You're in Control of Your Retirement Future Inside are twenty major financial decisions that could profoundly impact your lifestyle over the next forty years. For many retirees, these decisions come as a surprise and must be made hastily without proper consultation. But by reading the expert, commission-free advice in this fully revised and updated edition, you'll learn how to manage your assets and prepare for the best possible retirement. Do I have enough money to retire now? How will I cover my medical expenses during retirement? When should I begin taking Social Security? How much should I invest in stocks, bonds, and cash? What criteria should I use to identify the best investments? Should I cancel my life insurance policy? Should I pay off my mortgage at retirement?

You're in Control of Your Retirement Future Inside are twenty major financial decisions that could profoundly impact your lifestyle over the next forty years. For many retirees, these decisions come as a surprise and must be made hastily without proper consultation. But by reading the expert, commission-free advice in this fully revised and updated edition, you'll learn how to manage your assets and prepare for the best possible retirement. •Do I have enough money to retire now? •How will I cover my medical expenses during retirement? •When should I begin taking Social Security? •How much should I invest in stocks, bonds, and cash? •What criteria should I use to identify the best investments? •Should I cancel my life insurance policy? •Should I pay off my mortgage at retirement?

NOW COMPLETELY UPDATED to reflect the changes in tax legislation, health insurance, and the new investment realities. In this “highly valuable resource” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) Quinn “provides simple, straightforward” (The New York Times) solutions to the universal retirement dilemma—how to make your limited savings last for life—covering mortgages, social security, income investing, annuities, and more! Will you run out of money in your older age? That’s the biggest worry for people newly retired or planning to retire. Fortunately, you don’t have to plan in the dark. Jane Bryant Quinn tells you how to squeeze a higher income from all your assets—including your social security account (get every dollar you’re entitled to), a pension (discover whether a lump sum or a lifetime monthly income will pay you more), your home equity (sell, rent, or take a reverse mortgage?), savings (how to use them safely to raise your monthly income), retirement accounts (invest the money for growth in ways that let you sleep at night), and—critically—how much of your savings you can afford to spend every year without running out. There are easy ways to figure all this out. Who knew? Quinn also shows you how to evaluate your real risks. If you stick with super-safe investment choices, your money might not last and your lifestyle might erode. The same might be true if you rely on traditional income investments. Quinn rethinks the meaning of “income investing,” by combining reliable cash flow during the early years of your retirement with low-risk growth investments, to provide extra money for your later years. Odds are, you’ll live longer than you might imagine, meaning that your savings will stretch for many more years than you might have planned for. With the help of this book, you can turn those retirement funds into a “homemade” paycheck that will last for life.

Named the best personal finance book on the market by Consumers Union, Jane Bryant Quinn's bestseller Making the Most of Your Money has been completely revised and updated to provide a guide to financial recovery, independence, and success in the new economy. Getting your financial life on track and keeping it there -- nothing is more important to your family and you. This proven, comprehensive guidebook steers you around the risks and helps you make smart and profitable decisions at every stage of your life. Are you single, married, or divorced? A parent with a paycheck or a parent at home? Getting your first job or well along in your career? Helping your kids in college or your parents in their older age? Planning for retirement? Already retired and worried about how to make your money last? You'll find ideas to help you build your financial security here. Jane Bryant Quinn answers more questions more completely than any other personal-finance author on the market today. You'll reach for this book again and again as your life changes and new financial decisions arise. Here are just a few of the important subjects she examines: • Setting priorities during and after a financial setback, and bouncing back • Getting the most out of a bank while avoiding fees • Credit card and debit card secrets that will save you money • Family matters -- talking money before marriage and mediating claims during divorce • Cutting the cost of student debt, and finding schools that will offer big "merit" scholarships to your child • The simplest ways of pulling yourself out of debt • Why it's so important to jump on the automatic-savings bandwagon • Buying a house, selling one, or trying to rent your home when buyers aren't around • Why credit scores are more important than ever, plus tips on keeping yours in the range most attractive to lenders • Investing made easy -- mutual funds that are tailor-made for your future retirement • What every investor needs to know about building wealth • How an "investment policy" helps you make wise decisions in any market • The essential tax-deferred retirement plans, from 401(k)s to Individual Retirement Accounts -- and how to manage them • How to invest in real estate at a bargain price (and how to spot something that looks like a bargain but isn't) • Eleven ways of keeping a steady income while you're retired, even after a stock market crash • Financial planning -- what it means, how you do it, and where to find good planners Page by page, Quinn leads you through the pros and cons of every decision, to help you make the choice that will suit you best. This is the single personal-finance book that no family should be without.

"How to retire in your 20s and 30s (without winning the lottery). This book provides a robust strategy that makes it possible to stop working for money in less than a decade."--Page 4 of cover.

Your #1 goal should be to have money for retirement. We all want the finer things in life; we are a society obsessed with instant gratification. However, all of your decisions (the financial ones, at least) should be primarily based on both your future and your retirement. With this as an overall theme, this book will walk you down the road to retirement, providing you with options and choices that are most appropriate for your particular situation. No one said the road would be easy, but do not worry, we will face those speed bumps head on, and we will do it together. The best time to start planning for retirement is now! A significant change in the last 20 years is the position of global investments. In 1990, 75 percent of investment opportunities were in the United States and 25 percent in other places around the world. Currently, it is almost the opposite with about 75 percent of the opportunities outside the United States. The U.S. is still the #1 financial leader in the world. Japan is #2. In 2010, China overtook Germany to become #3. We need to recognize that other countries are maturing and we want to make sure you have considered all investment opportunities that exist. By the end of this book, you will be comfortable enough to make your own decisions regarding your investments. If you are not, it will allow you to be comfortable asking any financial consultant the right questions. This book is about giving you new tools. So, we brought in Morningstar® to enable you to evaluate your options and introduced a global perspective to help you maximize potential returns. Think of it this way: if this were your favorite coffee blend (with all the right ingredients), you would want a refill.