Individual-Retirement-Account

Reading Wade Dokken's book, New Century, New Deal, was particularly gratifying in many ways. As a Wall Street market strategist for years, I have spent considerable time analyzing and measuring the benefits of privatizing social security, and I have long been a believer in the merits of privatization. Naively, I have always thought of this issue as one of the "Republican" ideas which would never find favor with Democrats. What a delight to discover a life-long, ardent and proud Democrat is the author of a book that succinctly and eloquently lays out the case for privatization. Importantly, he focuses on what he calls Social Security CHOICE, rather than a mandatory privatization. This book should be read by every Senator and Congressman before they cast a vote on the subject. Wade Dokken details clearly why, without a choice based system, wage earners will be subject to either massive tax increases or benefit cuts. He then goes on to make the case that "Social Security Choice comes down to the simple principle of fairness", allowing as how those with a lot of money do not need social security. Rather, it is the lower and middle income wage earners who stand to benefit from investing their own portion of social security. How right he is! This book is an easy read. It doesn't try to solve the mathematical problem. Rather it deals with the principles for privatization. Anyone with a couple of hours on a train or a plane or in the back seat of a car can become a convert.

With simplicity and folksy anecdotes, Wade Dokken makes a complicated subject easy to read and understand. I enjoyed this book and am convinced that it's time to fix a problem that most politicians are afraid to tackle.

I naively did not know that 12% of my income is witheld for Social Security taxes. More disheartening, I did not know that I receive only a 2% return on this money.

Ouch.

However, New Century New Deal, made a great point. I could own some or most of this money and earn mutual fund rates of return. I am a believer and you will be if you read this book.

Hebeler's approach answered for me my most challenging questions: 1] Will my retirement assets allow me to spend what I need (want) to spend each year during my years in retirement? 2] Can I grow my assets at my desired rate while simultaneously lowering the risk of my portfolio? 3] How can I evaluate my financial health each year in a meaningful and action-oriented manner?

All your family members should read it. And if after reading Hebeler's book you still feel the need for professional financial planning, insist that he/she read it as well.

Mr. Hebeler was a practicing engineer and manager at Boeing for many years before he retired and his engineering mind with its attention to details shows through. Of significant note is his discussion of reverse dollar-cost averaging and his retirement autopilot method to provide a feedback mechanism. Nothing more than simple mathematics is used and his principles can be used without buying expensive software. This is one of the best investment books I have read in years!

I read everything I can get my hands on about retirement and this book is one of the best. Best because it's one of the most objective and factual accounts I've read. Hebeler backs up what he's talking about with fairly easy to understand charts giving different case senarios so you're bound to find your particular situation. His autopilot program explains how to keep your pre-retirement program on course. For the already retired, he shows what's necessary to keep from "out-living" your money, a fear many of us have in trying to decide when to retire. Hebeler provides worksheets at the back of the book for you to copy and do your own planning. Been thinking of hiring a retirement planner; now I think I can try it on my own. At the very least I'll be better prepared if I do decide to go to a financial retirement planner.

All About Self-Directed IRA Investing provides even the most novice wage earner with effective, practical, "user friendly" step-by-step instructions on how to go about setting up an IRA account, make contributions, select investments, and choose distribution methods. All the pros and cons of combining IRA's with individual investor situations are surveyed and illustrated with real-life examples on how to get top IRA account performance. Very highly recommended for anyone undertaking their own financial planning, All About Self-Directed IRA Investing shows how to roll a retirement plan into an IRA; choose between a Roth and a traditional IRA, and convert a traditional IRA to a Roth -- and when to do it.

Information on retirement planning can be difficult to understand. Davis's book thoroughly covers the 401K and IRA options. It is a positive, straightforward analysis beginning with why we should plan for retirement then moving on to the advantages of IRA's and 401K's over saving after tax dollars. Tables illustrate how the value of early saving multiplies over time. As you get farther into to book the author's financial expertise shows positively with his clear, but detailed explanations of sometimes difficult financial concepts. He writes clearly and builds the explanations step by step. We were bombarded with information on the Roth IRA a couple of years ago, but have found the clearest explanations in this little book. It is a worthwhile book, well-organized and well-written and covers the subject matter clearly. Our 401K provider at work should have their salespeople read it!

