The Elder Statesman

The AARP Retirement Survival Guide
How to Make Smart Financial Decisions in Good Times and Bad
By Julie Jason
Sterling Publishing Co.
Paperback $14.95 

By BILL DUNCAN
The News-Review

When the market meltdown swept America, it left retirees and those ready for retirement fearful and confused in its wake. Most were caught unprepared for such a financial disaster and some even had to give up retirement and seek employment in a jobless market. Julie Jason, a personal money manager, who began her career as a securities lawyer 30 years ago, was already familiar with the fragile investment market. She had previously published books about retirement investing as a Sunday business columnist for the Stamford, Conn. Advocate and the Greenwich Time newspapers.

She has taken her expertise on the financial markets and written a timely and definitive guide for readers who want to be both smart and skeptical about their retirement finances.

Retirees have been reeling under the insecurity of their investment incomes since the meltdown. Jason reassures retirees they can find ways of regaining their financial security in these dark economic times.

“I promise,” she said, “no matter who you are or what steps you have or have not taken up to this point, there is something you can do to improve your financial situation.” What it takes to regain that confidence, she said, is a retirement plan. “If you knew for certain how long you would live, and if you were sure that your existing sources of income would cover all your expenses during that span, you wouldn’t need a retirement income plan,” she said. “Because you can’t predict with any certainty either one of those eventualities, a secure retirement demands careful planning.”

Many retirees were caught without that plan by this current financial fallout. But even so, it is not too late. She suggests finding a budgeting technique that she calls a “Lifestyle Balance Register,” in which you give yourself a beginning balance and like a bank book balance use it as a starting point each month to keep track of income and expenditures.

At this point, she gives a warning: “Some people may think they can overspend one month and make it up by spending less the next month,” she said, noting this is dangerous thinking about spending what you don’t have. Spend every last penny in your budget monthly account, she advices, “but don’t spend a penny of the next month’s deposit until the month arrives. Stick to the present. Don’t spend the future.”

A budgeting system is about saying “no,” she emphasizes. She recommends picking a financial adviser, but warns, “don’t be impressed by titles” and gives a summary of who qualifies as a financial adviser or a money manager. It is good information and is right on target in today’s confusing money market.

She also explains in detail the agency everyone believes protects their money, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and reveals that the FDIC protects only against bank failures, not losses of any other sort, including those due to penalties or having to liquidate a CD before maturity.

There is much in the news lately about the advantages of reverse mortgages and Jason provides an excellent understanding of this particular mortgage plan. “Lenders will tell you that you don’t have to pay as long as you live in the house, maintain it, insure it, pay the real estate taxes,” she said. “The economics of this deal can stump even the most astute mathematician.” She warns: “A reverse mortgage may look like a great deal on the surface, but it is one of the more complicated financial products,” so much so that federal regulators require you to receive one-on-one counseling from an HUD-approved counselor. 

Jason uses her expertise in financial planning to guide not only the individual who is already retired and living on a fixed income, but also the so-called baby boomer that is on the downhill stretch to retirement. The way it is written, it will benefit the near retiree more than those trying to salvage what is left of their retirement savings.

Earlier Jason  wrote “You and Your 401(k),” “The 401(k) Plan Handbook,” “JK Lasser’s Strategic Investing After 50,” “Julie Jason’s Guide to Managing Retirement Wealth.” Her list of “Julie’s-don’t-be-fooled” tips is an invaluable service to the novice investor. She also provides check lists and questions to ask yourself and your financial adviser about all phases of secure investments. A timely, needed survival kit for retirees and those about to retire in these vulnerable financial times.

(Reader’s can learn more about Jason by visiting online Retirement-Surial-Guide.com or JulieJason.com)

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009 at 8:00 am and is filed under Books. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.