| Financial Planning Investing for the Future Are you worried about your financial future? Is retirement nearing, but you fear your nest egg is too small? Do you want to start investing, but don’t know how and think it’s too late to learn? Do you think investing is only for the wealthy? If you answered “YES” to any of these questions, take heart!! Here are two terrific books that will ease your mind and guide you to financial security and retirement happiness. Investing on a Shoestring (1999, Dearborn) was written by Barbara O'Neill, Ph.D., CFP. As indicated by the title, O'Neill shows the reader how to do a lot with a little. She delivers "user friendly" personal finance information that is applicable to "real" people. O'Neill states, "Some people think that investing is just for the rich….Investing is a means to help people of all income levels achieve their financial goals." O’Neill explains there are three prerequisites to “investing on a shoestring”:
Next she explains “risk and reward” and how to deal with debt. Following chapters deliver easy-to-digest explanations of investment fundamentals and investment choices. The last section is devoted to investing with small dollar amounts, making up for lost time, and choosing financial advisers. The Late-Start-Investor: The Better-Late-Than-Never Guide to Realizing Your Retirement Dreams was written by John F. Wasik (1998, Henry Holt). He contends that longer life spans, corporate downsizings, home-based businesses, partial retirement, employee buyouts, permanent singlehood, and later marriage and child-rearing have all contributed to the demise of the traditional concept of retirement. As a result, he proposes a new view of retirement preparation--a flexible life plan that provides for financial, vocational, physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. "Unless you look at your future holistically, merely saving up a pile of money will be a meaningless act." To underscore his philosophy, Wasik includes chapters on "lifestyle planning" and "seeking and finding balance." Although the main purpose of this book is to help procrastinators achieve financial security, the author also benefits readers by encouraging them to reject old views of retirement and to plan for a future based on their own values and priorities: "We're often taught that aging is a negative experience and that old age represents nothing but deterioration, poverty, and dependence. The rewarding part about aging, however, is that it also buys us time. Time to mend our ways. Time to grow our own prosperity, to find work we like, and to spend time and money on things that count." Back to Retirement Preparation
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