Written by finance columnist and certified financial planner Neil Downing, The New IRAs And How To Make Them Work For You is a straightforward and highly accessible guide to Individual Retirement Accounts and how to best make use of them in light of recent tax law changes. Individual chapters address how to manage an IRA, what to do when withdrawing from or inheriting an IRA, what a Roth IRA is and how it can serve your needs, and a great deal more. The New IRAs And How To Make Them Work For You is recommended as a first-rate primer written for the non-specialist general reader with an eye toward saving and planning for a fiscally sound future.

Sass writes engagingly about the history of pensions, which goes back only about 100 years in the United States. He discusses the family handicraft economy of the mid-1800s, how it was displaced by large industrial firms, why pensions began, how they evolved, the impact of ERISA and the creation of defined contribution plans in the late 20th century. If you want to understand the policy issues of public (Social Security) and private pension reform and how they will affect you personally in the future, I suggest you turn back to the past for starters.

This is a very methodical, thorough step by step manual for investing your IRA or retirement funds in real estate. This book was very helpful to me for a number of reasons. A year ago or so I asked three different advisers at Fidelity Mutual Funds whether I could use my IRA money there to purchase and renovate a piece of real estate. They each said no. But this book says the answer should have been yes. That I can set up my own IRA, even a rollover IRA or Keough, and purchase and improve real estate with the money from the IRA. And the book is very methodical about how to do it, including forms and steps in the procedure. I would think the book would also be helpful to estate planners and lawyers who are helping people plan their estates. One thing I wish the authors would address is why should you put your retirement funds in real estate rather in the stock market or mutual funds. Are there tax advantages? Is the income sheltered? Is it easier (ie fewer estate taxes on heirs) to pass real estate on to heirs--is the value of real estate discounted somehow? I wish I had had this book when I was talking to Fidelity so I could have rolled over those IRA funds into this building I bought rather than borrowing money from a bank.

This book is an easy to read, easy to understand guide for those people interested in their retirement - and who isn't? With all the myriad of articles and books on the market, this book will guide you to the most important points to understand about planning for your retirement.

Read it!

This simple, easy-to-read, easy-to apply guide to financial success is a blessing in a bright green wrapper!

IRA Wealth provides a series of alternatives to the traditional IRA Stock Market investment opportunities. The book is organized to first dispel the myth that investing in real estate with your IRA is illegal and second to explain how to structure your IRA investments with a "self-directed" IRA. The following chapters identify IRA real estate investments based on the level of risk associated with that particular type of real estate investment. The final chapters discuss some of the nuances of liquidating your real estate investments upon the time of your mandatory IRA distributions. Finally, IRA Wealth provides several appendices to help you start your own due diligence with regard to IRA investing in real estate.
Overall, I enjoyed reading IRA Wealth and found that it opened my mind to new ideas on IRA investments. Most of us have probably felt the sting of lackluster stock market returns during the past few years. So the prospect of low to moderate risk real estate investments is clearly of interest. I found the organization of the book to be well thought-out and comprehensive. If you have already read several books on real estate investing, you will realize that several investment methods continue to pop-up. IRA Wealth takes those methods and ties them to your IRA.
Regardless of your level of experience with regard to real estate investing, I believe you will find IRA Wealth a worthwhile read and well worth your time.

IRA Wealth: Revolutionary Strategies For Real Estate Investment is the collaborative effort of Patrick W. Rice (investment columnist and the owner of IRA Resource Associates -- offering expertise in investment real estate for self-directed retirement accounts) and Jennifer Dirks (personal finance and real estate issues staff, and winner of the U.S. Small Business Administration's 2002 "Journalist of the Year award for the Pacific Northwest), diverges sharply from the common understanding that IRA holdings can only be invested in stocks and certificates of deposit. In response to the decline of the stock market, IRA Wealth presents real estate as a profitable and worthy investment venture, and one that is perfectly legal to hold in any personal IRA account. Examining both low-risk and high-return real estate ventures, IRA Wealth is a superbly presented, "reader friendly", informational presentation for anyone seeking to diversify their IRA account holdings into property as a hedge against the volatility of the stock and bond markets.

I have just begun to read your book and it is perfect timing as my husband and I have a sum saved in our IRA. We plan to read the book together and investigate the investment strategies suggested. Thank you. The book is an easy and inspirational read on a complex subject.