How To Retire Happy: Everything You Need to Know About the 12 Most Important Decisions You Must Make Before You Retire

Book Description

Nearly 2 million Americans reach retirement age each year. Before anyone can begin to enjoy all the leisure time ahead, there are difficult decisions to be made about a host of crucial issues, such as Social Security, HMOs, insurance, and estate planning. Written by award-winning Washington Post financial reporter and syndicated columnist, Stan Hinden, How to Retire Happy arms anyone approaching retirement with easy-to-comprehend answers to all their complicated questions. How to Retire Happy:
• Provides practical advice and guidance on the 12 most complicated decisions to make before retiring
• Covers all the bases, from where to live to how to invest, from health insurance to taking money out of IRAs
• Goes beyond financial planning to offer practical advice on the key emotional and psychological issues surrounding retirement

Customer Reviews:

Different book than I expected.......2006-01-16

This was a very interesting book even for those of us who reitred early (in our 50's) because we had not yet had to deal with many of the issues discussed. However, the title made me think it was going to be more about the non-financial aspects of retirement -- the "Happy" part.

Now 6 years into our retirement, we have traveled for a year (and written a book "Live Your Road Trip Dream - Travel for a year for the cost of staying home), done some part time work selling, played with the grandkids, traveled some more, and are continually looking for new ideas to fill our days. As we often say to people, "Yes, we're retired, but we're not dead!" We have our eyes open and looking for new challenges. That's what I thought we'd find in this book. Hmmm, maybe I should write THAT book....

The author presents his topics with candor and real examples, which is very helpful. It at least gives you a general idea of where to start and what the "ballpark" looks like, but I'm still looking for more "happy" ideas.

Helpful Insight From Real Retiree.......2002-12-01

My first observation in reviewing "How to Retire Happy," by Stan Hinden, is that the title of the book is misleading. In fact, the author essentially waits until the last two pages of the book to tell us some reasons why he really likes his retirement. And we learn essentially nothing of his day-to-day activities that make his retirement a happy one. But, despite the misleading title, things turn out to be just fine, as by the time one reads through all the areas that the author worries about or used to worry about relative to his retirement, it is almost like we have lived through those experiences ourselves. We are now more than ever ready to learn more about the fun part of retirement from another source.

But more bad news is the fact that the author waits until age 69 to retire, then goes back to work part-time eight months later, even though both he and his wife have handsome pensions lined up. His conclusion is that he was much better off financially having waited to retire. This less-than-risky leap into retirement is not what most pre-retirement readers want to hear, I would think. Also, since he takes five years into retirement to finish the book, he brings us his views and information on retirement from a perspective of a man well into his 70's, an age that is well-beyond the current average age for Americans starting retirement.

But some good news is that his thoughts couple maturity with the freshness and openness that we're looking for. He tells us his goal for the book is to "take the mystery out of retirement." What he has to say, to me, comes in a style and content that is sincere, authentic, and not preachy or meant to be perfect. And while most of the book's information can be found in countless other books or materials on retirement issues, it is the author's personal-experience perspectives, weaving in and out, that make the book worth reading.

Perhaps the book's best chapter is the one entitled "How Should I Invest During Retirement?" As most experienced investors know, there simply is no one answer for everyone in this area or even for one person all the time. Says the author, "Your goal as a retiree should be to develop an investment portfolio that provides relative safety, current income for living expenses, and the growth of your saving." While we'll all probably agree with this, now what? It's a bit like a baseball manager telling his pitcher, "Don't give him anything good, but whatever you do, don't walk him!"

The author starts this chapter with, "Three years after I retired, I was shocked to discover that if my wife and I didn't cut down on our spending and get better results on or investments, we would use up all our retirement savings within eight years." He gets professional advice to concentrate on cash flow. And after laying out the financial alternatives that he has been provided in his real world, Hinden selects a combination not without risk, in an effort to squeeze out a return that will bring him enough money to buy things he's really counting on in retirement. In this area, he's taken real risk and is not putting us to sleep. His struggle is personal and frank, and his conclusion is more than food for thought.

