How to Make Your Money Last

Starred review from November 2, 2015
Veteran financial writer Quinn (Making the Most of Your Money Now) delivers another winner with this guide. Quinn begins with a practical suggestion: “Retirement challenges us like nothing else... You need an action plan.” And this book certainly provides the plan. Quinn includes a quick overview of the five stages of retirement, then tailors information for five distinct types of readers: married, remarried, single, widowed, and divorced. Throughout, Quinn’s tone is as reassuring as her words, which remind readers to “talk, talk, talk,” take a deep breath, and, occasionally, say an emphatic no. She guides readers through decisions about Social Security benefits, pensions, annuities, and nest egg withdrawal rates. The book also covers housing, health, and insurance considerations. Whether readers are determined to make investments on their own or want to delegate, Quinn includes specific and clear guidelines. The book’s reassuring summary chapter, “Just Tell Me What to Do,” is an invaluable reference for its brevity and helpful directions to relevant chapters and pages. Concluding on an upbeat note, Quinn describes retirement as a time when “we let go of who we were and discover who we’ve become.” This book is certain to be a hugely valuable resource for readers, wherever they are on their personal financial timeline.

December 1, 2015

In this comprehensive guide to managing retirement savings, Quinn (columnist, AARP Bulletin; Making the Most of Your Money NOW) provides savvy suggestions to people approaching, entering, or managing retirement. Those thinking about taking the plunge will value the focus on planning and "rightsizing" spending. New retirees will appreciate the step-by-step tips on which accounts to tap first and how to "prudently parcel your money out." Finally, those further down the path may find useful advice in a series of "yes"/"no" scenarios, offering a roadmap to inform their own choices. The chapters conclude with concise summaries and bulleted lists, but the information in places is perhaps too comprehensive--the discussion of Social Security, for example, operates at a level of detail that only a die-hard planner may enjoy. VERDICT Readers at these mature stages of planning will find valuable insight and resources here, making the book a good complement to others such as Laurence J. Kotlikoff and others' Get What's Yours and Emily Guy Birken's The Five Years Before You Retire. With strategy and thoughtfulness, Quinn's readers will be able to "get more from your assets than you probably think."--Doug Diesenhaus, Univ. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from November 15, 2015
Quinn is one of the country's leading commentators on finance, a looked-to and highly regarded columnist who addresses such important money concerns as health insurance, social security, and retirement plans. She is also the author of the classic personal financial planning guide, Making the Most of Your Money Now, an all-encompassing bible that was revised in 2009 to reflect updated financial situations. Baby boomers are retiring in force, and her latest book targets the concerns of both recent and future retirees with volley after helpful volley of information (in a consummately well-ordered presentation) necessary for a retirement that affords psychological as well as financial comfort. The psychological component of facing retirement is not to be downplayed, and Quinn should be applauded for her recognition of the necessity of developing the most suitable mind-set for the soon-to-be and recent retiree who faces the inevitable question, After decades of working we're finally freebut free to do what? As frank and bold as it sounds, she insists these folks must face this truth: We have to reinvent our lives. The meat of her book, then, is guiding readers into making two plans, an action plan to move from a working life to a nonworking one and a financial plan for maximum utilization of the income and savings you will have at your disposal in your retirement. Importantly, she creates a list ofwith ample descriptions for eachthe five stages of retirement: preretirement, the honeymoon, disenchantment, reorientation, and stability. Big-ticket chapters follow and include comprehensive coverage of getting the most out of Social Security, how to live within your retirement means, the danger of post-retirement income investments, and money that can be garnered from life insurance even while you're still alive. Her clarity of prose is matched with a generosity of spirit, and all of the information is graciously laced with a noncondescending tone that renders this book as absolutely helpful as the author intended. High-demand Backstory: Quinn's books are always in demand, and this one will prove no exception.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

December 1, 2019
Quinn revises of her popular retirement finance book only four years since the first edition, completely updating to reflect changes in tax regulation, health insurance, and new investment opportunities. For example, she offers a new stance on immediate-pay annuities while retaining her dislike of lifetime benefit annuities. Other updated topics include Obamacare price increases and whether financial advisers need not be fiduciaries (chapter 2 tells readers how to find a real fiduciary). She also addresses the emotional aspects of the five stages of retirement for guidance in framing one's financial future. The book is well-organized and takes readers chapter by chapter through financial matters, ending with the chapter, Just Tell Me What to Do. Even though Quinn's key to financial success remains the same?manage your spending?readers, both Quinn's followers and anyone seeking a financial road map to retirement, will be drawn to the second edition's new information.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)