Personal Finance Books to Read Now, to Get You Ready for Retirement

How prepared are you for retirement? Do you know when you want to do it, how much you’ll need for it, and what the possible pitfalls are, not just financially, but in terms of health, happiness, and lifestyle?

According to research from Bankrate, over half of Americans don’t know how much money they’ll need for retirement — which is definitely something to rectify if that includes you — but there are other things to consider as well. They include when you’ll be able to retire, when you’ll actually want to retire, and exactly what retirement will look like for you.

These three books will help you consider all those questions, and more, giving you a solid set of tools that will enable you to put together a retirement plan that truly works for you, financially and otherwise.

How Much Money Do I Need To Retire: Uncommon Financial Planning Wisdom for a Stress-Free Retirement by Todd Tresidder

Working out how much money you need to retire should be fairly straightforward. In fact, there are online calculators that will help you do it in minutes. So why read a whole book on the topic? The answer of course is that there is no easy — or even easily calculable — answer and certainly no one-size-fits-all plan when it comes to designing a happy, adequately-funded retirement.

In this book, the author looks at the different approaches different people might want to take to retirement, including what he calls the Lifestyle Planning Model and the Cash Flow Model, as well as the Traditional Model, which he doesn’t advise.

The ideas presented in this book are well worth considering for anyone who is ready to think carefully about what retirement will look like for them and how they will fund it. You’ll find out:

• How the traditional model of retirement fails to adequately account for important key factors such as longevity and even inflation.
• Why the Lifestyle Planning Model can be more helpful by putting the emphasis on what sort of lifestyle you might be living in retirement, how different it will be to your current one, and what your projected spending might be.
• How the Cash Flow model can often provide a more safe and stable approach to retirement . This is where the author actually unpacks why retirement calculators are overly simplistic and what you need to know about their built-in assumptions, in order to use them wisely.

This is a great read if you want in-depth, but very clearly presented information that you can really use to consider all your options. As the author says:

“Complicated math is usually more symptomatic of covering up ignorance than expressing wisdom.”

You’ll find no complicated math designed to blur lines in this book. Just well-expressed ideas about how to crunch your own numbers, according to your own situation, needs and future plans.

Retire Before Mom and Dad: The Simple Numbers Behind A Lifetime of Financial Freedom by Rob Berger

Yes, this is the classic FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) bible, so you’ll absolutely want to read it if you’re a relatively young worker who plans on getting off the hamster wheel of traditional work as soon as possible. But if you’re an older worker, or you have no desire to opt out of working life prematurely, it could still be a worthwhile read.

Berger includes his own experiences of breaking out of the cycle of debt and spending on his journey towards financial independence and early retirement, along with investment advice that takes into account your overall retirement goals. And that is financial advice that can be useful to anyone, regardless of their current age.

In this book you’ll learn about:

• FIRE math — the science of calculating when and how you’ll be able to reach financial independence.
• Straightforward investing and wealth building advice you can follow even if you don’t have a crazy high level of financial literacy and education.
• The nitty-gritty of how traditional retirement accounts work, and the pros and cons of using them to fund your retirement.
• How you can get out of debt, save, invest, and build good daily habits that support your financial and retirement goals.

It’s understandable if you’ve previously come across this book and perhaps been put off by the title (I was, as someone who has no desire to completely bail out of the workforce early, and whose parents have long since retired).

However, it’s well worth a read if you want a basic but comprehensive overview of all the things you should be thinking about to secure the retirement you want, whatever that looks like for you.

The Retirement Maze: What You Should Know Before and After You Retire, by Rob Pascale, Louis H. Primavera and Rip Roach

In The Retirement Maze, author Rob Pascale addresses some of the reasons that I, and many others, have reservations about the whole concept of FIRE.

When his market research firm became successful enough that Pascale was able to retire at 51, he encountered the same issues that many workers do on retirement. He found himself bored, unfulfilled, and unhappy.

This book isn’t entirely focused on finances, although it certainly touches on that very important aspect of retirement. It also encourages readers to really consider their upcoming retirement years and everything that will mean for them, including the potential but avoidable negatives such as a loss of identity, a deterioration of social life ,  and a general lack of purpose, structure and focus.

This one will help you consider:

• When you should retire (if you have a choice in the matter).
• What to expect and prepare for, including things you may not have previously considered, and how to smooth the transition from work into what will usually be a completely new way of life.
• What to put in place to help you to adapt to a life with less structure and direction.
• How to truly enjoy your retirement and thrive during what for many is a much anticipated but sometimes disappointing new era.

This book is a good read for those planning a retirement in the near future, regardless of whether they feel financially prepared. It’s also a good read for those mid-career workers who are adopting a Lifestyle Planning Model, as it will help them think more deeply about the life they want to build for themselves as they head into their retirement years.

Karen Banes is a freelance writer specializing in entrepreneurship, parenting and lifestyle. She writes articles, website content, ebooks and the occasional award winning short story. Her work has appeared in a range of publications both online and off, including The Washington Post, Life Info Magazine, Transitions Abroad, Brave New Traveler, Natural Parenting Group, and Copia Magazine. Learn More About Karen