And while I don't agree with his conclusion in the chapter on long-term-care insurance, he comes right out with his concerns: "I can tell you what scares me. It's the idea that my health or the health of my wife, Sara, might deteriorate to the point where one of us would have to become a resident of a nursing home for an extended period of time." And he shares his fear of "the very real threat that we could be wiped out financially by the cost of that care." What also is refreshing in this section and others is that he gives readers actual financial details for he and his wife that are involved in their decisions. How refreshing to have some real numbers from a real retiree.

Another enjoyable chapter is "Where Do I Want To Live After I Retire?" Again, he shares the personal struggles and explorations that he and his wife experienced in their relocation explorations. He brings this important area of retirement options to life and, as a result, you feel more experienced yourself after having read it. And finally, in his final chapter, "How Can I Age Successfully," his list of the "do's" and "don'ts" relative to growing older are first-class.

Again, perhaps the best thing about this book is that it is full of personal experiences from a guy who is authentically retired. The clear majority of "retirement" books now emerging are written by people who have advice and opinions on retirement, but have no interest in retiring themselves soon. I find this a bit ingenuous most of the time. What Hinden gives us is a view from the inside looking out. It is far from a perfect book on retirement, and most readers will find sections or chapters that they will want to skim or skip entirely. Despite this, I enjoyed reading the book and recommend it highly to others.

Not the best out there..........2002-05-18

A book for the beginner. The financial planning advice was broad in scope, but shallow in depth. For the novice. The book is written in the voice of a person from my parent's generation (I'm 48). The approach to planning here is very conservative and even a bit naive. There were some good passages on trusts and wills. I was also a bit surprised there was no mention of non-financial issues relating to retirement, like personal growth. Money isn't everything. Try the book by Wasik, much better.

Good basic book covers all the important areas.......2002-03-23

Solidly researched and tightly written, this one will answer all the basic question a prospective retiree could have without overwhelming the reader with unnecessary detail or repetition. The author doesn't neglect to cover important side issues such as how to age successfully and deciding where to live after retirement but also covers basic questions such as : Am I ready to retire? Can I afford to retire and How should I invest DURING retirement? All in all, a good, well-balanced guide to retirement planning.

Out of retirement.............2002-03-01

Stan Hinden writes a column for the Washington Post and I've read his column since day one. I cannot say this is the best book ever written on the subject because I've only read three books, but I can say I've learned a great deal about retirement from Mr. Hinden and what I've learned was not taught in the midcareer retirement seminar I attended.

Unlike some who write on the subject, Mr. Hinden is actually retired...well sort of. He took a retirement pension from the Washington Post and then started writing his column on retirement, and now he has published a book on the subject. As Yogi Berra said, it ain't over until it's over.

Mr. Hinden says although you may retire from one job, perhaps you'll go onto another. Many folks retire from several jobs over the course of their life. Others figure out how to retire once and do it before 40. Mr. Hinden's main point is to rethink what retirement means to you. And, it's very important to have a plan for your "retired" years.

Mr. Hinden deals with financial matters, probably not with the comprehensiveness of a financial planner, but he provides enough information to get you started asking the right questions as well as a list of other sources with more in-depth information. A few of his goodies include -- yes, you can arrange with Social Security to make deductions for tax purposes, and yes, you may be eligible for pension coverage from a former employee if you were vested before you left.

Mr. Hinden underwent surgery a few years ago, and he has a great deal to say about medical expenses and health insurance. He also has some things to say about decisions he made prior to retirement concerning his beneficiaries. He also explains some of the mysteries associated with Part A and Part B Medicare. He also discusses the value of long-term health care insurance.

It's never too early to think about retirement planning. I am sending copies of Mr. Hinden's book to all my children so they can begin to think about it. That should boost his post-retirement income by a few cents.

