Where are those of you who have already obtained the book (hard copy, not audio book or e-book) bought it from? None of the bookstores near me in NJ, including Barnes & Noble have it but all would âorder itâ for me. I also went to my local library who said they hadnât ordered it. I told the reference librarian who I know to tell the buyer to order a few copies for circulation. It will be a very popular book for borrow.
Javier, good post and valid questions. Here is my take on your post and questions.
First, as a CPA as my professional training and working in finance in the insurance industry for most of my career, I was not engaged in financial planning on a personal level. I was engaged in financial controls for businesses that I worked in (and audited). I had no training in investments nor was this an area that I practiced in for the businesses I worked for. My area of expertise was more in the area of generating cash flow and budgeting, managing expenses, etc. All important factors for business that had application to personal finance, but far from the type of planning that was useful for retirement investment and planning.
I was fortunate to have access to great employee benefits at the companies that I worked for most of my career, including a company provided non-contributory pension plan upon retirement and a generous 401k plan that included a company match of 117% of the employees contribution after x number of years (and for most of my 34 year career at this one employer). The investment options were the usual Vanguard Mutual funds as well as company stock during much of my career. Even without the investment return, I was making over 100% return on my contributions. As my wife and I were getting closer to retirement (about 7 years ago) we decided to look for and after interviewing several, we engaged with a financial planner who followed the philosophy of the Bucket Plan which made a lot of sense to us. We were both free to transfer portions of our 401k assets to the planner who put these funds into various investment products that fit into the NOW, SOON and LATER buckets leading up to our retirement, 3 years ago. We are very happy with the relationship we have built with our advisor and consult with him as needed. The investments have done very well and we have barely had to touch any of our assets due to our other income sources of Pensions and now Social Security. As for the 2nd question, many people like to learn about and invest their assets on their own and feel they donât need (or want to pay) a financial planner. We had no interest in taking on this responsibility of learning about investment options and risking our hard earned assets via Do It Yourself. There are plenty of planners out there (probably not all great) but if individuals arenât interested in engaging them or doing the work to vet them to find a good one, they will not be assisted. You can lead a horse to waterâŠ
Good analogy, Mark. An important reminder. I hope many âyounger readersâ get the message but I doubt there are many of them reading this site. As for âteaching our kidsâ these lessons, they are so involved in surviving the costs youâve mentioned that saving for retirement is probably far from their thoughts. Perhaps they are relying on the inheritance from their parents who took your advice to help them in their retirement?
Jeff, great book you referenced. Like Greg, the purchase of our Condominium at the NJ Shore was the best (and scariest) purchase we ever made, 9 years ago. At the time, we were still working (in the office 5 days a week) and had two young granddaughters, ages 5 and 3. We used part of our retirement 401k funds to come up with the 20% down payment and took on a large 2nd mortgage, albeit at a great 3.5% rate. In the years following, this 2nd home, just an hour from our primary home in North Jersey has become the center of our social and familyâs lives. From Memorial Day through Labor Day, our daughters, SILs and now 4 grandchildren (ages 3-14) come down and spend the weekends with us enjoying, beach, pool and the NJ shore summer vibe. We are blessed that our family lives close enough to spend this time with us and enjoys coming down often. We are now retired and spend much of the summer here at the beach (when not returning to North Jersey for Drs. Appointments, etc.) getting together with the many friends weâve made here and having other friends visit from North Jersey (during the weekdays) to spend time at the shore. Besides all the great times and leisure activities the home provides, the increase in value has made it one of the best investments weâve ever made.
Let me just say, no offense intended, that most âpeople are dumbâ. They donât plan, research, consider all alternatives and make informed decisions. They let family, friends or the SS website give advice as to whatâs good for THEM!
Yes, take it when you need it but please try to wait until Full Retirement Age (FRA) at least.
Itâs hard, if not impossible to judge anyoneâs by personal financial position by outward appearances of homes, cars and clothes/ jewelry. We have long time friends whoâs both grown kids married into wealthy families. These young families have no financial worries as the parents (in-laws) are providing substantial financial support (in one case paying for the house). Our friend says they have no worries about their kids financially. You never know the whole story (unless you know these young families well yourself. đ€·đ»ââïž
Comments
Wow, such a powerful reminder to appreciate everyday we have and the people around us who make our lives so happy. đą
Post: Mourning the World
Link to comment from June 5, 2026
Where are those of you who have already obtained the book (hard copy, not audio book or e-book) bought it from? None of the bookstores near me in NJ, including Barnes & Noble have it but all would âorder itâ for me. I also went to my local library who said they hadnât ordered it. I told the reference librarian who I know to tell the buyer to order a few copies for circulation. It will be a very popular book for borrow.
