Reader's Responses:

1. Catherine Michael says:

   May 14, 2010 at 1:40 pm

   Review by Catherine Michael for IRAs, 401(k)s & Other Retirement Plans: Taking Your Money Out
   Rating:
   The reviewer plugging the “MarketBuster” book has totally missed the point of this NOLO book, which is given in the subtitle: Taking Your Money Out. The reviewer is talking about strategies for growing your account.

   When you’re in the savings/growing mode you’re in a whole different situation than you’re in when you’re having to withdraw and/or live off your account. Going from one to the other requires a major change in strategy and, more important, a MAJOR change in mindset and, often, life style.

   You’re confronted with a whole new set of regulations, whether the reason for the change is retirement, inheriting an account, etc. The biggest change in mindset is that instead of the pleasant pre-retirement situation of watching the money accumulate, you have to recognize that you’re now going to be watching it DECLINE. And unless you’ve got a tremendously more than sufficient account, you’re going to have to live with the knowledge that you could outlive the account, possibly due to your own mistakes, some of which this book can help you avoid.

   Four years ago I was confronted with making this shift a whole lot sooner than I’d planned, and with getting control of my retirement accounts under conditions where I had little help. Without the previous edition of this NOLO book, I would have been totally lost and probably made serious mistakes.

   Now, one caveat: This book does not tell you how to MANAGE your withdrawals and account so as to produce INCOME; as one should expect from NOLO press as a LEGAL advice publishing house, it deals with the nuts, bolts, traps and hazards of the PROCESS of getting the money out.

   In my situation I also found that there is not a whole lot of good material out there on the subject of managing your money and account IN the WITHDRAWAL stage, and this subject is affecting more and more people, as the country shifts from defined benefit (pensions) plans to plans like 401Ks and IRAs that place the job of investing and managing on the individual.

   It is a whole lot more complex, risky, and stressful than most people realize, especially considering the general abysmal education (lack of) even young people receive on the subject, let alone people my age who were raised to count on pensions, etc. (And thank goodness for Social Security, which while far from adequate, can still supply a firm base of about 30 to 50% of a retirement income; although that’s another issue)

   So I recommend this book as essential for the basic procedures, but you will also need additional information on how to manage your income account(s). Personally, in addition to a good fee based financial planner, I found invaluable help from folks who have actually been doing the job for years, especially in the forums of Morningstar, for example. But you have to be on constant alert for scamsters and the whole “how to be a billionaire” publishing crowd. You’re going to have to invest some serious time and effort in educating yourself for a the whole new job of retirement, and this book is an excellent place to start, preferably BEFORE you actually have to start TAKING YOUR MONEY OUT.
2. Anonymous says:

   May 14, 2010 at 2:17 pm

   Review by for IRAs, 401(k)s & Other Retirement Plans: Taking Your Money Out
   Rating:
   I do taxes. I have been a “tax professional,” working for a reputable CPA firm, for eighteen years.I imagine that most people think that we always read the most obscure laws, regulations and treatises on tax subjects before we make our decisions and recommendations. The fact is that most professionals are delighted to find publications which make good information easy to find. This book does that. “How to Take Your Money Out” gives thorough coverage to a very complicated subject. Equally important is that it is almost enjoyable to read and that finding what you are looking for is easy. It is well organized and well indexed. When I looked for answers, I found them, on the first shot.There are plenty of people, both professionals and taxpayers, who are wondering what to do about IRA and other retirement plan distributions. Having this book on the shelf will give you confidence that you’ll know where to look when you need the answers.
3. Anonymous says:

   May 14, 2010 at 3:15 pm

   Review by for IRAs, 401(k)s & Other Retirement Plans: Taking Your Money Out
   Rating:
   In my career, I work almost exclusively with retirees, and I have found this book to be the best resource for Retirement Distributions. It explains the rules in a concise manner, and includes the special rules for Roth IRAs. This is an especially good reference book for advisors because it goes in depth- not just the basics.
4. Anonymous says:

   May 14, 2010 at 3:42 pm

   Review by for IRAs, 401(k)s & Other Retirement Plans: Taking Your Money Out
   Rating:
   IRS rules for withdrawing money from IRAs are pretty complicated. This book, like others from Nolo Press, offers very specific coverage of these rules. I was looking for information on how IRAs can relate to Living Trusts, and I found it here. You have to pay attention, but the book is written in easy-to-understand English as opposed to legalese.
5. Jerry Eveleth says:

