[.ca] You've Earned It, Don't Lose It: Mistakes You Can't ... (ISBN 1557043167)

From Amazon.com:
Considering how hard people work for the majority of their lives with an eye towards retiring, it's surprising to find that many give little thought to actually funding their retirement. In You've Earned It, Don't Lose It: Mistakes You Can't Afford to Make When You Retire, financial advisor Suze Orman addresses this sad fact and "goes beyond the usual financial primer to describe how to safeguard your financial future." A specialist in retirement issues and a Certified Financial Planner, Orman knows her stuff, and she shares it in a straightforward manner that's especially helpful for those new to navigating the often-confusing course of retirement planning. Beginning with an overview of investment advice and what to look for in an investment counselor, Orman moves on to eight chapters filled with financial planning wisdom--offering focused discussions of trusts vs. wills, long-term care insurance, early retirement, durable power of attorney, estate taxes and probate costs, minimizing your expenses/maximizing your income, joint and survivor benefits, and a successful retirement. Also included are resource lists, handy quick tips, informative graphs, and personal accounts, making this an invaluable tool in planning for one of the most important turning points in your life.

You don' t have to be approaching retirement to read this:
This book was so imformative even though I am no where near approaching retirement. I am in fact entering college, and I still found this book interesting. I was introduced to the difference between a will and trust, long-term life care, and the rights of survivorship and gifting. This was an east read to start familarizing myself with these terms and ideas. I know for a fact now that I will need to either read this book again later in my lifetime, or research retirement even more. This has inspired me, and even my parents to investigate all aspects of retirement.

Not to be read in one sitting:
Suze Orman wants to help you make the most of your money. In this book, it is not so much how to make more with what you have, but she wants you to keep what you have. This book walks through different scenarios and cases to show you how to do this. As mentioned before, this is not to be read in one sitting. Orman begins each chapter with a testimonial from someone who has lost assets due to poor planning or bad circumstance. These stories will make you angry and sad. Reading them all at once will wear you out. Orman uses these scenarios to walk you through estate planning, wills, retirement, and benefits. There is also a section on minimizing your expenses while maximizing your profits. This section has worksheets to help you visualize where you stand. Likewise, Orman is very good at giving specific examples to explain an idea to you. This is great, but read it a chapter at a time to allow the information to sink in. I would recommend this book for everyone. These are things we all need to know.

Must READ!:
I have recommended this book to countless children of aging parents. Mistakes made by others can be incredibly instructive and interesting to read. Orman has done well here to tell stories of such mistakes made by people not so unlike me and my friends. Such stories could draw in even the most reluctant of financial readers. I get the sense that many of my friends would rather perish than read about money management, but the stories in this book grab you! You want to keep reading just to find out how to avoid skipping blissfully and ignorantly down the same path.

I did not like it. There are better books:
Try these books: Retirement Bible, J.K. Lasser's Your Winning Retirement Plan, or Ernst & Young's Retirement Planning Guide (Ernst and Young's Retirement Planning Guide).

Excellent book:
People spend their entire lifetimes working to amass wealth, but forget about protecting it. I bump into people every day who still think a will is enough---ENT! I also recommend Financial Self Defense and More Wealth without Risk by Givens. Suze's book is newer, but Givens offers techniques that work well with the information in this book.