Average customer rating:
How To Retire Happy: Everything You Need to Know about the 12 Most Important Decisions You Must Make before You Retire
Stan Hinden
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OGGDCO

Book Description

"Suppose," Clifford Geertz suggests, "having entangled yourself every now and again over four decades or so in the goings-on in two provincial towns, one a Southeast Asian bend in the road, one a North African outpost and passage point, you wished to say something about how those goings-on had changed." A narrative presents itself, a tour of indices and trends, perhaps a memoir? None, however, will suffice, because in forty years more has changed than those two towns--the anthropologist, for instance, anthropology itself, even the intellectual and moral world in which the discipline exists. And so, in looking back on four decades of anthropology in the field, Geertz has created a work that is characteristically unclassifiable, a personal history that is also a retrospective reflection on developments in the human sciences amid political, social, and cultural changes in the world. An elegant summation of one of the most remarkable careers in anthropology, it is at the same time an eloquent statement of the purposes and possibilities of anthropology's interpretive powers.

To view his two towns in time, Pare in Indonesia and Sefrou in Morocco, Geertz adopts various perspectives on anthropological research and analysis during the post-colonial period, the Cold War, and the emergence of the new states of Asia and Africa. Throughout, he clarifies his own position on a broad series of issues at once empirical, methodological, theoretical, and personal. The result is a truly original book, one that displays a particular way of practicing the human sciences and thus a particular--and particularly efficacious--view of what these sciences are, have been, and should become.

Customer Reviews:

One of my favorites..........2004-07-23

I developed a strong preference for Geertz and his methodology during my undergraduate studies. In this book he does an outstanding job of amending structuralism with realtivism, anecdotally, and manages to keep the tone entertaining and personal.

Geertz ignored his presence during genocide for too long.......2003-08-01

I have been influenced by the beauty of Geertz writing for decades, but After the Fact has left me disturbed and confused. This summer I read an essay by Stephen Reyna claiming Geertz covered-up genocide in Indonesia, I didn't believe Reyna's claims until I read Geertz's account of these events in this book. Now I don't know what to think, and I am beginning to question Geertz's methods and I want to know why Geertz was not outspoken about the genocide he saw.

the great but unclassifiable anthropologist.......2000-09-16

A Professor of Social Science at Princeton for decades, Geertz gave a series of lectures at the University of Jerusalem and these were the result. The book serves as a memoir of his four decades in the field of anthropology and brings together two areas of the world where he has built his career. Noting the similarities and differences of working in Indonesia and Morocco, Geertz draws comparative aspects of these divergent cultures. Known for his 'thick description' which was made Bible in the "interpretation of cultures" (a must first-read for understanding his theories), Geertz uses it some, but doesn't overload the reader here. The uninformed reader can still enjoy the behind-the-scenes-look at one of the foremost anthropologists of the 20th century and not get lost along the way. For the Geertz fan, it is a must read, if nothing for his funny anecdotes.

After the Fact: Two Countries, Four Decades, One Anthropologist.(Brief Article): An article from: The Antioch Review

Average customer rating:

After the Fact: Two Countries, Four Decades, One Anthropologist.(Brief Article): An article from: The Antioch Review
Adan Quan
Manufacturer: Antioch Review, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Book Description

This digital document is an article from The Antioch Review, published by Antioch Review, Inc. on June 22, 1995. The length of the article is 319 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: After the Fact: Two Countries, Four Decades, One Anthropologist.(Brief Article)
Author: Adan Quan
Publication: The Antioch Review (Refereed)
Date: June 22, 1995
Publisher: Antioch Review, Inc.
Volume: v53 Issue: n3 Page: p380(1)

Article Type: Book Review, Brief Article

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Book Description

This issue is dedicated to the celebration of the tenth anniversary of the Program for Community Problem Solving (PCPS), a division of the National Civic League. It honors the spirit in which PCPS was founded by taking the opportunity to ask not just where we are going as a field but also where we should go. In the last decade, consensus building and collaborative problem solving have moved from the margins of government agencies, national foundations, and grassroots neighborhood groups into the mainstream of American life. The ability of PCPS to articulate a vivid "picture of the possible" is more important than ever to the broader efforts that seek to address these and other pressing social issues.

