Saving for Retirement (Without Living Like a Pauper or Winning the Lottery) Updated and Revised, CourseSmart eTextbook

Americans are increasingly worried about retirement. Their savings have been buffeted by repeated stock market collapses. Healthcare costs keep soaring. Uncle Sam is moving towards limiting Social Security and Medicare benefits. Individuals are facing more risk today than they have since the Great Depression. This book will relieve confusion and barriers to action. It acquaints readers with people like them, and step-by-step addresses what's likely confusing them. Instead of starting with some lofty financial planning theory, it walks individuals through the process everyone goes through with IRAs and 401 (k)s -- leaving no basic questions unanswered. Instead of telling readers to open an IRA-as many books do-it tells them how to open one: where to go, what the forms mean, how to decide how to invest, the essential first steps. The book removes everything from the reader's path that typically trips people up and hits the sweet spot for everyone from aged 18 to 60. Using new figures (including troubling new projections of healthcare and long-term care costs), she helps readers calculate exactly how much money they'll need. Next, she presents optimal asset allocations for each stage of life -- and shows how these allocations would've protected typical investors through the past five tumultuous years. Packed with her readers' personal stories, this book teaches powerful professional financial planning principles -- but makes them simple enough for anyone to apply on their own.

Introduction     xxi

Chapter 1: Start Investing Early or Start Now     1

Chapter 2: Know What You’ll Need     9

Chapter 3: Savings on Steroids: Use a 401(k) and an IRA     41

Chapter 4: An IRA: Every American’s Treasure Trove     61

Chapter 5: IRA Decisions: How to Start and Where to Go     67

Chapter 6: Why the Stock Market Isn’t a Roulette Wheel     91

Chapter 7: What’s a Mutual Fund?     111

Chapter 8: Making Sense of Wacky Mutual Fund Names     123

Chapter 9: Know Your Mutual Fund Manager’s Job     137

Chapter 10: The Only Way That Works: Asset Allocation     165

Chapter 11: Do This     177

Chapter 12: How to Pick Mutual Funds: Bargain Shop     201

Chapter 13: Index Funds: Get What You Pay For     209

Chapter 14: Simple Does It: No-Brainer Investing with Target-Date Funds     231

Chapter 15: Do You Need a Financial Adviser?     243

Index     253