   May 14, 2010 at 3:50 pm

   Review by Jerry Eveleth for IRAs, 401(k)s & Other Retirement Plans: Taking Your Money Out
   Rating:
   I purchased this book for clarification of “normal” removal of money from tax-deferred accounts. Unfortunately, the money spent was a complete waste for that purpose. I could find no mention, not a single comment, about this all important topie. “Normal” removal in my definition is removing reasonable sums of deferred money from accounts, between the ages of 59 1/2 and 70 1/2. While I have since discovered what I needed to know, I find it most odd that there is no mention of this topic.That said, IF you wish information on the topic of either removing deferred money BEFORE 59 1/2 or AFTER 70 1/2, I would rate the book a 3 star on those issues. However even there, I would dig for details on some topics and find only general information.As they say “the devil is in the details” and that certainly is true when it comes of tax-deferred investments and the IRS. While I have been happy with Nolo Press books in the past, I would keep looking before buying this one.
6. L. Masonson says:

   May 14, 2010 at 4:04 pm

   Review by L. Masonson for Live it Up without Outliving Your Money!: 10 Steps to a Perfect Retirement Portfolio
   Rating:
   Paul Merriman through his information-packed retirement workshops, fundadvice.com website, and Sound Investing Radio Show has helped thousands of investors get on the right track to realizing their investment and retirement objectives. Merriman has leveraged his 40 years of investment knowledge and educational efforts into a readable, easy-to-understand guide to risk-controlled retirement investing. Most investors have no clue as to what to do to become successful in the long run.

   This book will help them get there. As Merriman has said, “Investing is a journey and you need a roadmap.” That is exactly what he provides. As Merriman points out investors need to become defensive investors and have a plan of action, otherwise they probably will not reach their goals. He urges investors to put their investments on automatic pilot. As a long-time investor, author and financial advisor, I couldn’t agree more.

   Merriman first lays out the 14 basic elements of why investors fail to achieve their investment goals. He then covers the important topic of the psychology of investing, where most investors’ problems begin. He then reviews the importance of risk management, and provides eleven questions that every investor needs to answer to assess his/her risk tolerance. He discusses the difference between intelligent risk and emotional risk.

   The heart of the book, chapters 6 through 9, reviews the components of the “perfect portfolio.” He builds each portfolio from the simple to the more diverse, resulting in a portfolio that has a higher return with less risk because of the diversification of assets classes and the use of international and domestic funds, value and growth funds, and small- and mid-cap funds. Merriman illustrates specific percentage allocations for each of the categories just mentioned. He progresses through five portfolio iterations, each time fine-tuning the portfolio and adding additional market segments. From a basic 60% equity/40% bond portfolio offering an annual return of 10.4%, and a standard deviation of 12.2 from January 1973 trough December 2004, he ends up with a portfolio of 10 different investment components which produced a return of 13% with a standard deviation of 11.7. That’s a higher return with less risk, a very desirable outcome.

   In addition to the five generic portfolios mentioned above, Merriman provides readers with the “perfect portfolio” with different fund families including the exact funds to purchase and their component percentages in the Vanguard, Fidelity and Charles Schwab universe. He also includes the Dimensional Fund Advisor family, which offers funds through advisors only, as well as his own Merriman model portfolio with a mix of funds. He also provides two all-equity tax-managed portfolios.

   Merriman points out the enemies of mutual fund investing – annual expenses and taxes – both resulting in lower returns. He also makes the case that variable annuities are a bad investment for most investors because of the high expenses. Unfortunately, Merriman does not mention the variable annuities that provide a guaranteed income benefit or a guaranteed return of principal, no matter how poorly the stock market performs. A more thorough explanation than the 2-3 pages provided, of the positive and negatives of annuities, is needed. Investors who owned these types of annuities during the market’s 2000-2003 bear market came out in good shape.

   An entire chapter is devoted to how to take withdrawals for retirement, and the percentages to consider. He also provides common sense tips on how to select an investment advisor. The next to last chapter provides readers with a 20-point summary action plan to get started.

   In conclusion, for investors who want to invest their hard-earned money on their own, this book provides a blueprint to achieve success, with all the steps necessary to build a solid, diversified portfolio. Merriman remains one of the top investing educators in the country, and has grown his money management firm to $700 million of assets under management. In summary, I highly recommend this book.
   
7. Mr. Scott C. Harrison says:

   May 14, 2010 at 4:14 pm

   Review by Mr. Scott C. Harrison for Live it Up without Outliving Your Money!: 10 Steps to a Perfect Retirement Portfolio
   Rating:
   Investing is like driving down a highway with the windshield blacked out and only the rear view mirror to guide you.

