Review of Reconfigurement
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Becca Olsson
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Review of Reconfigurement
[Following is a volunteer review of "Reconfigurement" by E. Alan Fleischauer.]
Have you thought about retirement yet? You probably should because the earlier you plan for it, the less stress will be on you and your loved ones later on. In Reconfigurement, author E. Alan Fleischauer focuses on the idea of planning ahead. Times have changed drastically over the decades. The landscape of retirement has changed, too. People are living longer and, although this sounds great, it also means we risk running out of financial support if we don’t plan accordingly. Each chapter focuses on a different topic and the options currently available in each one. These range from 401(k)s to medicare to life and income insurance. If you’ve ever questioned how you begin to prepare for something as huge as retirement, I would suggest taking a look into this book.
The author’s approach is all about planning ahead, not just financially, but also for a potential change in career in our later years. I appreciate that Fleischauer recognizes the changes in the financial reality of today’s society. Most people won’t be able to retire at age 65 and afford to not work with the average life span increasing and the increase in living and medical expenses. Fleischauer includes an entire chapter, in fact, on career assessments and where to find them to prepare for when we are ready to retire from one career and begin a new one we truly enjoy and where our talents lie.
The author is clearly very knowledgeable about the topics and emphasizes the need to reach out to your own financial advisor for the more complicated options. Despite the topic being incredibly dry, Fleischauer does his best to break up the boring bits with some truly terrible jokes and puns that are just bad enough to be a nice reprieve from all the financial details. He includes these jokes in a text box that also break up the monotony visually. The only problem with them is there was one image missing on page 68. Otherwise, I came to truly appreciate his humor.
I did find a few negative aspects of this book, however. Although I love the idea of reconfiguring retirement for a new age as the author suggests, I was a little disappointed that most of the book was him listing and explaining the current options already available. I know he has to work within the parameters of current retirement options and I appreciate all the details, but I was hoping for a bit more discussion of how Reconfigurement can change your mindset instead of simply repeating the idea of planning ahead before listing more retirement plans.
I also found it a bit difficult to follow his thoughts at times. In many chapters, the author will make a statement, say he will talk about it at a later time, continue to talk about it, then get back to the main topic. His thoughts just hop around a little too much.
Overall, I rate this book four out of five stars. The author is very knowledgeable and has done his homework (and formal education). I appreciate how he encourages the readers to really dig into the topics themselves and to be sure they have a reliable financial advisor in their corner. However, I wanted more of a truly reconfiguring discussion and not repetition of plans available.
I found minimal typos and believe this book to be professionally edited. Additionally, there was no inappropriate content. The description of this book recommended it to readers in their 40s and 50s. I, however, would suggest looking into the idea even earlier. I’d recommend this book to anyone beginning their career and beginning to build their lives. It’s an eye-opener to all the options available and how necessary it is to plan ahead.
******
Reconfigurement
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Have you thought about retirement yet? You probably should because the earlier you plan for it, the less stress will be on you and your loved ones later on. In Reconfigurement, author E. Alan Fleischauer focuses on the idea of planning ahead. Times have changed drastically over the decades. The landscape of retirement has changed, too. People are living longer and, although this sounds great, it also means we risk running out of financial support if we don’t plan accordingly. Each chapter focuses on a different topic and the options currently available in each one. These range from 401(k)s to medicare to life and income insurance. If you’ve ever questioned how you begin to prepare for something as huge as retirement, I would suggest taking a look into this book.
The author’s approach is all about planning ahead, not just financially, but also for a potential change in career in our later years. I appreciate that Fleischauer recognizes the changes in the financial reality of today’s society. Most people won’t be able to retire at age 65 and afford to not work with the average life span increasing and the increase in living and medical expenses. Fleischauer includes an entire chapter, in fact, on career assessments and where to find them to prepare for when we are ready to retire from one career and begin a new one we truly enjoy and where our talents lie.
The author is clearly very knowledgeable about the topics and emphasizes the need to reach out to your own financial advisor for the more complicated options. Despite the topic being incredibly dry, Fleischauer does his best to break up the boring bits with some truly terrible jokes and puns that are just bad enough to be a nice reprieve from all the financial details. He includes these jokes in a text box that also break up the monotony visually. The only problem with them is there was one image missing on page 68. Otherwise, I came to truly appreciate his humor.
I did find a few negative aspects of this book, however. Although I love the idea of reconfiguring retirement for a new age as the author suggests, I was a little disappointed that most of the book was him listing and explaining the current options already available. I know he has to work within the parameters of current retirement options and I appreciate all the details, but I was hoping for a bit more discussion of how Reconfigurement can change your mindset instead of simply repeating the idea of planning ahead before listing more retirement plans.
I also found it a bit difficult to follow his thoughts at times. In many chapters, the author will make a statement, say he will talk about it at a later time, continue to talk about it, then get back to the main topic. His thoughts just hop around a little too much.
Overall, I rate this book four out of five stars. The author is very knowledgeable and has done his homework (and formal education). I appreciate how he encourages the readers to really dig into the topics themselves and to be sure they have a reliable financial advisor in their corner. However, I wanted more of a truly reconfiguring discussion and not repetition of plans available.
I found minimal typos and believe this book to be professionally edited. Additionally, there was no inappropriate content. The description of this book recommended it to readers in their 40s and 50s. I, however, would suggest looking into the idea even earlier. I’d recommend this book to anyone beginning their career and beginning to build their lives. It’s an eye-opener to all the options available and how necessary it is to plan ahead.
******
Reconfigurement
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Elizabeth's Garden by Phillip Leighton-Daly