Post: Money and Me
Link to comment from June 2, 2026
Javier, good post and valid questions. Here is my take on your post and questions. First, as a CPA as my professional training and working in finance in the insurance industry for most of my career, I was not engaged in financial planning on a personal level. I was engaged in financial controls for businesses that I worked in (and audited). I had no training in investments nor was this an area that I practiced in for the businesses I worked for. My area of expertise was more in the area of generating cash flow and budgeting, managing expenses, etc. All important factors for business that had application to personal finance, but far from the type of planning that was useful for retirement investment and planning. I was fortunate to have access to great employee benefits at the companies that I worked for most of my career, including a company provided non-contributory pension plan upon retirement and a generous 401k plan that included a company match of 117% of the employees contribution after x number of years (and for most of my 34 year career at this one employer). The investment options were the usual Vanguard Mutual funds as well as company stock during much of my career. Even without the investment return, I was making over 100% return on my contributions. As my wife and I were getting closer to retirement (about 7 years ago) we decided to look for and after interviewing several, we engaged with a financial planner who followed the philosophy of the Bucket Plan which made a lot of sense to us. We were both free to transfer portions of our 401k assets to the planner who put these funds into various investment products that fit into the NOW, SOON and LATER buckets leading up to our retirement, 3 years ago. We are very happy with the relationship we have built with our advisor and consult with him as needed. The investments have done very well and we have barely had to touch any of our assets due to our other income sources of Pensions and now Social Security. As for the 2nd question, many people like to learn about and invest their assets on their own and feel they donât need (or want to pay) a financial planner. We had no interest in taking on this responsibility of learning about investment options and risking our hard earned assets via Do It Yourself. There are plenty of planners out there (probably not all great) but if individuals arenât interested in engaging them or doing the work to vet them to find a good one, they will not be assisted. You can lead a horse to waterâŠ
Post: The Quiet Failure of Good Advice
Link to comment from May 30, 2026
Good analogy, Mark. An important reminder. I hope many âyounger readersâ get the message but I doubt there are many of them reading this site. As for âteaching our kidsâ these lessons, they are so involved in surviving the costs youâve mentioned that saving for retirement is probably far from their thoughts. Perhaps they are relying on the inheritance from their parents who took your advice to help them in their retirement?
Post: Don’t Kick The Can Down The Road
Link to comment from May 27, 2026
Jeff, great book you referenced. Like Greg, the purchase of our Condominium at the NJ Shore was the best (and scariest) purchase we ever made, 9 years ago. At the time, we were still working (in the office 5 days a week) and had two young granddaughters, ages 5 and 3. We used part of our retirement 401k funds to come up with the 20% down payment and took on a large 2nd mortgage, albeit at a great 3.5% rate. In the years following, this 2nd home, just an hour from our primary home in North Jersey has become the center of our social and familyâs lives. From Memorial Day through Labor Day, our daughters, SILs and now 4 grandchildren (ages 3-14) come down and spend the weekends with us enjoying, beach, pool and the NJ shore summer vibe. We are blessed that our family lives close enough to spend this time with us and enjoys coming down often. We are now retired and spend much of the summer here at the beach (when not returning to North Jersey for Drs. Appointments, etc.) getting together with the many friends weâve made here and having other friends visit from North Jersey (during the weekdays) to spend time at the shore. Besides all the great times and leisure activities the home provides, the increase in value has made it one of the best investments weâve ever made.
Post: The Art of Spending Money
Link to comment from May 18, 2026
Let me just say, no offense intended, that most âpeople are dumbâ. They donât plan, research, consider all alternatives and make informed decisions. They let family, friends or the SS website give advice as to whatâs good for THEM! Yes, take it when you need it but please try to wait until Full Retirement Age (FRA) at least.
Post: Social Security subject beaten to death, but one more time please
Link to comment from October 24, 2025
Itâs hard, if not impossible to judge anyoneâs by personal financial position by outward appearances of homes, cars and clothes/ jewelry. We have long time friends whoâs both grown kids married into wealthy families. These young families have no financial worries as the parents (in-laws) are providing substantial financial support (in one case paying for the house). Our friend says they have no worries about their kids financially. You never know the whole story (unless you know these young families well yourself. đ€·đ»ââïž
Post: I Really Don’t Get It, But I Guess That’s OK
Link to comment from October 21, 2025
Lucretia, excellent article and very good advice. Regular Medicare is the way to go!
Post: Don’t make the wrong Medicare decision
Link to comment from October 17, 2025