Contributors present successful efforts to address community issues through collaboration from the PCPS ten-year history. Chapters analyze civic capital, the collective civic capacities of a community, as the currency that supports collaborative strategies, and explore the new channels of information that have undercut older rationalist command-and-control models of organizational power arrangements. One contributor offers a strong argument for reinventing the very organizations that serve as mediators for new collaborative ventures in communities, and suggest ways to create new mechanisms for building cohesive communities. Other examples presented include successful public-private partnerships that redefine who has responsibility for the public good. A concluding summary of the public participation in the 1990s captures the achievements of the last decade and the potential areas for successful growth ahead.

Book Description

The book deals with the potential conflicts over shared rivers in the Middle East, and with approaches towards cooperation regarding the Euphrates and Tigris, the Jordan and the Nile Rivers. Far from echoing the warnings about imminent water wars, the book highlights the potential for water savings and for cooperation in many fields inside and outside the water sector. Such creative approaches may foster interdependence, build trust, and create the incentives and conditions for an equitable sharing of international water resources in the Middle East. The text of the International Water Convention is also included.

Book Description

The autobiography of a major jazz clarinetist, With Louis and the Duke tells Barney Bigard's own story of life at the top of the jazz world. Bigard recounts his fourteen years with the Duke Ellington orchestra, from its formation in 1927 to its widespread fame in the early 1940s, followed by
his long association with Louis Armstrong's newly-formed band, the All Stars. Bigard also recollects his early days in New Orleans, considers the influence of Lorenzo Tio on the "creole" school of jazz-clarinet playing, and discusses his associations with "King" Oliver, "Kid" Ory and other major
jazz musicians. Full of witty and loving remembrances, as well as classic "backstage" stories, With Louis and the Duke contains Bigard's personal collection of photographs, many published here for the first time.

With Louis and the Duke: The Autobiography of a Jazz Clarinetist

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With Louis and the Duke: The Autobiography of a Jazz Clarinetist
Barney Bigard
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OKPO6Q

Book Description

This book will help you understand yourself and therefore your natural instinct,which will give you confidence to invest according to your self guided intuition.

Customer Reviews:

creative talent+personal style.......2002-04-08

This book summarily tests you for your personal investing or trading talent and teaches you what style best serves you in instinctively examining the best path for your investing/trading intuition.

creative talent+personal style.......2002-04-08

This book summarily tests you for your personal investing or trading talent and teaches you what style best serves you in instinctively examining the best path for your investing/trading intuition.

Book Description

This issue is the first step in the National Civic League's two-year project to review and revise the Model City Charter, a tool developed in 1897 by scholars and civic reforms seeking to create effective models for local government. Last published in 1989, revisions to the Model City Charter will encompass important changes to local government within the last twelve years, including its increasing role in promoting economic development and delivering social services. Contributors demonstrate that the new Model City Charter must also recognize the emergence of community based coalitions that mayors, council members, and commissions are turning to accomplish their goals and bring people to the table of community decision making. The specific needs of larger cities to move from council-manager models to revised charters that augment the powers of the mayor, as well as the emerging prominence of the chief administrative officer, are discussed. Providing an overview of the issues facing the broad group of citizens, academics, and public officials convened to evaluate the framework in which local governments, the National Civic League has begun the task of bringing the Model City Charter forward into its second century.

Articles Include:

How Anerican City Governments Have Changed: The Evolution of the Model City Charter
H. George Frederickson, Curtis Wood, Brett Logan

Do We Still Need Model Charters? The Meaning and Relevance of Reform in the Twenty-First Century
James H. Svara

An Interview with Terell Blodgett
Michael McGrath

Council-Manager Government: Alive and Leading Today's Best-Managed Communities
William H. Hansell, Jr.

