Retirement Basics: Help for Broke Baby Boomers by Donna Davi

[DiDonovan]

I confess: I don't ordinarily read retirement and money management books: for one thing, most of them presume far more money than I'll ever see! Thus, I haven't delved seriously into the realm of my own retirement - until the inviting subtitle of Donna Davis' book Retirement Basics: Help for Broke Baby Boomers. I wouldn't necessarily call myself 'broke' - just under-monied...

And, being a Boomer, I'm likely just the audience Davis had in mind.

Davis doesn't assume the aging reader has made any prior plans, or that readers are monied or even necessarily employed.

Davis assumes little prior knowledge and outlines many of the tools readers can easily use to gain exact information about their benefits and when they will be paid. Website links provided within the book go directly to key areas of information, such as those covering full retirement age or the Social Security Planner.

At each step of the way, Retirement Basics offers a combination of Davis' own experiences and strategies that work. The addition of this 'personal touch' makes for a far more accessible product for the general-interest reader who has had limited exposure to financial concepts and doesn't have much insight into retirement's possible options.

Competing titles cover most of these nuts and bolts, but use dense language and terminology that doesn't make for a smooth, flowing read. Retirement Basics: Help for Broke Baby Boomers is different: its purpose is to cover a range of options, offer explanations that are easily digested, and reach baby boomers in particular, with their special retirement issues and options. With its wealth of possibilities, anyone nervous about their upcoming retirement will come away from Retirement Basics feeling better informed and more confident about all the positive signs on their retirement horizon.