Product Description

Covering such topics as investment advice, trusts vs. wills, joint tenancy and gifting, durable power of attorney for health care, long-term care insurance, and early retirement--all which need to be understood for a successful retirement--Suze Orman puts together financial advice in the friendliest, most caring, and dramatic way ever, using the stories of real people to demonstrate her points.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #384924 in Books
• Published on: 1997-04-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 9.00" h x .75" w x 7.00" l, 1.00 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

Amazon.com Review
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.

From Publishers Weekly
This hard-nosed, pull-no-punches money guide lays out what to do on the way to retirement in seven crucial financial transitions of a lifetime. The author explains, in understandable language, vital aspects, wrinkles and angles that many people will have never heard of. Citing harrowing situations that many have unexpectedly encountered upon early retirement?loss of a spouse, long-term illness, investment collapse or a poorly prepared estate plan?California-based certified financial planner Orman analyzes dismayingly complicated IRS tax rulings, decisions about trusts vs. wills, long-term health-care insurance policies, powers-of-attorney and the effects of unexpected death involving former spouses and their children. Particularly informative is a section on withholding costly life-support procedures in cases of hopeless injury or terminal illness. In closing, Orman tenders cheerful advice on making money?by saving it.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Many popular guides to retirement (e.g., Kiplinger's 12 Steps to a Worry-Free Retirement, 1993) focus on building and investing retirement income, as if that is a retiree's only concern. Orman, a certified financial planner, emphasizes the legal, medical, and estate planning aspects of retirement. Her manual promotes preserving rather than increasing wealth. Each of the eight chapters begins with a story of a retiree's mistake. Orman then discusses the mistake and provides guidelines for avoiding it. The topics she covers include long-term care insurance, trusts and wills, durable power of attorney for healthcare, and unscrupulous "guardian angel" investment advisers. Some of Orman's assertions may surprise (e.g., most people, not only the wealthy, benefit from having a trust), and readers should consult with their attorneys and families before acting on her advice. In a brief space Orman presents planning considerations many retirement guides overlook. Recommended for public libraries.
Robert Kruthoffer, Lane P.L., Hamilton, Ohio
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Every woman's book on pitfalls in planning: Read this FIRST!
I grabbed this book on impulse, knowing that I have a bad track record with money management subjects. I thought it would be laying around gathering dust for awhile...

Was I surprised when I started reading the first page and then plowed right through it in 1-1/2 nights! So easy to read and understand. (The Wall St. Journal series, with all their glitzy colored pictures couldn't do what Suze did with her real-life stories as examples.) Maybe it's the woman's touch, but she got through to me. The whole picture of retirement issues and planning became clear.

I highly recommend this as a first book for financial planning -- it's NOT JUST ABOUT RETIREMENT, it's more about protecting women by arming them with vital information... every woman should READ THIS BOOK BEFORE MAKING ANOTHER DECISION involving money (or before someone makes one for her).

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.