Your ... Ed Slott Penguin (Non-Classics), 2007 - 400 pages average customer review:based on 38 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

A "Must Read" for anyone who has an IRA!

If you are an investor and have money in an IRA or your company retirement plan, Ed Slott's book should be required reading. Ed gives practical, easy to understand, and priceless advice on how to maximize the value of your retirement savings and minimize the bite Uncle Sam will eventually take from it. Once you read this book, you'll know more than 90% of financial advisors.

EXCELLENT BOOK - ABSOLUTE MUST READ

This book is an absolute must for anyone who has an IRA. Not only is it very understandable but it actually saved me thousands upon thousands of dollars. Ed Slott mentioned a deduction that many accountants miss re: IRA beneficiaries ( page 246). In a nutshell, it explained that if a beneficiary IRA was taxed as part of the estate you are entitled to a deduction on your tax return every year for the beneficiary IRA since you cant be taxed twice. Sure enough my acccountant (who is excellent) had missed this deduction which turned out the be worth thousands of dollars over a lifetime for each of four children. This book is worth its weight in gold. I cant recommend it too highly.

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Fire you advisor

I am in the financial services industry. If your current advisor does not understand the IRA, 401K, etc. rules, you need to find one that does.

Recently I did an informal survey of my coworkers. I tested their knowledge of retirement plan. Almost all of them failed! If it scares me, and it should frighten all of their clients.

If you want to give away a lot of your hard earned money to the government, do not read this book. Otherwise, read the book and find a competent advisor to help you implement the strategies.

Priceless advice!

I'm in the process of reading this book and even though I'm not even halfway through, I realize that I was about to make a momentous (and very costly) mistake with my 403(b) payouts when I retire in about a year. This book has already totally changed the way I think about my retirement savings and I'm only on page 103! I should have known that any "gift" from the government (namely tax deferred investments) would have a huge tax implication if you're not savvy about all the labyrinthian rules of the IRS code. Thank you for helping me save my nest egg!

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Not bad, even with the overly chatty style

I'm an historian and archivist with a "humanities mind," whereas my wife is a mathematician with a knack for anything financial. Our arrangement has long been that she keeps track of our investments (also those of her parents and most of her siblings), works out what to do about them, and then explains it all to me (and them). But she still insists that I make an attempt to understand what's going on, and to that end she hands me books like this one. I have to say that, except for a sense of humor that tries too hard, Slott is better at providing a clear explanation of tax law and financial decision-making than many similar books I've waded through. His specialty is IRAs and similar retirement arrangements, and since I've just turned sixty, I'm paying attention to this stuff. After an introductory section explaining the jargon and describing the theory behind traditional and Roth IRAs, he launches into the details of his "Five Easy Steps": Timing (when and how much to take out of your IRA, including both the legal requirements and your own strategic needs), life insurance (to cover the taxes your beneficiaries will have to pay when they inherit your IRA), stretching the payout period (selecting a child as a beneficiary can keep the distributions going for decades after you're gone, allowing your bequest to keep growing), converting to a Roth IRA if possible (a great tax deal, especially for the beneficiaries), and avoiding estate taxes. Although he calls it "death taxes," a partisan pejorative term I despise; there's far too much concentration of wealth in this country already. He also waxes on about the unfairness of the IRS and the tax code, forgetting the basic principal: Taxes aren't intended to be "fair," they're intended to raise money for the government. Anyway, he does a good job of explaining the options the retiree faces at each step and in each new or variant situation, and he does it with resorting (much) to unexplained bizspeak, which certainly increases its accessibility for most of us. I'm told the regulars on Morningstar's Vanguard discussion board -- a group which has included John Bogle, Larry Swedroe, Rick Ferri, and other Big Names -- think highly of Slott's take on things, and you probably can't do badly if you follow their advice.

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reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, page 6, 7, 8

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