An essential roadmap to financial security and independence in retirement
In the newly revised second edition of Plan Your Prosperity: The Only Retirement Guide You’ll Ever Need, Starting Now—Whether You’re 22, 52 or 82, renowned investment adviser Ken Fisher delivers a practical and insightful new discussion of why all your investing should be done with an eye toward retirement.
You’ll learn how to think about investing for retirement and learn to understand key concepts like time horizons, return expectations, and cash flow needs. You’ll discover how to select an appropriate retirement benchmark and how to determine how much you need to save each year to achieve your retirement goal.
The book also includes:
- A comprehensive, workable strategy to develop your own retirement investing plan or work with a professional to do that while avoiding common pitfalls
- Techniques for avoiding harmful myths about retirement saving and investing, like complex and expensive annuities and other products
- Hands-on strategies for figuring out how much income you need to ensure the maintenance of your lifestyle in retirement
Perfect for working people at any stage of their career who are interested in working toward financial security and independence, Plan Your Prosperity is a must-read roadmap to successful investing and saving.
Table of Contents:
Preface vii
Acknowledgments xi
Chapter 1: What? Me? Retire? 1
The Imagined Dichotomy 3
Two Goals and Some Non-Goals 4
Definitions and a Pencil 9
Start Immediately. Now. Right Away 13
Plan Your Prosperity 14
Chapter 2: My Goals Are What? 17
Why Is This So Hard? 20
Your Investing Goals, Simply 24
Potential Pitfall: Capital Preservation and Growth 27
Inflation’s Insidious Impact 30
Three-and-a-Half Percent, Compounded 35
Chapter 3: The Secret Code—Asset Allocation or Benchmark? 39
Benchmark: A Road Map and Measuring Stick 42
Picking a Benchmark 45
The Big Decision: Asset Allocation 46
Potential Pitfall: Age Doesn’t Equal Asset Allocation 50
Benchmark vs. Asset Allocation: What’s the Difference? 52
Chapter 4: Time Horizon—Longer Than You Think 63
Potential Pitfall: Ignoring Opportunity Cost 66
Time Horizon: What Is It? 68
Time Horizon and Benchmark 72
Chapter 5: What’s in a Return? 79
Growth Defined 83
The Past as a Guide? 87
Gordon Moore and Endless Innovation 97
Potential Pitfall: Unrealistic Expectations 100
Chapter 6: Getting That Cash Flow 105
Potential Pitfall: The All High-Dividend Portfolio 108
How Much Do You Need? 111
Monte Carlo: Not Just a Casino 116
Let’s Get Simulating 117
Chapter 7: Can I Get There? 129
How Much Do You Have? 132
A Savings Plan 135
Chapter 8: Putting It All Together 143
To Benchmark or Not to Benchmark 146
State Your Goals 148
Know Where You Are 149
Picking a Sound Benchmark 150
Finding Professional Help 153
Avoid Being a Fraud Victim 155
And You’re Off! 156
Appendix A: All Hail the Mighty Dow 157
Appendix B: Cash Flow vs. Expenses 167
Appendix C: Expense Categories 173
Appendix D: Personal Balance Sheet 177
Appendix E: Tax-Efficient Retirement Income Strategies 181
Notes 187
About the Authors 191
Index 193