   Paul Merriman’s Live It Up Without Outliving Your Money! is a comprehensive road map to a financially secure retirement. He shows how to determine how much money you’ll need to retire when you want, in the way that you want; how to establish how much your investment portfolio needs to be worth when you retire, and he shows you the kinds of investments that will give you the returns you need to reach your goals. Then he explains how to choose the right distribution plan to provide both the income you need in retirement and the peace of mind that you won’t run out of money.

   You’ll learn how to construct and maintain a “perfect” portfolio tailored to your personal tolerance for risk, and how to organize your finances so you don’t have to spend a lot of time on them.

   Based on Nobel Prize-winning research, Merriman’s investment strategies combine passively managed no-load asset class mutual funds to create low-cost, tax efficient portfolios with worldwide diversification. “What investors need most is a strategy with enough power in good times to generate positive returns, coupled with enough protection in bad times to keep them from bailing out in discouragement,” says Merriman. He discusses the psychology of successful investing and managing your emotions so you don’t sabotage your own plans.

   Using many charts and graphs, he makes complex subjects easy to understand, and his passion and enthusiasm are motivating and inspiring.

   There’s also a dedicated Live It Up! web site that includes fund recommendation updates and links to additional source material.
   
   (http://www.paulmerriman.com)

   Live It Up! is really a book everyone should read. Highly recommended.
8. Dale C. Maley says:

   May 14, 2010 at 4:42 pm

   Review by Dale C. Maley for Live it Up without Outliving Your Money!: 10 Steps to a Perfect Retirement Portfolio
   Rating:
   I found Merriman’s writing style easy to read. He does an excellent job of covering the basics of investing including asset allocation.

   Merriman’s suggestion of holding 50% foreign stocks and 50% U.S. stocks was a little surprising to me. I was not expecting such a high allocation to foreign stocks. Vanguard, for example, suggests no more than 20% foreign stocks. Merriman makes a compelling case for holding 50% foreign stocks, but past performance of foreign stocks relative to U.S. stocks does not necessarily mean future performance will be the same.

   Another surprise was no mention of REITs. For a book published in 2005, I expected to see at least a 10% allocation to U.S. REITs.

   The last surprise was his recommendation of DFA funds compared to Vanguard funds. He tries to make the case the 1% of assets fee per year to a DFA advisor is more than offset by the superior performance of a DFA fund portofolio compared to a Vanguard portfolio. Most of the extra return is not due to lower DFA expense ratios, but the fact that DFA offers more asset class choices than Vanguard. I’m a big Vanguard fan, plus manage my own portfolio…..so I’m not sold on the DFA approach.

   Over-all an excellent book.

   I would suggest companion books to supplement this book including:
   
   The Richest Man in Babylon
   
   Bogle on Mutual Funds: New Perspectives for the Intelligent Investor
   
   The Millionaire Next Door
   
   The Four Pillars of Investing: Lessons for Building a Winning Portfolio
   
   A Random Walk Down Wall Street: The Time-Tested Strategy for Successful Investing, Ninth Edition

   The Coffeehouse Investor: How to Build Wealth, Ignore Wall Street, and Get On With Your Life
   
   The Bogleheads’ Guide to Investing
   
   Wealth: Grow It, Protect It, Spend It, and Share It
   
   All About Asset Allocation.
9. Calder Benson says:

   May 14, 2010 at 5:21 pm

   Review by Calder Benson for Live it Up without Outliving Your Money!: 10 Steps to a Perfect Retirement Portfolio
   Rating:
   With all the fund choices available in my 401k, I was in a real quandry until I read this book. I had no idea that by combining specific “non-correlated” index funds, I could actually increase my investment returns and at the same time reduce volatility and risk. We’ve given my wife’s IRA a makeover and started my son off on the right foot with his new Roth IRA as well. The author does a nice job explaining how and why asset allocation works, and it was easy to find my own risk comfort zone in the tables provided. I recommend this book to anyone who has a 401k or an IRA.
10. Inveterate Reader says:

    May 14, 2010 at 5:48 pm

    Review by Inveterate Reader for Live it Up without Outliving Your Money!: 10 Steps to a Perfect Retirement Portfolio
    Rating:
    This book, written by a money manager with 40 years of experience in the field, makes it crystal clear how diversification using asset classes can increase your return while reducing risk. It offers fundamentally sound advice while rejecting the “get rich quick” mentality. If you want to sleep better when you retire, read this book.