Whither Local Government Reform? The Case of Wisconsin
James Simmons

The Manager as Political Leader
John Nalbandian

Making Regions Viable by Making Them Imageable
Allan D. Wallis

Hispanics, Social Capital, and Civic Engagement
Gary M. Segura, Harry Pachon, Nathan D. Woods

The Dynamics of Social Capital: Creating Trust-Based Relationships and Trustworty Environments
Larry Lemmel

Community Development and Systems Thinking: Theory and Practice
Nina Spruill, Con Kenney, Laura Kaplan

Book Description

One of the world's great tenor saxophonists, Sonny Rollins has always been committed to the fundamental truths of jazz, especially swing. He has managed to be consistently experimental and forward-looking, and he has recorded at least a dozen essential albums. Here, Richard Palmer charts Rollins's career in full.

Customer Reviews:

basic information required.......2004-09-16

in, my not so humble opinion,all books of this type should have as comprehensive a discography as possible ....certainly any adverts for such should indicate the presence or not of one...willietmitchell

Not bad, but not great.......2004-03-31

This is a fairly typical "synopsis" style narration, of facts that most hard-core jazz fans already know. There is little new information, and one could probably glean most of the book's content from the liner notes of Rollins' records and the myriad of magazine articles that have been written about him. Mr. Palmer could have done all fans a service if he had been able to secure a new, in-depth interview with Sonny (although notoriously difficult to obtain, he could have persevered in order to provide some real insight into Rollins in the new millenium), discussing his artform rather than who he has played with or specific compositions. This man will not be around for many more years and this was a wasted opportunity to really plumb the depths of the artist while he is still alive, adding fresh insight to an otherwise regurgitative book.

The Cutting Edge: The Music of Sonny Rollins (EastNote)

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The Cutting Edge: The Music of Sonny Rollins (EastNote)
Richard Palmer
Manufacturer: Hull Univ Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Book Description

A world-renowned Pomo basket weaver and medicine woman, Mabel McKay expressed her genius through her celebrated baskets, her Dreams, her cures, and the stories with which she kept her culture alive. She spent her life teaching others how the spirit speaks through the Dream, how the spirit heals, and how the spirit demands to be heard.
Greg Sarris weaves together stories from Mabel McKay's life with an account of how he tried, and she resisted, telling her story straight--the white people's way. Sarris, an Indian of mixed-blood heritage, finds his own story in his search for Mabel McKay's. Beautifully narrated, Weaving the Dream initiates the reader into Pomo culture and demonstrates how a woman who worked most of her life in a cannery could become a great healer and an artist whose baskets were collected by the Smithsonian.
Hearing Mabel McKay's life story, we see that distinctions between material and spiritual and between mundane and magical disappear. What remains is a timeless way of healing, of making art, and of being in the world.

Customer Reviews:

continues to resonate over time.......2005-08-18

This is just a wonderful piece of writing, one which keeps resonating with me, even several years after first reading it. This book should have more readers, and seeing so few reviews for it, I want to argue for it as a must read on anybody's list. We all know books or speakers, writers and lecturers who could take any subject and make it worthwhile, just to spend time in their company. Greg Sarris is one of those magical presences we can be lucky enough to get to know through the medium of the page. Saying this is not intended to undercut the amazing person of Mabel Mckay, by the way. The way the past present and future weave in and out of this book, her stories, Greg's life, the future of land use in California... all of this is here, an enticing mix of POV's, passed around like a sacred pipe.

A great read....

Great book.......1998-12-09

I read this book for an anthropology class that i am taking, and i found it to be very good. We get a first hand account of what role Mable McKay played for the Pomo Indians as a medicine women and as a basket weaver. Everything that she did was for a purpose, even though at times she had to deal with not everyone accepting her. I would recommend this book for anyone interested in Native American ways of life

Average customer rating:

Mabel McKay Weaving the Dream
Sarris Greg
Manufacturer: University of California
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UEW4K0

Average customer rating:

Mabel McKay: Weaving the Dream
Greg Sarris
Manufacturer: University of CA Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000MSJJVG

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