Review of Reconfigurement
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- Latest Review: Reconfigurement by E. Alan Fleischauer
Review of Reconfigurement
[Following is a volunteer review of "Reconfigurement" by E. Alan Fleischauer.]
I’m never drawn to reading books on finance, but I thought I’d take a look at E. Alan Fleischauer’s Reconfigurement just to see if there were any useful nuggets.
Right off the bat, the light, friendly tone invited me to continue reading. His theme, that current financial systems for retirement are strained to the breaking point because so many Americans are living so much longer, is a no-brainer. He points out that you can’t just keep your head down working doggedly all your life expecting the government to look after you later. But he does offer hope.
Steadily and calmly, Fleischauer outlines the areas necessary to design your own, individually-curated retirement plan. He begins with a basic monthly budget, and then slowly, methodically, he tackles the hard stuff. He explains life insurance and pension plans, social security benefits, investment choices, taxes, health care, wills, and charitable donations. He’s a financial advisor and knows how unpalatable a lot of this information is. So he breaks it up regularly with jokes, puns, and snappy answers to his own questions. He apologizes for how boring some of this information is, using humour to keep his readers going. But clearly, Fleischauer believes this is essential information for everyone. He gives notes and sources and recommends other books to encourage further study. He’s clearly on a mission to help as many people as he can.
It was more than sobering to hear that an average retired couple could expect to spend $295,000 in health care in 2020. Fleischauer points this out not just to make clear the coming need to cover expenses. He’s also emphasizing the importance of enjoying one’s life now. Delaying one’s opportunities to travel, take up golf, or even find a better job is not necessarily a wise choice. He illustrated this with his own experience. A recent stroke “woke him up”, stimulating him to reconfigure his life and begin writing award-winning books. Deciding to delay a hobby or passion, assuming you’ll have the good health and resources to enjoy it later, is, Fleischauer believes, a serious miscalculation.
Fleischauer has all sorts of caveats warning readers that these are general principles. Individual cases may merit a different process than what he suggests. But overall, he provides the information, tools, and enthusiasm to help.
It is a tough read in parts. The explanations of taxes and investment vehicles are thorough and necessary, but for me, boring. Occasionally, the jocular attitude created confusion, as when he tried to confirm or deny the myth “Members of Congress don’t pay into Social Security”.
Fleischauer answers “The facts: Members of Congress came under the Social Security umbrella in 1984. You remember 1984? The space shuttle Discovery made its maiden flight and Alex Trebeck hosted his first episode of Jeopardy May he rest in peace.”
So do Members of Congress pay or don’t they? I still don’t know.
There are nice historical touches, as when he explains Otto von Bismarck, the Chancellor of Germany in the 1870s, was the one to choose 65 as a suitable retirement age for civil servants. The Dutch establishing the first mutual funds in 1772 also fascinated me. The book is extremely well-edited and I rank it 5 out of 5 stars.
Reconfigurement offers a lot of financial information, in as friendly a way as possible, to help an average American create their own financial stability.
******
Reconfigurement
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
I’m never drawn to reading books on finance, but I thought I’d take a look at E. Alan Fleischauer’s Reconfigurement just to see if there were any useful nuggets.
Right off the bat, the light, friendly tone invited me to continue reading. His theme, that current financial systems for retirement are strained to the breaking point because so many Americans are living so much longer, is a no-brainer. He points out that you can’t just keep your head down working doggedly all your life expecting the government to look after you later. But he does offer hope.
Steadily and calmly, Fleischauer outlines the areas necessary to design your own, individually-curated retirement plan. He begins with a basic monthly budget, and then slowly, methodically, he tackles the hard stuff. He explains life insurance and pension plans, social security benefits, investment choices, taxes, health care, wills, and charitable donations. He’s a financial advisor and knows how unpalatable a lot of this information is. So he breaks it up regularly with jokes, puns, and snappy answers to his own questions. He apologizes for how boring some of this information is, using humour to keep his readers going. But clearly, Fleischauer believes this is essential information for everyone. He gives notes and sources and recommends other books to encourage further study. He’s clearly on a mission to help as many people as he can.
It was more than sobering to hear that an average retired couple could expect to spend $295,000 in health care in 2020. Fleischauer points this out not just to make clear the coming need to cover expenses. He’s also emphasizing the importance of enjoying one’s life now. Delaying one’s opportunities to travel, take up golf, or even find a better job is not necessarily a wise choice. He illustrated this with his own experience. A recent stroke “woke him up”, stimulating him to reconfigure his life and begin writing award-winning books. Deciding to delay a hobby or passion, assuming you’ll have the good health and resources to enjoy it later, is, Fleischauer believes, a serious miscalculation.
Fleischauer has all sorts of caveats warning readers that these are general principles. Individual cases may merit a different process than what he suggests. But overall, he provides the information, tools, and enthusiasm to help.
It is a tough read in parts. The explanations of taxes and investment vehicles are thorough and necessary, but for me, boring. Occasionally, the jocular attitude created confusion, as when he tried to confirm or deny the myth “Members of Congress don’t pay into Social Security”.
Fleischauer answers “The facts: Members of Congress came under the Social Security umbrella in 1984. You remember 1984? The space shuttle Discovery made its maiden flight and Alex Trebeck hosted his first episode of Jeopardy May he rest in peace.”
So do Members of Congress pay or don’t they? I still don’t know.
There are nice historical touches, as when he explains Otto von Bismarck, the Chancellor of Germany in the 1870s, was the one to choose 65 as a suitable retirement age for civil servants. The Dutch establishing the first mutual funds in 1772 also fascinated me. The book is extremely well-edited and I rank it 5 out of 5 stars.
Reconfigurement offers a lot of financial information, in as friendly a way as possible, to help an average American create their own financial stability.
******
Reconfigurement
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Reconfigurement by E. Alan Fleischauer
