Bank bailouts. Ponzi schemes. Plunging markets. With all of today's dire headlines, you may feel overwhelmed by the prospect of planning and providing for your retirement. Adding to this stress is the fact that financial mistakes made close to or during retirement can be disproportionately costly: typically, more money is at stake, and any losses take longer to recover. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

*Starred Review* The AARP brand works extraordinarily well in providing valuable and objective information that readers can put to good use immediately especially on the subjects of health care and finances. Case in point: author (The 401(k) Plan Handbook, 1997, among others) and investment counsel Jason thoroughly and accurately reviews the state of retirement 2009 with full consideration of our current economy. That state includes a solid grounding in the basics (such as the infamous What's your number? discussion), careful outlines of how to approach retirement income products as well as the stock market, and approaches to taxes and to potential advisors. What's unusual is her factual analysis of CDs (featuring a checklist), reverse mortgages, annuities in all shapes and forms (e.g., immediate, equity-indexed, fixed), and guaranteed minimum benefits (in the forms of withdrawal and income benefits). In fact, it's well worth the book's cover price to delve into these somewhat arcane financial instruments if only because the author posits, in plain English, the ups and downs: warnings (e.g., read the prospectus), the workings, the terms to know along with hints, the promises, and a clear statement of what you get for your money. If that isn't clear enough, she creates a fictional case study with numbers and charts, accompanied by a straightforward assessment on ease of understanding, complexity, risks, safety, costs and taxes, and the salesperson's motivation. That approach characterizes all of the chapters, whether on tax-deferred accounts or sales scams to avoid. Resources and research cinch the deal to consider this top of the borrower's pile. Appended: prospective advisor notepad; client reference notepad; quick test factors for different retirement periods and rates of return; case study.--Jacobs, Barbara Copyright 2009 Booklist From: Syndetics Solutions, Inc. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Julie Jason directs the investment management practice of Jackson, Grant Investment Advisers in Stamford, Connecticut. She started her Wall Street career as a lawyer after earning an advanced law degree from Columbia University. Also the author of You and Your 401(k), Strategic Investing After 50, and Julie Jason's Guide to Managing Your Wealth, Jason writes an investor-education column in which she troubleshoots readers' financial problems, including their retirement-planning concerns. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Introduction	p. vii
Part I Understanding the Basics
Chapter 1 Achieving a Secure Retirement	p. 3
Chapter 2 Your Personal Cash Flow	p. 13
Chapter 3 Sources of Retirement Income	p. 23
Chapter 4 Income from Social Security	p. 33
Chapter 5 Will Your Money Last as Long as You Do?	p. 47
Chapter 6 Can You Improve Your Situation?	p. 61
Chapter 7 Enter the Financial Adviser	p. 75
Part II Security for Sale: Evaluating Retirement-Income Products
Chapter 8 Guaranteed Lifelong Income	p. 95
Chapter 9 Creating Your Own Personal Pension	p. 105
Chapter 10 The Promise of Gain with No Pain: Equity-Indexed or Fixed Annuities	p. 123
Chapter 11 It's Not Too Late to Catch Up: The Guaranteed Minimum Income Benefit	p. 139
Chapter 12 Guaranteed Withdrawals So You Don't Run Out of Money: The Guaranteed Minimum Withdrawal Benefit, or GMWB	p. 161
Chapter 13 Certificates of Deposit: Not All CDs Are Created Equal	p. 177
Chapter 14 Cashing Out of Your Home	p. 189
Part III Investing in Your Future: Retirement-Income Planning and the Markets
Chapter 15 Tax-Deferred Account Decisions	p. 205
Chapter 16 Making the Markets Work for You	p. 219
Part IV Pulling It All Together: Uncle Sam, Your Adviser, and You
Chapter 17 Taxes in Retirement	p. 239
Chapter 18 Taking Money Out of IRAs and Other Tax-Deferred Accounts	p. 251
Chapter 19 Sales Tactics, Scams, and Bad Advice: A "Perfect Storm" for Retirees	p. 261
Chapter 20 Finding an Adviser Who Is Right for You	p. 275
Chapter 21 The Finish Line	p. 287
Part V More Retirement Resources
Appendix A Prospective Adviser Notepad	p. 299
Appendix B Client Reference Notepad	p. 300
Appendix C Quick-Test Factors for Different Retirement Periods and Rates of Return	p. 301
Appendix D Retirement Income Management: A Case Study	p. 302
Appendix E AARP Resources	p. 323
Acknowledgments	p. 324
About the Author	p. 326
Index	p. 327

Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.